After a bustling day of course briefings and technical gear checks, all held against the backdrop of a lively festival event, the thirty eight teams competing on the 2nd edition of the MXR sped away through the narrow, picture postcard streets of Bourg Saint Maurice for the opening trail run of this 5-day race.

The promising weather forecast for the next few days caused a wave of optimism and enthusiasm to spread through the ranks of the 38 teams as they gathered together earlier in the day at the pre-race briefing and were handed, for the first time, the maps and road book relative to the first day's racing. The enticing qualities of this particularly unique stage race were emphasized. Five days of single discipline stages followed by individually scored trail runs every evening, topped off with communal meals and convivial bivouacs. The day one team briefing was closed with a demonstration of the Nokia Sports Tracker GPS tracking system, being employed for the first time ever in a race and allowing the teams to trace their route in real time.

Later in the afternoon, the teams filed past the various stations where compulsory gear and technical competencies were checked. A few teams fell short with a couple of items of missing gear, namely GPS units and wets suits, but any issues were immediately dealt with by borrowing from other teams or renting locally. As the afternoon wore on, members of the public were entertained not only by this colorful parade of international AR stars but also by hip-hop performances and live music.

Once the team presentations were done, the athletes changed into their bibs and running gear in readiness for the first trail run of the event. A looping, 10km sprint with 700m elevation gain that saw the teams streaming down the narrow, picturesque, terrace-lined streets of Bourg Saint Maurice before bursting onto the mountainside North of this internationally recognized white water resort. Forty six minutes later, Josiah MIDDAUGH came clattering into the finish followed, in the space of under 10 seconds, by Augusti ROC AMADOUR and Nicolas LEBRUN. Top lady was Anna FROST in 15th position overall.

After tallying the results of this opening trail run, overall race leaders are the all male squad of NIKE BEAVER CREEK (USA). A hard day of mountaineering awaits the teams tomorrow morning at 05:00 and there is little doubt that all will be looking to make an impact on what will no doubt prove to be one of the race's toughest stages.

To discover all the teams, nationalities, profiles and disciplines visit mountainxrace.com.