76.24km – 10H30’
Altitude : 884m
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
The 27th pair of shoes.
Serge is wearing his last pair of running shoes this morning. René, who takes great care of all our equipment, is, among other things, responsible for our Sergio’s tires. It is he who wears them to break them in, because a shoes is always more comfortable afterwards. He also managed the changes; each pair was numbered, cleaned, dried and brushed. The “Aero” by Mizuno, first white, then red, is the only model Serge has worn during the race, from the start to the finish. René noticed that since the speed has increased (since our return to France), the soles are less worn. Conclusion: Serge is picks up his feet more.
We took a short drive in the car to reach our starting point, in the Ardèche, which enabled our runner to run some 75/76 km to Yssingeaux, our stopping point in the Haute-Loire.
Omnipresent nature (like the up hills and down hills) displays its autumn colors: yellow ferns and gold and rust colored leaves. The season is progressing and the days are shortening fast. It is a season that some like and others don’t particularly enjoy. In spite of Joël Collado’s predictions on France Inter, we are not enjoying an Indian summer, at least not this morning. We have to wait until we get to Tance in the Auvergne to have sunshine and a lovely late afternoon.
In this rather deserted corner of France, Serge has not run alone: Jean-Marc accompanied him for 25 km and on the last 11 km, Joëlle joined us. She has sent us regular messages since the start and once again we are able to place a face on her e-mails. I take this opportunity to thank the many people who have followed our progress on a daily basis and with whom ties have been formed via their regular messages.
René received the visit of his former neighbor, Daniel, who now lives in the Ardèche. This evening we also met with Claude, alias “Mr. Fructoline,” about whom you have already heard us speak and who has been following us for years. So, no, we are not alone in the world, even when we are lost in this small and very pleasant corner of France.
And lastly, some of you have worried that the race is lasting 366 days. Serge started on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from Paris at exactly 11:06 a.m. If we count the 24 hour intervals it makes a finish on October 17, 2010 at 11:05’59” a.m. For reasons easy to understand, the daily logs have been numbered and Saturday, October 17, 2009 is D1. Actually, D1 finished on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. I hope that my explanation is clear! So, Serge will finish his 365 day race on October 17, 2010 at 11:06 a.m.