Having been a champion on the tracks and fields, Yves Jeannotat became the champion of a cause that is dear to him: popular running.

He was Swiss champion on the track in 1959, wan Morat-Fribourg twice, and founded Spiridon – together with Noël Tamini. He still supports the noble cause of sport in the columns of  Le Matin. Running has become a popular sport, and nobody knows the “soul of running” better than Yves Jeannotat.

Yves Jeannotat, how did this passion for sport start?

Ah, that goes back up very far. I was born in 1929. My father was a farmer in the Clos du Doubs, on the heights of Saint-Ursanne. As every country boy, my life was punctuated by labours on the farm. I would go to school in the mornings, come back home for lunch, return to school… I would walk 12 kilometres everyday. We used to jog trot. Therefore, the movement of running, for me as for many children of that time, was more natural than that of walking.

When did all that end into sports?

Very late. When I entered the University of Fribourg. To pay for my board and lodging, I was a supervisor at Saint-Michel School. One day, a fellow student said to me: “listen, today there’s the university cross-country championships, are you going to take part with me?” I did not even know that there were running competitions. I said: «OK, find me a pair of sandals.” During the race I wore everyday casual suit. I was second. People of Fribourg Athletic Club noticed me, and they introduced me into organized competition. And running got right into my blood!

What are the pleasure and the passion of competition?

Immediately I was best of the club in my age group. I wan 47 races out of 48. (Laughter). The first one in 1951. Competition doesn’t only mean the passion of winning, but also that very special impression of competing against someone, but competing on his side at the same time. That’s it. During the 50s, I was an athlete doing competition and I had a professional career. I graduated in both Literature and Educational Psychology and eventually became a teacher.

What about your best memories?

During my very first year of competition, I became Swiss cross-country champion. At the time, there were only cross-country races and road races. A marathon was an extremely rare thing. People used to say: “The poor men! They’re going to kill themselves on such a distance!” In Switzerland, there were only about fifty road races, which were classics. There were only about fifty of us each time - nothing to do with the scale of the races nowadays

Does racing require a slow maturation?

Well, yes. I improved very gradually until 1959. Ten years of running are necessary for a runner to mature, they say. I was only doing 5,000 and 10,000 metre competition. I was Swiss champion in the 10,000 m in 1959. I was selected in the Swiss team eighteen times. But my very memory will be my first victory in the Morat-Fribourg race, in 1959.

Today, many things have changed in running, haven't they?

Yes. I always tried to make a link between elite and popular sport. From the early 70s, running has evolved in the direction of fitness. We realized that anybody could run a marathon. Remember that in 1959, a doctor did not want me to take part in an event because my pulse rate was 38! He believed I had a cardiac abnormality! I had to sign a discharge form. Popular races developed at the beginning of the 70s, when Dr Cooper, the coach of the American astronauts, published Aerobics and launched the word jogging. He was indignant: a few men train to go to the Moon, whereas most men are growing fat. A wind of madness blew. Everybody began running.

You personally contributed to it, didn't you?

Together with Noël Tamini I founded Spiridon, the first magazine about running in French. Then the defense of the sport for all was my aim. Because elite sport does not have to overshadow popular sport. Between 1960 and 1965, there were 500-600 runners in the Morat to Fribourg race. In 1980 and 1981, they were 15 000!

Do you still run today?

I am 72 years old and I officially ended the competition in 1965. But I am extremely lucky – because, you know, legs and joints undergo tremendous stress - well, at my age, I can still run for an hour every day in the forests. It is a big privilege: running has never left me.

Interview by Jean-François Duval for Construire

From Construire online Construire No 41, 09-10-2001 with the kind permission of Construire

http://www.construire.ch/

! The site is now part of Migros's website

Translated from the French by J. Michallon

Creation date : 10/10/2005 @ 15:35
Last update : 10/10/2005 @ 15:35
Category : The "Spiridon Spirit"
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