M. Funato Satoru a fait quelques kilomètres avec Serge
Passage de Serge a la télévision sur NHK
Traversé de la ville de Hirosaki, pas le temps de prendre un café
arrêt au feu
une boulangerie prise à la sauvette : baguettes et croissants y sont proposés
Un geste bien connu maintenant, mais inutile de lui demander l’heure
interview pour la presse locale
D245 – 75.6Km
SATURDAY, AUGUST 19
N40 16.568 E140 30.041 (47 m – 4 km before Odate) – N40 45.887 E140 26.047 (9 m – 8 km before Goshogawara)
75.6 km – 11H14′
Here is our geographic position:
Japan’s four main islands: Honsbhu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu, have 47 prefectures, which are similar to French Departments. We have arrived in the northern most prefecture of Honsu Island: Aomori.
Mr. Funato Satoru, whom we met at the hotel yesterday, tells an unusual story. Ill with cancer and after a period of heavy treatment, this man has challenged himself to run a marathon per day for six months. He left from the prefecture of Giffu in July and will run 6,000 kilometers on Japanese roads. This morning, he ran a few kilometers with Serge. It’s one way of giving a ray of hope to many sick people.
We had a short mountainous stretch (200 m). NHK TV was waiting to interview Serge and take some shots, which we will be able to see in the vehicles lent to us by Suzuki, since they are equipped with a high tech computer.
Crossing Hirosaki, we went around the garden of the castle but weren’t able to see the edifice. All the way to Goshogawara we took small roads which offered Serge hardly enough room to run. There was sometimes a narrow strip, sometimes nothing at all. Serge shared the asphalt with the cars. The region is known for its apple trees and the orchards were full of fruit, usually wrapped in small paper bags. This is a technique we also saw in China.
Serge dreams of only one thing, to go to bed early tonight. The proximity of the hotel, as well as the early end of the stage should make his dream come true.