Tag Archives: race

Sep5

marathon du medoc.

Posted on by
Standard

The Marathon des Chateaux du Medoc 

is a famous 42.195 km (26.2 mile) marathon held every September

through the wine-producing vineyards of the Médoc region in Bordeaux, France. 

The 40th Edition of the Marathon:

will take place on Saturday, the 5th September, 2026, (today) and the theme will be “80’s !”     

 Key Features:

Wine and Gourmet Stops: 

 Instead of just water, the course features around 23 wine-tasting stations at local châteaux, alongside gourmet food stops.

Costumes: Runners are required to wear fancy dress or costumes, which follow a different theme each year. 

Atmosphere: The race focuses heavily on fun, music, and celebration rather than strict personal bests, featuring dozens of live orchestras along the route. 

2026 Official rules – the 5th September 2026- THE MEDOC HAS TO BE RACED FANCY DRESSED !

The Medoc Marathon is a 42.195km race restricted to runners only ;
if you just want to walk, the recovery ballad organized on Sunday in our beautiful vineyards (9-10km) is for you !

 Registration limited to 8 500 participants.

The Médoc marathon is open to all runners born before 5 September 2006 (20 years old).

Departure / Arrival

Departure at 9:30 am on the River banks of Pauillac and arrival at the same location. Race time allowed limited to 6:30 hours.

Time Out runners – A team of Medoc Marathon organization called “runners brooms” will run the race during 6.30 hours. They are carrying signs to identify them without confusion. Any runner crossing the finish line behind this team will not be classified nor rewarded. In the mid-race, any runners who is behind these « riders brooms » will be stopped, disqualified and not rewarded.

Bicycles, dogs and Nordic walking batons are banned due to the narrowness of the roads, the presence of many dust roads, and the large number of participants, as they may be dangerous for the safety of the runners. Because of the abundance of tasting stations, any personal assistance is unnecessary.

The Race Director reserves the right to ban any racers or carts which seem dangerous to him for the safety of marathon; he doesn’t have to justify his decision.

Abandonment:

Any runner who wants to leave the race will have to go to an amateur radio spot which are located every 2kms next to all the drinks bars or next to the medical tents. A shuttle will take you back to the finish line.

Awards on arrival:

All entrants will be rewarded until 6:30 hours race.
This time is long enough to enjoy the marathon even for a beginner.

  • many drinks Supplies 
  • many wine tourism activities (optional) 
  • many music band animations 
  • many castles crossing;
  • Many tastings of gourmet food

ATTENTION:  FINISH LINE CLOSED AFTER 6:30 hours race.

NO REWARDS NOR AWARDS beyond this time limit (the 3 000 volunteers who manage this race will thank you about that ).

Bottles of wine as a reward on arrival are not to be consumed on site.

Awards:

At 4.00pm on Saturday 6th on the banks of Pauillac. The prizes will be given only to the runners who are in.

  • For the winner Male and Female : their weight of Medoc wines .
  • A case of fine Medoc wines for the winners of each category.
  • A case of Medoc wine to the first 3 Challenges : Chateaux and Company Challenges.
  • A large number of nicely dressed runners will be rewarded on the finish line by a case of a Medoc wine. 

Special Awards:

  • Wheelchair runners (separate ranking).
  • A challenge for Chateaux contest and for company sponsor contests by the addition of the 5 fastest times.
  • Women’s Challenge for Chateaux contest, for company sponsor contests and for laboratories contest on the basis of the 3 female fastest times.

Charity:

We provide an annual financial and logistical support to many charitable organizations present at the village show : child welfare, league against cancer, organ donation, transplant, etc..

Note: The organizers of the Medoc Marathon remind you that alcohol abuse is dangerous for health and invite you to consume with moderation.

 

 

‘try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell.’

-william saroyan,

*american novelist, short story writer, playwright, pulitzer prize and academy award winner

 

 

—

source credits: a lady of leisure, forbes, food and wine magazine, mental floss, wiki

Jun6

our part.

Posted on by
Standard

“love football – hate racism”

well done.

 

—

“ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year.

ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term.

ours is the struggle of a lifetime,

or maybe even many lifetimes,

and each of us in every generation must do our part.”

-*john lewis

 

*John Lewis was an American politician, civil rights leader, and Medal of Freedom awardee who served in the House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020.

Aug2

tokyo.

Posted on by
Standard

meanwhile in tokyo…

 

 

—

“the only victory that counts is the one over yourself”

-jesse owens

 

 

 

—

Mi Vida En Japón 日本

Credits to whom appropriate

  

Jan12

row your boat.

Posted on by
Standard

mark at home on the water in his boat

i connected to this adventurer, mark slats,

through an old friend in the netherlands.

read below to see what he is currently undertaking.

i am amazed every day.Mark Slats is hugged by his mother Maria in Ramsgate, UK last May.

He was about to row to The Netherlands here, never rowed before in a boat like this.

Now Mark is leading the field in the Talisker whisky atlantic challenge with Row4Cancer

with just two teams of 4 rowers ahead of him.

This is a 3.000 mile journey from Europe to America.

Mark’s mom has cancer and this gentle giant is raising money  

for cancer and for the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Cancer hospital.

(http://www.markslats.nl/row4cancer/ )

UPDATE: (early January) Mark Slats is rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean for 28 days now and with this blistering pace he’s on schedule to break the World Record with a stunning two weeks!! Mark is competing in the solo class, but he’s ahead of the leaders in the double and trio classes as well. Currently, the Gentle Giant is on the 4th place overall with only fours around him. Be prepared for his arrival, which is expected on January 14th! 






—

UPDATE  (January 8th)

World’s most bizarre rowing competition is approaching denouement:

Does Dutchman Mark Slats crush the world record ocean rowing?

Mark Slats participates in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge , the toughest rowing event in the world, to raise money for the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Foundation.

The route runs from Europe (the Canary Islands) to America (Antigua). He is rowing solo and nonstop.

Until last year, this carpenter from Wassenaar had never rowed. Mark is rowing for his mother who is seriously ill and all those other people who fight cancer every day.

Despite the hardships of the race, Mark remains positive, he enjoys the ocean and feels good. His physical and mental strength are extreme. Blisters, abrasions and contusions do not bother him, he is determined to crush the record. He rows around 100 miles a day and the expected finish date is currently being tested on January 14th.

After his three previous world voyages as a sailor, the sea has few secrets for Mark, yet every day is new on the ocean. Mark talks about birds, flying fish and dolphins around the boat, even a collision with a whale. He can not heat the freeze-dried food because his gas bottle has been thrown overboard. Cold is not tasty so it is a task to get enough calories. He no longer has a feeling in his fingers but jokes that he no longer feels the blisters on those fingers.

Mark has to finish his boat before January 18 13.03 to break the record of 35 days and 33 minutes. Then he has to walk an average of 2.6 knots, he has rowed an average of 3.4 knots from the start and now has 581 miles to go to the finish. He is in the lead in the Solo class from the start and 4th in the overall rankings. Still, the race has not yet run, a technical defect or sudden whirlwind can still be decisive, it remains exciting until the finish.

More about Mark and the race:
https://www.facebook.com/markslatsavontuur?pnref=story

More about the charity:
https://actie.avlfoundation.nl/row4cancer?nieuw=0

—

“and so in time the rowboat and i became one and the same-like the archer and his bow or the artist and his paint. what i learned wasn’t mastery over the elements; it was mastery over myself, which is what conquest is ultimately all about.” ― Richard Bode, First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living

 

 

—

credits: michel porro, magic marine, talisker whiskey atlantic challenge, mark slats

Aug13

human nature.

Posted on by
Standard

“race hate isn’t human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature.”

-orson welles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—

image credit: google images

 

Jan26

run with your legs to be fast, run with your mind to be faster, run with your heart to be unstoppable. – aalaynah thompson

Posted on by
Standard

167241-stock-photo-white-animal-movement-brown-fear-running

we trained together for a year

to be ready

for a long

3-day event

for charity

and

we thought

it would

also

 make us healthier

in the process.

***

except that

we weren’t

the most natural

or best

walkers/runners

but we pushed on

and for

many, many days

we walked

through town

or

in the countryside

or

on the road

or

inside the mall

with

the hardcore seniors

during blizzards

or

anywhere we could find

an open space.

***

funny-galapagos-olympics-tortoise-turtles-racing-grass-pics

then one day

upon arriving at a park

for another training day

we saw a race beginning

and

on a whim

we decided

to start late

and  join in

at the back

just for practice

and

we somehow

started moving up

in spite of ourselves

slowly but surely

until we were

near

the front of the pack

and suddenly

out of the blue

i got crazily competitive

not my usual mindset

at all

and i yelled out

‘i can take them!’

as i raced past

the front two people.

****

okay,

so

they happened to be

a very elderly man

and

a person with a noticeable limp

and

i

won the race

and

got a gold medal and a massage and a granola bar

and

i felt like

forrest gump

just dropping

into

the middle

of something

and

somehow

winning

by accident

and

it was

that moment of

crazy heart

that

made me unstoppable

and i’m sorry to have run past you –

people who thought you were going to win

and were in the front

and i know

you were old and infirm

but at last

i had found my pace

and my tribe

and

it was

quite a day.

****

photo-of-funny-animal

—

image credits: flickr.com

Mar16

double trouble

Posted on by
Standard

Image

baby j – i knew i had seen this guy somewhere before –

Image

i’m officially on spring break for 16 days and i get to play with the babies today while mom and dad run

the st. pat’s day race.

when we get together, we have energy to burn and we’ll be running our own race,

at least a marathon, all inside the house, i’m quite sure of it.

we’ve got mischief to make.

run, family, run.

Aye, I’m tellin’ ye, happiness is one of the few things in this world that doubles every time you share it with someone else.

Harry Lauder