D. Thompson’s Run the World Challenge - 21. France
This is the blog entry for GSN founding partner Dan Thompson’s 21st Run The World Challenge run, in Plomelin, France.
I’d always imagined that my French run would be done in Paris – probably replicating the final 10 km of the Tour de France with a lap or two of the Champs Elysées between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe.
However, my father lives in Brittany and it occurred to me that it might be a better idea to do my French run when I visited him this summer. And so it proved to be.
We were met at the airport by a reporter from Ouest France and thanks to them, Le Telegramme and, most importantly, Courir Ensemble and the Lagadecs, we were about 20 at the start line. Some more photos for the local press and we were off on what was perhaps my most pleasant run yet.
Lovely evening, friendly company and a pretty route through the country from the centre of Plomelin to the pigeonnier and back. Charmante and particularly exciting for me because Sienna, my youngest daughter aged 9, joined us and completed her first ever 10 km run.
A good evening topped off by the local culture of combining going for a run with giving to charity. In total the runners (plus a subsequent generous donor) raised over 700 Euros for Cancer Research.
In fact the whole experience was so good that I found myself telling everyone about my concept for an annual Run the World event.
The idea is that people in every country in the world will run (walk, swim, cycle) 10km at a particular time on a particular date. Say 10.00 a.m. local time on the third Saturday of the March. As the globe turns, a wave of different people in different countries will start their 10 kms over a period of 24 hours.
People can do their 10km for the health benefits and the sheer pleasure of it. Or they can also use it to raise money for their charity of choice.
The idea got quite a warm reception in France. Or perhaps they were just humouring the mad Englishman. Either way, if you’re reading this, and you’d like to help at all with this (admittedly ambitious) scheme then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Let me end by thanking everyone who ran and/or donated. In particular, huge thanks to my father and Anne-Sophie and Benoit Lagadec who made it all happen!
Date : 31st September, 2014
Time : c 1h 10m
Total distance run to date : 210 km
Run map and details : Garmin data lost
PR Coverage
You can read about D. Thompson’s other Run the World Challenge runs at http://www.greatestsportingnation.com/blog and on his Gold Challenge blog.
