THE DODO TRAIL, MAURITIUS
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS ERIK VERMEULEN
The Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion not only have passion for trail running, they’re also becoming sought after destinations for athletes wanting to race challenging trail races. The Queen of Mauritius’ offering is The Dodo Trail. Erik Vermeulen was there to capture the action.
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XM MAGAZINE JULY 2014
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THE DODO MAURITIUS
Race morning starts at 03:30 with a transfer from the hotel to the start where the race charg-es into the darkness of the early morning at 05:30. Instead of a gun, runners are set off with fireworks. World trail Running Champion Ricky Lightfoot seeks refuge from the cold wind in the hotel bus prior to the start.
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TRAIL,
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A windy start THE ACTION The 50km Extreme Dodo Trail starts before sunrise, on what was a cold a windy start. Many races include the word “extreme� in their title, but few mean it. This 50km beast sees runners complete over 3500m of ascent before they reach the end. For some, it would be 12 hours later.
THE SHOT With lots of artificial spotlights at the start, I used on camera flash purely for fill-in, bumped the ISO and used a slower shutter speed to capture some of the energy at the start.
THE SPECS 1/80th sec @ f4; NIKON D600 + 20mm; ISO 1000; WB Setting (Auto); Flash NIKON SB-910; Levels setting in Adobe Lightroom
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Runner THE ACTION
Just after summiting the final of three climbs before runners drop to PK1, the trail runs along an exposed ridge. With the sun not yet up, runners headlamps give away their location. This was a hot I’d had in mind for a while, and I was lucky to get lead runner Ricky Lightfoot on the exposed section before he headed back into the forest.
THE SHOT There was no sunlight yet, I still had to shoot at ISO2000 in order to freeze the action on my long telephoto lens. My othr challenge was to balance shutter speed with exposure and the possibility of hand-held lens movemement.
THE SPECS 1/320th sec @ f5.3; NIKON D600 with 80-400mm zoom lens set to 260mm; ISO 2000; WB Setting (Auto); AE Setting (0); No Flash.
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The Open T THE ACTION Between the climbs lie a variety of jeep and single track links. This one is paved and provided a welcome, fast section leading to the last climb before PK2. Here athletes could open the throttle and give chase.
THE SHOT Still early in the morning, the sun was hidden behind clouds and I wanted to convey the contract between the forest and some of the open spaces runners traversed.
THE SPECS 1/400th sec @ f4.5; NIKON D600 + 20mm wide-angle lens; ISO 2000; WB Setting (Auto); No flash; AE Setting (0)
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Track
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Forest
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THE ACTION
The race route crosses right over the highest Peak on the Island of Mauritius and the only way to get there is via a long forested climb. South Africa’s Christiaan Greyling starts the climb. He would eventually finish 6th overall.
THE SHOT I found myself crouching in a ditch as trail turned and hid the off-camera flash behing a massive tree.
THE SPECS 1/160th sec @ f4.5; NIKON D600 with 20mm wide angle lens; ISO 1250; WB Setting (Auto); Off camera flash triggered with PocketWizards.
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Climb 11
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Open to
everyone
THE ACTION The majority of the 1300 runners entered the 10km Mini-Dodo. Still an arduous unedertaking with over 500m of climbing over the course of the race. The decent off Tourelle Du Tamarin is definitely not for the faint hearted. Nevertheless it was great to see yound and old taking on the route.
THE SHOT With a narrow trail and steep slope, I had no option but to get in close and low for this shot.
THE SPECS 1/1000th sec @ f13; NIKON D600 with 20mm wide angle lens; ISO 640; WB Setting: Auto; AE Setting (-1); On camera flash NIKON SB 910.
MORE INFO www.dodo-trail.com
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Fast
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and easy!
THE ACTION The seamless combination of provate land and national parks that route traverses, provides ample variety in the trail. This steep jeep track descent provides for a fast drop, but if you’re not careful you could easily lose your footing. It’s a good opportunity to look up and enjoy the views.
THE SHOT On this hairpin bend, there was enough space on th outside to get the shot showing the view and steepness of the road.
THE SPECS 1/400th sec @ f16; NIKON D600 with 20mm lens; ISO 640; WB Setting (Sun); AE Setting (-1); On-camera flash for fill-in. Lightroom levels.
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THE ACTION
Big Drop
With the 3 of the routes merging on the final descent, it became quite congested resulting in runners really wanting to make up time on the open stretches that followed the single track.
THE SHOT I wanted to a shot that shows the nature of the descent and the congestion on the trail. This low angle at a 1.4m drop-off gave me just what I needed to show the athlete and the others in the background.
THE SPECS 1/800 sec @ 11; NIKON D600 with 20mm wide angle lens; ISO 640; WB Setting (Auto); AE Setting (-1); On camrea flash, NIKON SB 910
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Vastn #DodoTrail xtremedia.co.za
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ness THE ACTION
Although an island, the wilderness in Mauritius is vast and can only really be appreciated from the high remote trails used by The Dodo Trail organisers.
THE SHOT I wanted to get a virtual bird’s eye view, so got high on a ridge with the runners passing below me to the entry of a very steep descent to create the “cliff-top” effect..
THE SPECS 1/2000th sec @ f5.6; NIKON D600 with 80-400mm telephoto lens at 230mm; ISO 640; WB Setting (Sun); AE Setting (0); No flash
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Ladies Record in sight THE ACTION South Africa’s Team Salomon trail runner Landie Greyling was invited to the event, and although she’s not run ultra distances this year, she managed to break the women’s record in a tight race, beating out the lady in second place by about 4 minutes.
THE SHOT High on a narrow ridge I wanted to capture the height and the demanding nature of under foot conditions as runners drop over 350m over the last 3km of the race.
THE SPECS 1/800th sec @ f9.0; NIKON D600 with 20mm wide angle lens; ISO 640; WB Setting (Auto); AE Setting (0); No flash
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Freedom THE ACTION
The elation of reaching the final kilometre is evident as every runner celebrate for their own reasons. Not everyone chases external rewards – for most, it’s simply the exhilaration of getting in touch with Mauritius’ rugged side and defeating their own frailty.
THE SHOT Dappled light means tough shooting, so using fill-in flash is essential as is timing – I needed to get the subject at exactly the right time as he ran through the sunlight.
THE SPECS 1/400th sec @ f6.3; NIKON D600 with 20mm wide angle lens; ISO 800; WB Setting (Shadow); AE Setting (0); NIKON SB 910 flash, camera mounted.
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“ The Dodo Trail – Reaching New Heights”!
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#DodoTrail
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