79.36km – 10H57’
Altitude : 104m
London early in the morning, 4 men walk in the deserted streets to take pictures of the capital. We were lucky it was the weekend so we did not have to pay the £8 pound tax, the price to enter London from Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The sun came up at 6:30. After covering 6 km between Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the banks of the Themes, we take the highway to Dover. When we arrive we have to find a suitable itinerary: no traffic and not too many bumps. Serge spends the day on a 6km circuit in the country. It’s difficult to imagine that we are at the seaside but we are!
We are touched by the man kind messages we have received. If Serge had decided to go for 5 or 6 hours walk in France, we would all be able to breathe easily; however, this is not the case. Daniel and René are fatigued and when you say fatigue you mean loss of efficiency:
Loss of efficiency = loss of time
Loss of time = Serge’s goal is jeopardized
And our guys are admirable because, as you have understood, here we all do the best we can for 14 hours per day and for me even more these past days. So, no, our arrival in France does not mean we are full of energy or have a good morale, on the contrary!!!
Serge is giving himself 3 days to decide if he will be able to achieve the goal he has set himself. If he can’t, he will drop it. And tomorrow, more than the other days should be saved with 70 km. Looking at the agenda for September 6, Serge will need the strength to get up at night to begin running in Dover before taking the boat. This morning we were up at 5:30 and during the next 6 weeks things will not improve.
I agree with Serge that breaking the record was not an end in itself, otherwise we would have slowed down long ago. Serge’s one and only motivation is this goal which he has been striving to achieve up to now and which he has not relinquished, in spite of fatigue and pain. For this reason, I will do everything I can so that Serge will achieve this, leaving aside certain things such a responding to e-mails (which we both read), even if for some of you we may not seem very “cool”. The objective of the team is to remain focused.
I have just received an e-mail saying there will be some 50 runners present at the Lille-Arras stage. How do you expect us to be calm?
Here are a few requests for all the runners who will share the road with Serge. Due to past experience, we wish to give the following instructions:
1. Never run in front of Serge
2. Never trail him (Serge runs the first 5 km in 1hour, then he “cruises” at an average of 7km per hour
3. Keep a respectable distance from him (there is a risk of stepping on his feet), I know it sounds funny but it has already happened. And what if Serge were to fall?
4. Have your own food and carry it with you. Under no circumstances will Serge’s vehicle carry food, a bag or a bike (this happened previously in France)
5. Serge is in constant pain so if he is not talkative it is not because he is sulking; he is worn out and fatigued so his body hurts all over.
I am sorry to send a list of rules but we are going to try to run for 11 hours per day with an exhausted runner and support team and the days may be even longer. We thank you in advance for your understanding. It goes without saying that we will be happy to meet you on the roads in the North, in Picardie and Lorraine, etc., etc.