Nearly 4,000 runners participated in the 12th edition of the half-marathon (21km) which took place on Sunday, after two years of suspension due to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Marathoners, professional runners, athletes, triathletes, amateurs, and all running lovers from 7 to 77 years old, gathered today, Sunday, March 27, 2022, in the coastal town of La Marsa, located in the northern suburbs of Tunis, on the occasion of the 12th edition of the “Foulées du Mégara” half-marathon, which resumes after two years of suspension due to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Les Foulées du Mégara, an annual sporting event that is part of the calendar of the Tunisian Athletics Federation, is organized by the association of young people of Mégara, in collaboration with the town hall of La Marsa and the youth complex of La Marsa.
The spring marathon season in Tunisia is coming with this 21km half-marathon, where passionate runners will enjoy the nature and the sea view offered by the Marsa-plage circuit to the coastal town of Gammarth.
Mats have been installed at different points along the route to automatically detect the passage of each runner as they go. It is therefore imperative to mark the crossing of points for the race to be validated and the “Runners” classified.
In addition, a team of pacemakers is available to participants to show them to the finish line.
This annual event also offers the opportunity for lovers of small races and walking to do a 5Km course called “La Marsoise”, from La Marsa-plage via the cliff of the small picturesque village of Sidi Bou Saïd.
This sporting event also has a tourist vocation, which promotes the image of Tunisia, by highlighting the historical monuments of the northern suburbs of its capital while developing sports tourism.
“About 4,000 people, to around a hundred, were registered for the 12th edition of the “Foulées du Mégara” for the two events of 21km and 5km”, affirmed Riadh Ben Zazia, marathon runner, president of the association of young people of Mégara and creator of “Foulées du Mégara”, in a statement given to Anadolu Agency.
In joy and good humor, runners of different nationalities gathered for this challenge, where some are aiming for self-improvement, while others seek serenity.
Japanese Chiaki Koike, who works at her country’s embassy in Tunis, told Anadolu Agency enthusiastically: “It’s the first time I’ve taken part in a race, it’s an amazing experience, I I ran 5km and there I am waiting for the arrival of my colleague who has started for the half-marathon”.
In a blue tunic, Slim Saidi, digital project manager in a bank, said that “this is my first participation, it was my colleague and friend Mehdi, a regular, who encouraged me”, before continuing “I am happy that at the start of this post-pandemic phase, we are gradually experiencing a return to normal where we are all gathered here in a magical atmosphere that allows us to breathe after being confined for a long time”.
“It is encouraging to see elderly people, Tunisians, French, Belgians, Sub-Saharans, participating in this event in a very pleasant setting with the landscape of La Marsa worthy of a painting, which reflects the true image of our country”, proudly testified the thirty-something Tunisian.
Wearing her “Finisher” medal around her neck, Asma Radhouan, a professional “runner” shares her umpteenth participation in the Anadolu Agency with great joy “I have been running with the Runing Club Tunis for a long time, I do trail and triathlon also, today I finally participated in the 21km of Foulées du Mégara after a long suspension due to Covid-19, the race is very well organized as usual but the atmosphere of the return is really unbeatable”.
Civil servant at the National Water Exploitation and Distribution Company (Sonède), Basma Jelassi, an assiduous member of the Friends of the Walk Club, declared with a big smile “the atmosphere is up to our expectations, the race of 5km went very well, with the Club, we participate in practically all the walks and races organized”.
In 2015 the half-marathon had record participation with nearly 5,000 runners.
The marathon is a race that takes place universally on the road over a distance of 42.195 kilometers.
In 2108, the world record was held by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, covered in 2 h 1 min 39 s, during the Berlin Marathon, while the record in the women’s category is held by Kenyan athlete Brigid Kosgei, with a time of 2 h 14 min 4 s, during the Chicago Marathon in 2019.
This sporting event was inspired by the story of a Greek messenger, who would have run a distance of about 40 km in Athens, to announce the victory against the Persians at the end of the battle of Marathon during the first war. Medica in 490 BC
Over the years, this sporting challenge has increasingly been sucked in by amateur runners and as the Czechoslovakian athlete Emil Zátopek said: “If you want to run, run a kilometer. If you want to change your life, run a marathon.”
