74.81km – 9H12’
Altitude : 166m
26000km en 351 jours 4 heures et 24 minutes.
It was a day unlike any other.
From Caluire, north of Lyon, Serge reached the Place Bellecour, this time accompanied by René, on bike. 5 km further our duo was at the rendezvous.
Place Bellecour, the third largest square in France, after Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux and Place de la Concorde in Paris, holds first place for squares reserved to pedestrians. This morning the heart of Lyon is effervescent because there are 11,000 runners gathered for the marathon, the half marathon and the 10 km race. Everyone starts at the same time.
Ten minutes before the official start, Serge, choosing precisely the wrong moment to appear without a bib and without saying anything to the announcer, leaves accompanied by a first relay of several runners to run a 3 km loop before starting the marathon. During this time, the crowd of runners has already set off in the streets of Lyon; but in spite of everything, Serge finds himself in the pack for the first 10 km, to the Tête d’Or Park, before heading down in the direction of Gerland, the rather austere part of the marathon, especially because the half marathon participants do not follow that itinerary.
At 2:00 p.m. Serge goes by Place Bellecour again; the marathon is finished in 4H38’ but the day continues with a short tour around Bellecour, then a stroll along the Saône River before the finish at precisely 5:00 p.m.; the square is deserted.
This day was special not only because we ran around in Lyon but also because we were accompanied by 14 relays. Tony and Medhi, of the Lyon chapter of CJD, which has 120 members, organized these relays and to do so prepared a formidable road book which separated the stage in 15 parts, with maps, precise rendezvous points and schedules, which were not over run by more than 10 minutes. Opposite each relay point there were the names of the person responsible and the participants: company employees, young athletes of different sports (the LOU Rugby, the Venissieux Club de Hand). It was a gigantic job to get everything to go smoothly between 8:50 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. This risky undertaking was a complete success, with a core of a dozen people from the CJD, who spent the day outside at the square and on the roads.
Hats off to René, who ensured refueling on his bike and prepared Serge’s freeze dried meals and Chinese soups in tricky conditions along the first 55 km. To have eaten only sugar, bananas or slices of apple would not have been sufficient to sustain him for the whole stage.
This morning Bertrand is leaving us to start work tomorrow, Monday morning. Eliane, whom I no longer need to introduce, has joined us for this ultimate portion of the race. This will be the last crew change and I would like to take this opportunity to again thank all the “followers” who were with us at different times from the beginning.
We almost forgot that Serge clocked 26,000 km just past km 61. This adding up of each thousand kilometers is becoming almost trite at this point in the race. It is becoming rather normal, because Serge is lining up kilometers and days like he is breathing. At 13 days from the finish, it seems “Banal” and “Normal” for Serge to run 75 km per day, all the more because he spends his day of racing without saying a word, without begrudging conversation with the people waiting at the finish or signing cards and posing for photos. His relaxed and smiling attitude never shows his extreme fatigue and the pain his body feels. Since Serge no longer complains about anything, these past days I have made a check list of the different sore points: the Achilles tendon? “It’s less swollen but it still pulls a bit”; the groin? “As soon as I increase the rhythm it pulls”; the gluteal muscles? “No comment – they are the most unbearable right now”; the lower back pain? “It has disappeared”. I forgot to ask him about his knee…. I think an inventory can wait until October 18. All this will not keep Serge from following his road, with a few difficult stages in view this week.
Town : Lyon (Rhône)