Simon Bourtembourg 07h37, 02 April 2023

Charly Bancarel, 93, will start this Sunday morning with the 52,000 other participants of the Paris Marathon. This will be the 11th time that the nonagenarian runs the 42.195 kilometers in the streets of the capital. And this time, he will be accompanied by his little girl. Europe 1 met him before the big day.

Run a little more than 42 kilometers on the Champs Elysees, near the Eiffel Tower and in the Bois de Boulogne. This is what the 52,000 participants in the Paris Marathon are about to experience. A feat, even more so when you are 93 years old. The dean of the event, Charly Bancarel will also take the start of the marathon. He already has ten on the clock and has therefore left his native Dordogne to come and run in Paris this Sunday morning. Europe 1 met him when he arrived in the capital.

A race with her little girl

Red cap screwed on his head and bags in hand, Charly finds his little girl. At 93 years old, the marathon runner is trembling with impatience. Charly knows the journey out of the station by heart. So he picks up the pace. "It's a little practice. We must take advantage of all the opportunities we have to do it, "smiles the nonagenarian.

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Impossible to follow for his granddaughter Virginie. Novice, she will take part in the Paris marathon with her grandfather. "I think he's the one who's going to have to wait for me," says the young woman. It must be said that Charly prepared like a professional. "In the morning, I go running, I do about ten kilometers and in the afternoon, I ride a bike: about fifty kilometers," he explains.

"I've passed all the exams, and everything is fine"

His family can't believe it, but for his doctor, nothing to report: "I passed all the tests, for the heart, the lungs ... and all is well. But anyway, he had already made me the medical certificate."

Charly now wants to reach the end of the 42.195 kilometers, "in a little more than 5 hours", he hopes. And he does not intend to stop there: the nonagenarian will participate in the marathon of the Paris 2024 Games.