The sky fell on their heads a little on February 29 in the middle of the afternoon when the government raised the alert level to fight against the coronavirus. The Paris half-marathon and the last day of the agricultural show became the first collateral “victim” manifestations of the epidemic taking hold in France. France crossed the symbolic threshold of 100 cases the same day since the end of January, becoming the second outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe after Italy. Of these 100 people, 12 are cured, 2 are dead and 86 are still hospitalized, including 9 in serious condition.
This Sunday morning, hundreds of subscribers could not resolve a cancellation taken in extremis. At the call of a Facebook group called “We are running anyway”, by its creator Maxime Delavallée, they met in the XIIIth arrondissement on the starting line to take the direction of the XIIth arrondissement then the Bois de Vincennes. “All together, we have managed to overcome questionable political decisions thanks to the beauty of sport and the will to surpass ourselves which unite us all! Said Delavallée this Sunday, in the middle of the afternoon.
They are easy to recognize these irreducible, most wear the garnet or blue jersey distributed by the organizer before the cancellation. "We have been preparing for four months", confide in chorus a group from Poitiers and Brittany, crossed avenue de Gravelle in Charenton. “The problem is that last night (Editor's note: February 29), we weren't really in half-marathon mode so it's a bit hard this morning. "
Cars on the course
A little further a group of ten runners crosses the roadway at the green light and receives in return a flight of horn from motorists. Some names of birds flare. "You see, we had to get rid of the frustration," smiles the group. The safety of the procession without pavement privatized for the event was also one of the concerns of the organizers of this off half-marathon. Before the happy troop sprang instructions had been given in this direction.
Rob comes from the Netherlands and could not bring himself to return home “without having walked on the asphalt of Paris. I'm coming out of a dirty wound, he explains. This race was a goal. I had to run this morning so as not to leave disgusted, "says the young man who has trouble understanding the reasons why the race was canceled, citing the Ligue 1 PSG-Dijon match" with 40,000 people shoulder to shoulder ". He is told that the government has decided to cancel the rallies with people from contaminated areas. But Rob pouted.
Other registrants for more safety preferred to cover the 21.1 km without necessarily taking the exact course of the race. TV host Denis Brogniart, for example, had fun in the Chevreuse valley. The “Running heroes” application, the official partner of the race, launched a challenge encouraging all the brave who have covered the 21.1 km to post their race in order to establish an unofficial ranking that will be a milestone.