74.05km – 9H32’
Altitude : 95m
Stage October 16: Montages – Fontainebleau
Rendezvous at: the courtyard of the château at 4:15 p.m.
At 6:45 p.m. there will be a conference, followed by a buffet, at the IUT of Fontainebleau, organized by the CJD. Speakers will be: Serge and two other people. The cost of participation is €10, to be paid at the door.
Finish October 17 at lines – Avenue de Tremblay, 75012 Paris
There will be no stage between cities
Serge will enter lines 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.
Flash Back: In the D361 log, a school in Bourges was left out and I have gone back and added it. It is the Jean Macé School. How could I have forgotten? The children composed a beautiful song and made banners for Serge. Our thanks go to them and their teacher.
At D-2, I feel like answering a question that keeps coming up: Does Serge run for a cause? The answer is no and here are a few words of justification. Handicaps or serious illness are part of my life, due to my work as a physiotherapist. So I am very aware of the subject. Before he started, Serge could have joined the ELA (European Leukodystrophy Association) which is well known to everyone. I was strongly opposed to this and the notes from his meeting with the association only reinforced my feelings. And yet, my family has experience with disability because my nephew and godson is affected by an orphan disease (one of many about which people don’t speak or even know, like so many of these orphan diseases), the Angelman syndrome, so Serge and I know what it is to have a “handicapped child “at home. These families live a daily struggle that an outsider cannot imagine.
To finish on the subject of the handicapped and or humanitarian activities, I learned when we crossed Africa that an ex-Formula 1 racer had rented a plane loaded with material to help the Children of Aïr, an operation that did not need to be highly publicized but which was. It’s possible to act discreetly, without making a show. So it is a very personal choice and we respect all athletes and/ or celebrities who chose to be associated with charities, of whatever nature.
It’s time to talk about today’s stage. We have a delightful visit from Patricia and Gaëtan, from Sport TK Company, who sells the famous geo-localization beacon (GPS 4 You) that has enabled you to follow Serge’s daily progress on the roads of Europe. Patricia and Gaëtan run until noon, moving their car by hops to be level with the runners. This morning Laurent ran 30 km, William is there to run almost the entire stage. He and his wife, Anne-Marie, have been following the race for 4 days, as discreetly as ever.
The course continues along the small roads of the Loiret department, to Vimory. Ludovica joins the race again, after her visit on October 13, to run a few kilometers with the group.
At Vimory, the primary school is mobilized: 3 of the 4 classes are waiting for Serge with flags and drawings and they run 500 meters with Serge, to the church. Then we enter the outskirts of Montargis and Serge is accompanied by the organizers, the Montargis chapter of JD, The 1st deputy of the municipality of Montargis and many other athletes, among whom 3 representatives of the team of disabled athletes of the city. The finish is well organized by Jean-Christophe, Hubert and their friends of the CJD. A surprise is waiting for us: Serge falls into the arms of Martine and Daniel. A long history links us to this couple from Monéteau; the half-marathon which I ran several times with great pleasure, but also our passage thought that town, which is close to Auxerre. It was a city stage on December 26, 2005 on the Paris-Tokyo road. We thank them for having come to see us, just to say Hi, since they cannot be with us at the finish on Sunday.
The Carrier Pigeons are back and Adrienne has been repaired, so all is well. Brigitte and Roger will accompany us to INSEP on Sunday.
This will be our last evening with “only the team,” because tomorrow instead of a conference followed by a buffet, we will not longer be in a small group. Tomorrow is almost the last day of the Around the European Union Footrace and I have to admit that I can’t believe it, in spite of the many e-mails I have received saying that you are going to miss us and asking me to continue to post daily logs to describe our return to a sedentary life. There is nothing I would like better than to continue to take pen in hand to write the epilogue to our adventure, because to stop now is going to feel very strange.
Some of you may have noticed that for the past 3 weeks the website has been polluted by a parasite page about « Viagra ». It’s incomprehensible. We have to change our hosting service and to do so might make the site inaccessible for a few days. So we chose not to resolve the problem at the end of the race and risk not having the site for a few days. But we will have to take measures soon. So don’t be surprised if the site is on “standby” for a few days at the end of October. Thanks for your understanding and we are sorry for the inconvenience, which is totally beyond our control.
Town : Montargis (Loiret)