The idea of making laps and more laps, for hours, oddly germinated in the head of Kévin Quintin while the Marseillais… was literally going in circles, during the first confinement. Whoever is known to be a big name in Marseille rollerblading then finds himself deprived of his passion and his profession. “I had to stay put, he remembers. And then one day I did a double rollerblading marathon in my parking lot. “
What is first of the joke between friends will however be tried this Thursday by the multi-medal athlete. At 10 a.m., Kévin Quintin sets himself the challenge of completing no less than 176 laps of the Bowl in just under two hours, in order to cover the equivalent of 42.195 kilometers on rollerblades in this legendary skatepark located to the south of the city. phocaean. “What interested me was to push the limits, to see how far I was able to go,” says Kévin Quintin with a smile.
“An impression of going in circles”
A first double marathon, carried out in 2019 on roller skates and on foot in Berlin, with a nice second place at the end, also reassured the athlete about his sporting abilities, in particular his endurance. “But there, redoing the same circuit in the Bowl, it has nothing to do with a straight marathon, blows the Marseillais. Your legs are hot, to the point of blocking the movement! “
For the occasion, Kévin Quintin followed specific training, based on running and long sessions of 25 kilometers of roller skating in the Bowl. “It’s long, it’s hard, confides the Marseillais bluntly. After a while, it starts to pull. There is a little weariness, a feeling of going in circles. But once inside, you put yourself in your bubble. “
Thirty years of the Bowl
Kévin Quintin will also be able to count on the support of ten hares who will take turns supporting him in his sporting challenge, by helping him in particular to keep a constant speed. And for the last lap, if he succeeds, Kévin Quintin would like to… blow out the candles on a cake. The event is indeed organized while the famous Marseille skatepark, privatized for the occasion by agreement of the town hall due to health restrictions, is celebrating its thirtieth year of existence. “This mythical place deserves a tribute”, launches Kévin Quintin.
The event will be broadcast live on various platforms including Twitch. “But I’ve never done a full marathon in the Bowl,” says Kevin Quintin bluntly. I don’t even know if I’ll be successful. “A failure which would be quite relative because, whatever the result, Kévin Quintin will have already won somewhere. For this “42k Marseille Bowl Challenge”, the Point13 association is organizing a lottery with its partners in the hope of improving the living conditions of children with cancer and their families.