I Ran a Marathon with Mark Cooper

I arrived at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport on Saturday 29th May and having never met Mark Cooper, I must have missed him as I passed through the arrival gate. However we soon met up and headed for the car. There was a slight problem with the machine not accepting the parking ticket, until I noticed that the ticket was for another car park! Mark had run 25 marathons in four weeks by this stage and I wasn’t, in the least, surprised that he appeared to be somewhat tired.

We headed north to Tournus, where he had booked a room for two nights for me. I had presumed that we would be staying in different places on the route every night but accommodation hadn’t been booked before the trip and he didn’t want the hastle of having to find someplace everyday. The Hotel Le Sauvage was old fashioned but full of character. The Boeuf Bourguignon and pasta reflected the period of the hotel and the bottle of Vin Mâcon rouge accompanied it perfectly. The rest of the town reflected the hotel in its style and quietness.

On Sunday we set the Sat Nav to take us to the place where Mark had completed his Friday run and set off out of the town and up the country hills. However we hadn’t travelled far when the local Gendarmes stopped us and informed us that the road was closed for the Rallye des Vins. The Sat Nav kept on trying to trying to take us back on the same road but we ignored it headed for the autoroute and eventually, an hour later, found the start of Mark’s 26th marathon. As he set of along a cycle path, I headed to the commune of Traize where the road would cross the path again. The place seems to be some kind of religious camp for school children, especially from Germany. The agenda on display seemed to consist of two activities: praying and eating. The skies opened up and the rain poured down as I prepared Mark’s sports fuel drink and wished him well as he ran along in the rain. I ran along a little with him just south of Cluny and as he headed for a 4k tunnel full of bats, I made my way along the rally roads to Charnay-lès-Mâcon.

We decided that we would give Le Sauvage a miss on Sunday night but the only restaurant that we could find open was fully booked. We did however find another hotel and enjoyed the three course Prize Fixe menu in the lovely atrium of a former 15th century guard house which is now Le Rempart.

On Monday we set off along the toll road and got to the start of marathon 27 without any hitches. The first section was hilly but Mark took it in his stride. The map and directions at the crossing of the N6 didn’t seem to be correct but we found our way to Belleville and over the bridge to Lurcy. Mark informed me that his girl friend had booked a good B&B for us in Villefranche, however the accommodation was actually some 30kms south of there. We were both tired as we drove over the mountain’s single track roads and were redirected a number of times by helpful locals before arriving at our destination at 6.30pm. A great friendly couple and a lovely Chambre d’Hote, (Le Domaine des Mollieres) with loads of food and drink with our hosts but it was too far out of our way and we agreed that one night would suffice.

Tuesday and marathon 28 started back at Villefranche sur Saone, usually Mark’s marathons begin at 10am but we were on the road by 9am today. It was a good day for running and a decent, though hilly route. I parked the car at the other side of a couple of towns and ran back to navigate him through them ‘sur pied.’ I checked at the local Maires office for a list of Chambres d’Hotes but didn’t like the look of them so we decided to exceed our budget for one night and book into the Le Longchamp Great Western Hotel in Cramponne, with its welcome but unheated swimming pool. The local staff were amused or bemused by us swimming in the ‘froid’. To counter the expense of the hotel we settled on take-away pizzas for our dinner and excellent 'et pas trop cher' they were too.

After an excellent breakfast, Marathon 29 started under the USA and Cuban flags in Cramponne and traversed the Pilat Mountains and country roads of the Regional Nature Park via picturesque Dargoise and Rive de Gier in the Loire Department before descending into the former 13th century Carthusian monastery of Sainte Croix en Jarez which has been converted into one of the most beautiful villages of France”.

As luck would have it the 26.2 miles finished here and they had two rooms available in l'Hôtel Restaurant "Le Prieuré" at a reasonable price for dinner, bed and breakfast. We took part in the tourist tour and Mark told me that for the first time on his trip he felt as if he was on holiday. After a great dinner and much adulation from fellow diners, a good sleep was followed by breakfast on the sunny terrace balcony.

Marathon 30 started with a climb for the first 6k, Mark ascended to a height of 642m before being rewarded by a 9k descent into Condrieu, where I handed out leaflets before leading him through town with horn beeping and lights flashing. It was all going so well as I left Mark to run along the new cycle path along the banks of the Rhone. I drove along the N86 where I had the misfortune of bursting a rear tyre, just outside of St Pierre de Boeuf . There was no spare and after a few telephone calls we managed to get a pick up vehicle to come and rescue me. I later met up with Mark in Serrieres and accompanied him on his last four miles of the day. We stayed the night in a local hotel over looking the blue bridge over the Rhone but once again all the restaurants were closed and we were fortunate that the local pizza van was in town on Thursday evening. 

On Friday morning we settled for breakfast from the local patisserie and a look at the weekly market before commencing the 31st marathon at the small town of Champagne. It was a hot day and much of the route was on open road. I bought some cherries from a market stall in the country and joined with Mark as we ran the three miles through a beautiful and shaded orchard. I drove up the scenic and slightly scary, winding D82 road, over the viaduct and on to Le Bruas on the way to Chavanne. I felt sorry for Mark having to climb so high on such a hot day and ran along with him for the last few miles. As I gave him his recovery drink, a cyclist chatted with us and offered us accommodation for the night. However it was the end of my week of running with Mark and we had to return towards Lyon where his next driver would be landing at 6.30pm. It was the middle of the rush hour and, judging by the amount of caravans and campervans, the start of the holiday season as we made our way to the Kyriad Hotel in Givors, Lyon and then to the airport to pick up Diane.


On Saturday, Diane drove us to the airport as I began my return journey homewards.


We had shared a fantastic week, challenging yes but also rewarding. I had run over 30 miles, whilst Mark had run over 157!! We had a great experience, we had travelled through some of beautiful France, I had enjoyed good food and wine and had made full use of my French lessons. Most of all it was for a good cause, the Headway Group.

I can now say that I Ran a Marathon with Mark Cooper.

"Thank you for all your great help this week, both in driving and running. I could not have done it without you, thanks again" Mark



Photos here