Dany Perray on the running event.

-

Arnaud Masson

  • Friday evening, in Frossay, Dany Perray, ultra-triathlete, will take the start of La 5000, a 5,000 km race.

  • The 52-year-old from Nantes has been preparing for a year to complete 100 km of swimming, 4,000 km by bike and 900 km of running.

  • Dany Perray and his team (Iron France) are doing this for a cause: autism in children.

Do not tell him that he is about to achieve a feat.

Dany Perray, 52, prefers to speak of a “human adventure”.

Surrounded by his entire Iron France team, this Nantais - "I was born in Nantes, I live in Nantes and I work there [manager at La Sémitan]" - is preparing to achieve from Friday a real sporting and human feat. .

Its name: The 5.000.

Its objective: to cover 5,000 km from the Migron in Frossay with 100 km of swimming this weekend, 4,000 km by bike from September 13 to 21 and finally 900 km of running from September 22 to 27.

"An adventure that may seem inhuman", in his own words, for one cause: autism in children.

Dany Perray on the swimming event.

- Arnaud Masson

“Meeting autistic children has transformed me,” says this father.

I was touched by their inner beauty.

"So much so that all the challenges he has set for himself for five years, Dany still accomplishes them for this disorder of human neurodevelopment.

For example, he is the 30th French in 150 years to swim the English Channel in 2018 (60 km).

"If it weren't for autism, I wouldn't have any reason to do what I'm going to do and experience this pain," admits the man who trains the Bouguenais club triathlon.

The importance of mental preparation

To achieve La 5000, the ultra-triathlete has been training for a year, “20 to 25 hours of training per week”.

We must add to this the sessions at the physiotherapist or at the osteo or a big mental preparation.

Because to swim non-stop 35 hours, the psychological dictates the physical.

“My body is prepared for this.

These are distances that are out of the ordinary, but I have a capacity to absorb them.

Fatigue is an emotion, like fear, it is controllable.

»Friday at 6 pm, he will take the start of a test that he has never done, never attempted: 100 km of swimming, or 20 loops of 5 km, at the Quai Vert in Frossay, in the canal de la Martiniere.

“I'm doing a 5 km loop, it's forgotten and I'm leaving…”, specifies the one who has only been doing triathlons for ten years.

Dany Perray on the bike test.

- Arnaud Masson

Dany obviously keeps "in a corner of his head" that he can be paralyzed by an injury.

“It's something that's acceptable,” he intellectualizes.

But, we are not talking about abandonment or failure.

It's only journalists who ask us that.

We are talking about acquired experience.

And above all, we do not know the notion of limits, we always go to the end of what we can give!

Giving of oneself for others is my philosophy of life.

"

It is possible to accompany Dany Perray (against a financial contribution donated to autistic children) on the bike and running.

Registration on the La 5000 website

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  • Triathlon

  • Cycling

  • Swimming

  • Running

  • Autism

  • Nantes

  • Cycling