This Sunday morning, Denis Brogniart has aches and has skipped his usual jogging, contenting himself with a short walk in the forest.
But the host of "Koh-Lanta" is moved and happy.
The day before, without media coverage and without an audience due to the pandemic, he crossed Paris on foot in short strides with some adventurers from the show.
Their goal was to collect donations for research against pancreatic cancer, the disease to which Bertrand-Kamal succumbed, a quiet solar force with a smile and contagious generosity of the latest edition broadcast this fall by TF1.
In shorts, hat and gloves, Denis Brogniart ran 27 km, others pushed up to 42. On social networks, Internet users could give 5 euros for 50 meters and so on.
“We did not want to make it a media event but rather associative and humanitarian,” says Denis Brogniart.
If we interviewed him, it was at our request after learning of the existence of the race 24 hours later.
This Saturday, @DenisBrogniart, @Coumba_kohLanta, @claude_KohLanta, @DorianKohlanta and @MathieuKohLanta gave their all.
Challenged by donors, they ran 42 km in Paris, forming the letters B and K. Discover the images of this generous & united challenge!
#pourbertrandkamal pic.twitter.com/MgK7SuRwJr
- ARC Foundation (@FondationARC) February 7, 2021
You went for an incognito run for this operation this weekend ...
DENIS BROGNIART.
I am so proud of the “Koh-Lanta” family.
It is the only show that generates such an attachment among all those who participated in it.
Running to raise money against this particularly devastating pancreatic cancer is not an idea of TF1, ALP (producer of the game) or Denis Brogniart, but of Mathieu and Dorian
(Editor's note: two ex-candidates )
, who came from the South and paid their round trip in complete autonomy.
You have to follow them when they run, one is ultratrailer and the other has good lap times over 3000 meters steeplechase.
Claude
(Editor's note: finalist of the spring 2020 edition)
who runs well too, came with us.
Alix followed us by bike to get supplies.
The first made 42 km.
Me, I had to do 20 km, but as people continued to put money, I went as far as 27. We hoped to raise 6000 euros, it rose to 11000. The ARC Foundation, of which I am the godfather, had the idea to "buy" kilometers.
I was running with Coumba, a triathlete who competed in “Koh-Lanta” sixteen years ago.
She didn't know Bertrand-Kamal, just like Claude, but they wanted to be there.
That says it all about our links.
Dozens of adventurers would have liked to come, but it was not possible because of the Covid.
This Saturday, Denis Brogniart was surrounded by Mathieu, Dorian, Claude, Coumba and Alix.
/ ALP / Laurent Vu
How did you manage to race among the cars?
We wanted it to be as intimate as possible in the streets of Paris.
We just wore a green t-shirt, that of the eastern tribe in "Koh-Lanta", that of Béka
(Editor's note: the diminutive of Bertrand-Kamal)
.
The Place de l'Etoile without barriers like during a marathon, it is something to sneak by running.
Samir and Annick, Bertrand-Kamal's parents, were waiting for us at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The route drawn represented the letters B and K. As there weren't many Parisians among us, I served as a guide as I passed the National Assembly or other monuments.
There are people who recognized us but that was not the goal.
We didn't want more than five or six to run.
In Alésia, with the queues in front of the shops and the people doing their shopping, we slalomed.
The sidewalks, the traffic, the non-stop rain, it took Béka to get us together.
This guy, with his history and his kindness, made an impression.
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You remain very marked by Bertrand-Kamal ...
Even before knowing his illness, he was already no ordinary adventurer for me.
I remember when he was introduced to me and his first name which immediately appealed to me: Bertrand and Kamal, a Catholic mother, a Muslim father, he had a very beautiful story.
I will never forget this period between March and September.
Nor on September 9, when he left.
We called each other every day as long as he had the strength.
Not long before he died, he still hoped to get by with advances in research and told me that we would take our pilgrim staff and fight together.
He is no longer there and we are fighting.
There will be a before and an after, even more personally in my life.
I lost my young father to cancer.
I have a very good friend whose fifteen year old daughter succumbed to a tumor.
We are all affected, we all know someone who is struck.
VIDEO. Koh-Lanta: death of Bertrand-Kamal, adventurer of the 2020 season
You are very involved in collecting donations ...
Yes. The adventurers of "Koh-Lanta" already wanted to make Dijon-Paris, from the city of Bertrand-Kamal, but the race was canceled because of the health situation. We have already raised more than 770,000 euros since the launch of the Bertrand-Kamal fund. It's huge in such a short time and I want to hit the million. However, the collection is very complicated. Times are very tough for everyone. And I'm often told that cancer research is the state. But no, 70% of budgets come from donations and bequests. We manage to treat one in two patients. In 2025, the hope is to save two out of three, because science is advancing quickly. I have the secret hope, before leaving, as late as possible, the world of television, to organize an event such as the Telethon for cancer research.
