74.01km – 9H58’
Altitude : 153m
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. L’INSEP will wish to see an identity card for everyone who wishes to enter the site.
Prolog to an extraordinary stage…
5:00 a.m. the alarm rings. Serge asks why he has to get up so early for a start which will take place at Place Carrée at Saint-Amand Montroud at 7:30. Why? The reply lies in silence; there is only one good reason: “to reach 27,000 km,” even if the warmth of bed keeps you from wanting to get up.
5:20, I accompany Serge on his loop of 2.5 km around the town hall. He makes 4 loops before he leave for the start point, which is 3.8 km from there. Is it stress? Serge uses the bathroom 3 times this morning.
The day continues:
7:30: Serge and the team reach the start. His body is already warm with slightly more than 13 km on the odometer.
Our Carrier Pigeons are back to follow the last days of the race.
Everyone is at the rendezvous. Alain M gives his team final instructions: firemen, gendarmes and bus drivers. The caravan gets bigger because today 500 students from grade schools and high schools will run on the roads of the Cher department. There is an exceptional action plan, with an extraordinary number of administrative authorizations, which results in an event without a sour note. It is the result of the exceptional job done by the team that has been working since last December to prepare this day: The Jean Renoir School, the CJD, l’ENSIB (Ecole National Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Bourges), the municipality of Bourges and the Regional Council.
We travel from town to town with the Grade School of SaintèAmand Montrond, the grade and high schools of Dun sur Auron, the grade school of Plaimpied-Givaudins, then from Bourges the following schools: Camille Claudel, Jules Ferry, Les Pijolins and Beaumont. Thanks go to all the teachers and professors who were outside, not to demonstrate but to participate in this stage. They can make up for the time off on Saturday!
Today, the Jean Renoir High School, a partner of the Around the European Union Footrace, is present all day, with some 50 children who were with us in Poland, accompanied by their German counterparts, who came on an exchange which the school has run for 30 years. This school has many projects which provide a window to the world, thanks to its affiliation with UNESCO. The school’s principal, Alain Payen, has a very motivated team of teachers and his students are very lucky.
The students from the ENSIB are also there to organize all these adolescents.
It was a full day with bright sunshine. The freedom on the roads of the Cher department made for an exceptional atmosphere.
Today I am unable to list the names of all the actors who came to dream with us, who dared and who made a success of this challenge. They all know who they are. Our thanks to all the people from the Berry Region. I make special mention of Jean-marc, who started it all “once upon a time there was an encounter….”
In the meantime, William, from Poitiers, arrived as discreetly as usual. It will be the 4th time he has been part of a stage. Thanks go to Claude and Patrick, the railroaders from Poitiers, who came bearing gifts and to share some of our route and the members of the US (Union Sportive) Berry, who brought us a t-shirt as a souvenir.
The finish at the Place de la Mairie, between the City Hall and the Cathedral is impressive, with all these children. In the groups we find “les Kanakys roulent,” Michelle, Eric and Marylou, whom we saw on September 18 just south of Commercy and who are back at work (Marylou is back in school) after leading the life of nomads for 6 months.
Another surprise: Georges, a heck of an encounter from a virtual friend via the Internet for all these longs months. He gave us a USB key which holds more than 500 messages illustrated with photos, some of which have been doctored and many are very amusing (we have called them Georges’ Chronicles) It was a very special moment.
An exceptional day calls for an exceptional evening. At 7:00 p.m. Serge joins the ENSIB for a lecture organized by the CJD, the ENSIB, the Regional Council and the Jean Renoir High school, with Pierre Vincent, in charge of selecting the French national women’s basket ball team and the trainer for the Bourges women’s basket ball team. As usual, Serge is not frugal with his time; he is all smiles and there is no sign of fatigue. Once again, he astonishes me. How can he look so great and remain standing while he answers all the questions after such a day and with such sore legs?
I ask him while he struggles to go up the stairs and he replies « I love what I do! »
Many thanks to Marie for the beautiful photos she took today. They exude joie de vivre. There are no titles, the photos speak for themselves, except for the last «Here is Marie» whose photos have made this day immortal.
Town : Bourges