74.63km – 9H23’
Altitude : 168m
The stage for October 16: Montargis – Fontainebleau (the itinerary will be posted online later)
Finish October 17 at l’INSEP – Avenue de Tremblay, 75012 Paris
There will be no stage between cities
Serge will enter l’INSEP around 9:00 a.m. and will run on the track in the INSEP until 11:06 a.m. He will be accompanied by everyone who wishes to run these last two hours of the Around the European Union Footrace, and celebrate the 365 days of the race.
The start takes place in the dark in the suburbs of Saint-Etienne, which are just waking up at 7:00 a.m. The first 12 km, as far as La Madeleine, are in the city and Serge runs on sidewalks, just like any city dweller jogging in the morning. Christophe and Patricia join Serge once we have left the city and we head into the hills of Lyon. Mireille, the teacher at La Fouillouse, also joins us, accompanied by her family. The countryside glows in the sunshine and the villages that we pass give no indication that we are approaching the 3rd largest city in France.
Toward Mornant, we pass a car whose occupants wave madly before making a u-turn: it happens to be Arlette and Alain from our small part of Normandy, who after spending September 11th with us in Beauvais, promised to come see us again. It’s a nice surprise. After crossing the Rhône there is pretty climb to Solaize and we pick up the National 7, re-baptized D307. The thermometer shows 26°C, which, far from being an autumnal temperature is real summer. The national demonstration and beautiful weather have brought everyone outside.
At exactly 3:00 p.m. Serge reaches the banks of the Rhône. Waiting for him are Patrick, director of the Lyon UFF agency, and Eddy, a runner who will guide him to the park entrance. A bit before 4:00 p.m. Serge arrives at the meeting place: the entrance to the Tête d’Or Park, and a few runner who have been following the tribulations of Serge and his dream team for 11 ½ months are happy to see him for the first time or again, because some were in Paris at the start. Serge exudes fatigue when he leans against the van to eat his buttered bread with ham. Vincent notes that in spite of his fatigue, Serge continues to run at a good pace in the park.
Michel, one of Serge’s first cousins, came to run the last kilometers in the park. Serge’s female cousins and the famous Uncle Georges also came to see him.
I would describe this stage by saying it was a fatiguing day: the noise, the crowd, the traffic and the heat (here I’m adding a bit because I know that in Paris and Normandy the weather is not good!). The finish takes place in a magnificent site and I take this opportunity to thank Patrick for the fine organization for a finish that was festive and friendly.
Bravo Bertrand, jack of all trades: « follower”, “runner”, “photographer” on the banks of the Rhône and in the Tête d’Or Park.
One day follows the next and is never the same. Tomorrow we will be with another ambitious organization, which has attached itself to Serge. For me it is always a source of stress, which I must not let Serge feel. We can be sure that everything will go well, as usual, and I will hear “you see Laure, you were worried for nothing!”
See you tomorrow.