We can see him from afar pushing on his legs for the last meters of the 6% climb that leads to the village of Belvès, drooling. Benjamin Paulin barely manages to raise his arms before crossing the finish line, under the screams of the public and the sound system. The Vosgiens has his hands on his knees, bent double, when he is given the medal around his neck. He finished the 100 km of Belvès in 6 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds. Less than seven hours, one performance.
A power outage at the cottage
“I’m super moved, I think it’s the first time it’s happened to me in a race”trembles the 27-year-old young man from Epinal, who came with his brother who followed him by bike to supply him with compotes and water. “I’m standing up thanks to the adrenaline, but you won’t have to see me tonight”, smiled the 27-year-old, his legs shaking. They arrived the day before from the Vosges by car, they slept in an Airbnb: “Without electricity! We had breakfast with a headlamp”because of the storm Diego which caused power cuts in the Dordogne.
Further on, another “cent-bornard”as they are called, finishes the race, slumps on the asphalt and sabers a beer. “I’ve been thinking about it since the sixtieth kilometer”he smiles, while one of his friends stretches his calf to relieve the cramps. “It’s horrible, especially the last 20 kilometres.” There is also, “the nails that fall out after the race”, the lightbulbs. What matters is the mind: “It’s not in our interest to be depressed, because in seven hours of racing, we have time to think”.
“Falling Nails”
Jean-Pierre Siniko, the president of the 100 km has been shaking hands with every cent-bornard for 20 years. He has the same admiration each time: “I recognize that these are somewhat inhuman races, but have you seen them at the finish? I think they like it… I have seen people from the club who have managed to pass a 100 km and on arrival, say, that’s it, I’m a hundred-year-old. I think that when you’ve managed to do a hundred miles, you feel like a different man”.
No one here is professional. The 100 km of Belvès act this year as a French championship, and the competitors are often former trail or marathon athletes. Benjamin Paulin, the male winner, Floriane Hot, female winner in 7 hours 43 minutes and 23 seconds, and the others on the podium will therefore go and compete in Germany in a few weeks for the European Championships. The hundred Bornards leave limping. And they only think of one thing. Eat. As fat as possible.