Marathon runners, these ordinary heroes

A few days before the Paris Marathon, I was able to chat with a good number of runners and then on the day of the race, I was able to encourage the runners towards the end of the course in the Bois de Boulogne. In other words, at a difficult moment in the race.

Throughout these exchanges and moments of encouragement, what emerges is a feeling of admiration for the motivation and courage of the marathon runners. When you experience the race from the outside, you appreciate even more the effort that each marathon runner puts in.

Before the race, we feel among the runners a lot of motivation, a little apprehension and impatience for the race to start. There is a lot of humility that emerges regardless of the time objective, because everyone knows that this race is very demanding and that there is no easy marathon, that becoming a marathon runner is something you have to earn.

It is earned not only on race day but also during all the weeks of training with the repetition of efforts in training between demanding interval sessions and long sessions that test everyone's endurance. And to train over time, you need discipline, resilience and to develop an ability to surpass yourself, to do sessions that are not easy, that hurt. All this while daily life, professional life, family life continue.

This is what commands respect, this mixture of humility, discipline, the ability to surpass oneself, to endure and not give up even when it is difficult.

This is why marathon runners are ordinary heroes .

Heroes because they exhibit values ​​that we would attribute to a hero: courage, resilience, a positive attitude, a desire to surpass oneself. And ordinary because during a marathon, we meet women and men, of all ages, from all types of professions, from many different backgrounds, from different cultures and nationalities.

In short, marathon runners represent all of human diversity, but they have one thing in common that sets them apart: they have decided to take on the physical and mental challenge of running a marathon, of running 42 kilometers and 195 meters in one go.

And when we see them pass by on race day, from the first to the last, this determination, this tenacity while all the hardness, the difficulty of a marathon is revealed to them, commands respect and makes us want to encourage them, to help them by voice to go all the way and reach their goal and for the neophytes to realize their dream of becoming a marathon runner.

From the very first riders to the heart of the peloton and then to the last riders in the race, the expressions, the attitudes, the grins towards the end of the course are quite similar even if the running speeds are very different. I saw one of the very first riders in the top 10 crouch down in the middle of the climb where I was. This climb had suddenly cut off his legs. He remained motionless for a few seconds then he got up and ended up setting off again. So it happens even to champions to find themselves in great difficulty, champions who for us are aliens in terms of running speed.

Later, when the main group arrives, we find determination, courage, sometimes grins that show that it is hard. One of the disabled runners that I was encouraging told me 'now, it's all in the head' while she was making a real effort to get over this hill. She is right: yes, at that moment, it is in the head as much as in the body that it happens. And it can be seen on the faces, in the looks, in the furtive but grateful thanks pronounced when we encourage the runners by quoting their first name that can be read on their bib: well done Thomas, well done Stéphanie...

So yes, congratulations to all the marathon runners for showing this courage and this beautiful state of mind. Congratulations for having gone to the end of this effort of several hours and having succeeded in finishing a marathon, this race that is at once beautiful, emblematic and hard, demanding. For many, this could have seemed like an unrealistic goal or in any case very difficult to achieve perhaps a few years, or even a few months ago. Each runner as soon as he crosses the finish line has become a marathon runner. It doesn't matter how many marathons he will run in his life as an athlete, just one or dozens.

Becoming a marathon runner is a bit of a badge of honor first for yourself, to show yourself that you can surpass yourself and achieve something difficult, demanding. It is also a great life lesson. You certainly come out of it tired and terribly sore for a few days but above all grown up, proud to have accomplished a personal feat regardless of the time achieved to finish the marathon.

This is the beauty and symbolism of sport and in particular the marathon. Running a marathon reminds us of our ability to achieve something that may at first seem impossible or at least extremely difficult. With training, a good dose of courage on the day and with the support of the spectators and their encouragement along the way, we manage to go all the way, to see the finish line finally appear in the distance, then to walk the red carpet of the last few meters before passing under the arch of the finish line, with this delicious physical and mental release of having finished while realizing that we have just succeeded in something very difficult.

So congratulations to all of you marathon runners!

On race day, in our eyes as spectators, you were the heroes of the day.