RUNNING HEROES

En 1978, Yves Jeannotat interviewe Emil Zátopek à Prague pour le N°40 de Spiridon. Des citations directes, des anecdotes inédites, et une vérité simple : le plus grand coureur de son temps ne comprenait pas vraiment sa propre méthode. Et c'est pour ça qu'il était unique.

In the history of women's sport, certain names are widely highlighted, such as that of Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967. But long before her, in the 1920s, a Frenchwoman paved the way for women on the track: Lucie Bréard .

At a time when women's athletics was still a struggle, she established herself as one of the first international champions, breaking record after record and becoming the first French woman to win a gold medal at the 1922 Women's World Games , the forerunners of the modern Women's Olympics. Yet, her name remains unjustly forgotten today.

While women's running is now a given, it's essential to remember those pioneers who defied the rules so that future generations could run freely. Let's delve into the fascinating story of Lucie Bréard , an extraordinary athlete who never ran for glory, but always for the joy... and the victory. Spiridon shared an article about her in October 1983; here it is.

The resounding echo of the victory of Spiridon Louis, the first Olympic marathon champion of the modern era, inspired the name of the first international running magazine. Originally from Greece, this young shepherd, in harmony with nature and far from urban conventions, created everyone's surprise. While everyone was waiting for a winner from the English, French or German elite, it was he who emerged, thus sowing the seed of a free race. This idea will be symbolically taken up to define the very essence of the magazine and the clothes.

The magazine spiridon had published a formidable article signed by the Briton Bruce Tulloh. You have certainly forgotten him, but he is also this runner who managed to cross the United States from Los Angeles to New York, that is 4602 km, in 64 days (1969). He also wrote a book on this subject " Four Million Footstep " (of which we have a first edition). We transcribed for you the article written in June 1973. This had inspired Karel Matejvosky. You will find the illustration "Tarahumara" accompanied by the bird on a collection of our t-shirts. But it has inspired many others, we think of Born to Run by Christopher Mc Dougall which will be published in 2009, a cult book for many runners of our generation (to be found in our shop).