Marvejols-Mende

On July 22, 1973, the departure from Marvejols-Mende is given under a bright sun against the advice of the authorities. 153 enthusiasts will contribute to the construction of a real myth. René Murat (1h21) and Denise Seigneuric (2h07) were the first winners.

Marvejols-Mende and Spiridon , the precursors

Not so long ago (the beginning of the 1970s), performance was the only “leitmotif” of the federations which administered, without qualms, the small world of running. Women did not have the right to participate in road competitions, neither did non-members. The federations only wanted champion seeds.

A handful of idealists, including the founders of Spiridon in 1972 and Jean-Claude Moulin, the creator of Marvejols-Mende in 1973, contributed to breaking the codes by campaigning for the "race for all" and by instilling the notions of joy , sharing and pleasure in this sport.

A community driven by an ideal

In the space of a few years, thanks to Spiridon magazine and races like Marvejols-Mende, they brought together a community of men and women driven by the same ideal: running together (women-men-young people-former-champions -neophytes).

Their doctrine: “ Perf okay, party first ”. It illustrated their philosophy. Achieving a time was no longer an end in itself. The important thing was the shared experience, the happiness of running together.

Their rallying sign: the Spiridon t-shirt which was worn by thousands of runners not only in Marvejols-Mende but also throughout Europe and even in the United States.

Everyone run with us!

Spiridon continues today to carry, through two clothing collections (Archive and Anthology), the values ​​of these pioneers of free running. To the humanist commitments of the spiridonians of the 1970s, we added attention to the environment - a historical concern of Spiridon who advocated running as a means of reconnecting with nature. All our clothes are produced in Europe (France, Italy, Portugal), in small series (to fight against waste) and in recycled and ecological materials.

50 years later, let's continue to run together and celebrate a race and a movement that were at the origin of a true sporting and cultural revolution.