Fabrice Bidault is a regular at the La Rochelle Marathon Serge Vigot, has been involved in the Marathon many times, as a runner… but also as a journalist, by reporting «from the inside» the race for France 3 (broadcaster of the Marathon).
1- How did you find yourself running as a journalist in the La Rochelle Marathon?
In 2010, for the 20. edition, I was offered to run the marathon and broadcast it live. I had already done maybe twenty marathons, strictly personally. That year, I did it for the first time as a journalist and marathoner. I was thinking of running it in 3 hours but I lost the bike that followed me with the camera. So I ran a lot faster to try to catch her thinking she was in front of me but she had turned around and was behind! We met at the 15th. km mais j’étais parti sur ma lancée et j’ai finalement terminé ce premier Marathon en direct en 2h48 ce qui m’a surpris moi-même et m’a procuré une joie incroyable.
This edition worked really well, we started again the following year. For the 21. Another story was told about two brothers, one from Limoges, the other from Normandy. We ran together until the finish, in a little more than 2h56. That day, the little brother managed to beat his record with the help of his older brother. A beautiful story of brotherhood, mutual aid, a great emotion too.
And then we tried to renew ourselves every year, telling something else, depending on the time, the form I had, the availability to train. There was for example a year when I ran it live and in full on Facebook in 3h25, without ever stopping to speak!
By living this marathon from the inside, I wanted to demonstrate that with a little training and seriousness in its preparation, the marathon is accessible to any runner whether seasoned or simply a Sunday runner! The marathon is not just a matter of specialists, hard-working people, high-level athletes. I met on the course runners of all ages, all styles, all sizes, with sometimes surprising personal stories.
2- After running the La Rochelle Marathon eleven times, how would you describe the course?
It is a flat, fast and extremely pleasant course for a runner, and contrary to what is often said, the weather conditions are often very favorable. I remember in particular the 2006 edition where we ran at the end of November with a truly spring weather, in tank top in perfect conditions. And then, the setting and the atmosphere are absolutely incredible, including the passage on the quays in the half marathon, but also the finish, with the last 1000 m from the Place de Verdun to the Cour des Dames where we have the impression of being around France!
3- In 2019, you participated in the Marathon as a pace leader. How did you experience this experience?
For me it was a great pleasure. In the first 25/30 kilometers, we were a really big group. I had chosen to be the last of the leaders in 3 hours to be somehow «the car-broom» of 3 hours. We joked, we told jokes, I tried to make the runners laugh, to give them advice, to help them to refuel, it was total sharing. Then, as always at the Marathon, it became a little more complicated for our group, and I finished in 3 hours and 57 seconds. 57 seconds that I still have across the throat, I wait for the next marathon to pass under 3 hours! In any case it was a real moment of sharing, of communion. They say that the marathon is an individual effort but in fact it is a collective effort, it is a test that we can live together. We are not each in his suffering but with each other.
Bonus: a memorable memory of the Marathon to share with us?
On the 20th. edition, during the half marathon, all the race organizers present decided to pay tribute to the Marathon de La Rochelle. Organizers of the Marathon de Paris, the Gendarmes et Voleurs, the Marathon du Mont St Michel… They ran about a hundred metres, all dressed the same way, each carrying a letter that ended up forming «Happy Birthday». I was in full live, I slowed down at their height and then I realized my interview running with them. This image remains engraved because it shows once again that the Marathon is living together, sharing and friendship.
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