Monday marathon, Tuesday marathon, Wednesday marathon… All marathon week! This is Nicolas Vandenesken’s program since September 3. This 30-year-old native from the North has embarked on a rather crazy new challenge, always with the aim of raising awareness about climate change.
Finished the “GreeNicoTour” in 2021 where he had run 4,600 km in 127 days, often picking up waste at the same time. “This time, I wanted the message to be clearer so I decided to do 100 marathons in 100 days for the climate. Without any day off, ”he says a few minutes after arriving in Sélestat, Alsace.
After 13 first races of 42.2 km in about 4:30, the athlete does not even seem tired. He quietly drinks a small hot chocolate and eats a vegetarian sandwich (his diet) before going to speak in front of a class of college students. “From Monday to Friday, I try to deliver messages to young people because they are the heroes of tomorrow and I know that they will then challenge their parents. And on weekends, I go to see the cities where I go to events, “explains the employee of the association. Uni-Green Sport.
Each time, he explains his approach and deploys his equipment, “a large fresco on the climate”. “I want to tell people to move concretely, as I do,” insists the adventurer, who rarely travels alone. First, because he encourages anyone to accompany him in the effort, “it allows discussion. I love to talk while running, it’s my office”. Then because his equipment also has to follow… So every day, one or more volunteers pedal on the cargo bike next to him. “There are a few stages where we have no one, we will have to find”, laughs Nicolas Vandenesken, not worried.
This former employee of a big company “in sports events” claims it, he is “always ultra-positive”. The pain ? The little sores? There must be a few after so many miles. “I’m lucky to have a body that absorbs shocks well, he sweeps. I need very little recovery before leaving. I eat a lot and well, I sleep well, and I’m fine. My body is getting used to the effort. Today, I feel even better than when I started. »
“Maybe I will pay for it in five or ten years”
The native of Vieux-Condé is good in his sneakers, which he will change “five times for the 4,200 km”, and in his head. This convert to climate issues since the end of 2019 after a stay in New Zealand is convinced of the merits of his approach. “This trip opened my eyes,” rewinds the 30-year-old. “I had already exploded my carbon footprint with the plane that I will no longer take. And I thought a lot. I loved my job but with all the travel, it was hyperpolluting. »
Far from what he promotes today, even if it costs him physically. “Maybe I will pay for it in five or ten years, I know that. I prefer to act. I do to my body what we inflict on the planet. »