The 2021 Ecotrail de Paris (80 km)
Ultramarathon # 17
Date: July 3, 2021
My time: 12:15:31
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
The day I hunted the wild boar with Obelix in the forests of Gaul.
I participated with Obelix on July 3, 2021, in the 80 km event of the EcoTrail de Paris 2021—the first major race allowed in France since the COVID-19 outbreak. I went two days earlier to collect my bib number in Paris, running the 27 km of the most direct route from the start line, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, to the finish line, in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Unfortunately but expectedly, only 934 of us completed the race this year, a drop of 53% compared to the number of finishers of the last edition (in 2019). That’s due to the restrictions and bans supposedly intended to combat the pandemic, but resulted, logically, in the discouragement of many runners, more physical inactivity, the consumption of excess food, the increase in the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, etc., hence the worrying aggravation of the comorbidities of the pandemic (stress, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, loss of physical and intellectual capacities, etc.).
I explain in my book, Running Barefoot for Human Survival, why no one is seriously caring about these chronic diseases, which are ruining the lives of billions of people and killing yearly over 40 million, with or without COVID, not to mention the close links between these pathologies—including their risk factors—and global warming. Quo vadis, homo sapiens?
Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Date: July 3, 2021
My time: 12:15:31
By Dr. Barefoot Sidy Diallo
The day I hunted the wild boar with Obelix in the forests of Gaul.
I participated with Obelix on July 3, 2021, in the 80 km event of the EcoTrail de Paris 2021—the first major race allowed in France since the COVID-19 outbreak. I went two days earlier to collect my bib number in Paris, running the 27 km of the most direct route from the start line, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, to the finish line, in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Unfortunately but expectedly, only 934 of us completed the race this year, a drop of 53% compared to the number of finishers of the last edition (in 2019). That’s due to the restrictions and bans supposedly intended to combat the pandemic, but resulted, logically, in the discouragement of many runners, more physical inactivity, the consumption of excess food, the increase in the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, etc., hence the worrying aggravation of the comorbidities of the pandemic (stress, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, loss of physical and intellectual capacities, etc.).
I explain in my book, Running Barefoot for Human Survival, why no one is seriously caring about these chronic diseases, which are ruining the lives of billions of people and killing yearly over 40 million, with or without COVID, not to mention the close links between these pathologies—including their risk factors—and global warming. Quo vadis, homo sapiens?
Running Barefoot for Human Survival is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format (French edition: Courir pieds nus pour sauver les humains).
Dr. Sidy Diallo and Obelix ran the 2021 Paris EcoTrail
Dr. Sidy Diallo's 2021 Paris EcoTrail Results
Dr. Sidy Diallo's 2021 Paris EcoTrail Course
To collect my bib number, two days before the race, I ran the 27 km of the most direct route from the start line, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, to the finish line, in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Dr. Sidy Diallo ran the 2021 Paris EcoTrail
Dr. Sidy Diallo's 2021 Paris EcoTrail Medal
Obelix did the 2021 Paris EcoTrail
The Eiffel Tower at night