75.32km –10H16’
Altitude : 7 m
If we had a change of direction yesterday, which broke the monotony for Serge; it was not the case today.
We have reached Oulu, a city of 133,000 to 157,000 inhabitants, depending on the source, which makes it the 6th most important city in Finland.
Whereas the televised sports season is about to begin in France with Roland Garros, the Tour de France and, most important, the World Cup, Serge is most interested in the 25th edition of the 48 hour race of Surgères. It is an international test of endurance, where the world’s best runners are invited to run on a 330 meter cinder track, with a goal to do as many kilometers as possible. Since yesterday, Serge is living in sync with the event: 1H30’ before the start of the event he has a thought for the runners and when he finishes his stage it says: “that’s it; they have been running for one hour. Yesterday evening we went onto the website (we are lucky to have WI-FI), to see the runners’ progress. Serge wanted to see if it is hot or will be hot because the track becomes an oven when there is heat. This morning, repeat performance so Serge can see the progress of the runners after 13 hours of race. He has his favorite, who is not in the head bunch, and the betting begins. He leaves for the start of today’s stage saying that today he will think about the runners. For Serge, this race is a legend and the most beautiful 48 hour race in the world. He ran it unsuccessfully twice; I know they were his two most beautiful defeats and regrets that he transformed into good experiences. But Serge learns and never ceases to learn during these long distance events, which require different mental aptitudes than are necessary in a point-to-point race, such as UTMB or Badwater, to name only two, and timed races, where you go round and round on a track or a circuit and run as many kilometers as possible. In these events, there is no escape, or at least it must be kept inside. Please note that there is a Finn running in Surgères.
As for Serge, he has to escape from his sore body, a corporal envelope that binds like an iron collar. Last night he asked to be massaged (yes, Ludo, you heard correctly); it’s the first time since the beginning of the race. He was ready and sufficiently relaxed in his head to let himself be touched, for I have to admit that the muscular tension was rather phenomenal and even after the lightest massage possible I’m not sure I was able to ease anything.
Our next objective is to reach the city of Rovaniemi, via Kemi and of course the 16,000 km, which continue to get closer. I hope that it will be easier for you to find us on the map now than when we were in the midst of all those lakes. I have heard that it is a difficult exercise. For those of you who have access to Internet, don’t hesitate to click on Tracé du Jour Google Earth (on the French site) and it will help you to find us.
Town : Ii