Often out of breath, but satisfied, the latest arrivals did not come to break records. They are there to cross the line.
“3:02!”. As they cross the finish line, Malika and Priscilia hug each other. You might think they were friends for a long time, but in fact they met during the race. Together, they ran the 20km from Marseille to Cassis and supported each other along the way. They shared the same goal: to complete the course, without worrying about time.
>> Marseille-Cassis 2023: watch yourself cross the finish line
“Objective number 1 was Gineste, objective number 2 was to arrive alive”laughs Priscillia, who congratulates herself on having achieved her goal without training. “I told myself that I was a top athlete”she quips, holding her legs. “It shoots”said the young woman without stopping smiling. “I’m empty. I’m thirsty.” The race, for this Marseillaise, was above all a convivial moment: “we walked we ran… We are in less difficulty than those who are there for the time!”
Behind her, Sébastien, 47, arrives clearly more out of breath. It was a bet with his son Baptiste, 20 years old, which pushed him to leave Toulon this Sunday morning to cross the Gineste. “He smokes and I don’t”, explains Sébastien breathlessly, to try to justify the challenge thrown at Baptiste. The idea was also to “give him a taste for sport, for doing things together.” But the young man finished the race with a 5km lead… “Unfortunately, he will continue to smoke”the father resigns himself.
The last arrivals walk the red carpet at the end of the race in scattered rows. Some launch “well done” passing in front of their companions in misfortune. They succeeded, despite everything. A man still had to be evacuated on a stretcher by the Sdis firefighters.
Jasmin didn’t see him. She arrives, big smile, on the line. “I’m not a great sportswoman”, she specifies to justify her time. She didn’t count. More than three hours, anyway. Coming from Belgium with her mother and her partner, her brother, her sister and a friend, she is running Marseille-Cassis for the third year in a row. “We’re amazed, we want to come back, it’s like a drug”, said Asma, his mother. Jasmine is more temperate: “The first time, I didn’t finish the course. I got sidetracked because I wasn’t fast enough. I had to cross the finish line backwards, because I wanted to get my medal. The second time, I was apprehensive after this bad experience, it was hot. There, I was more relaxed. I ran slowly, I didn’t stop. I made friends in trouble… I am so proud of me!”
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The last in line are also the associations, which come to raise awareness of their cause or raise funds. This is the case of the Foulée de l’emploi, a group in blue jerseys, with children and balloons. “We are a company and an association, ITcom and Massajobs, which act to support young people in the neighborhoods towards employment”, specifies Nicolas, one of the participants. In total, there are 18 of them, employees, associations and young people from neighborhoods, running together, without separating. “People call out to us while running, seeing our t-shirts, we explain to them what the Job Stride is, it creates improbable conversations during the race”, says Nicolas. Thanks to Marseille-Cassis, they did not finish first but they were ahead of the sweeper car and they collected, for their cause, at least €11,000.