In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with Alain Morvan out of France who is the race director for the Loire 725, which is the longest ultramarathon paddling race in Europe. Alain started out as a whitewater paddler in his younger days and eventually made his way to ultramarathon paddling with the goal of competing in the Yukon River Quest. We cover so much in this episode from the origins and evolution of the race, his dedication to protecting the environment of the Loire river, support of the communities along the route, how a stage race helps build and support the paddling community, the race route itself and the rules of the race, typical lodging arrangements for racers including camping at a rugby stadium, support crews, and how foreigners would rent a boat for the race. There’s so much more to this episode, but I’ll let you hear it from Alain Morvan himself on this 23rd episode of the Dabbling in Paddleism Podcast…

Loire 725 website: Next race is June 14-20, 2026

-(English): https://loire725.com/en/presentation-english/

-(French): https://loire725.com/

Alain's contact:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069158600419

https://www.facebook.com/alain.morvan.18/

Alain’s book recommendation: La Loire vue de fleuve (Loire River rules/etiquette), by Jean-Francois Souchard https://imagesdeloire.fr/produit/la-loire-vue-du-fleuve-guide-de-randonnee-nautique/