Par Laurent Fortin
Published on 4 Jul 23 at 11:48 See my news Follow L’Hebdo de Sèvre et Maine Henri Janneau (sky blue shirt) and some of the qualified employees for the Austin marathon. ©Hebdo de Sèvre et Maine
Coming out of the health crisis and 50 years of the company, Henri Janneau, the founder of the eponymous group, established among others in Loroux-Bottereau, Saint-Germain-sur-Moine, La Regrippière and also in Villebon-sur-Yvette (Essonne), wanted to mark the occasion. “It’s important to create events that bring people together. Especially after what we’ve been through. It’s my role, ”delivers the 74-year-old man, always valiant, to the Hebdo de Sèvre et Maine.
In the 90s, we had taken, twice. A delegation of employees in New York to perform one of the most famous marathons in the world. Then also once in Dublin.
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In Austin, the group has just opened an agency
The manager therefore took up this challenge. With this time, the idea of going to take part in that of Austin in Texas. There, where the group opened, in 2022, a sales agency with its marketing manager on site, to develop the sale of windows and doors in wood and aluminum. From the United States, where the company had already tested exporting with an American distributor in the 90s, but with the impression of not having completed the process. “Unless I booked an A380 (ed. 850 seats), I couldn’t take the 650 employees,” explains Henri Janneau. Hence the idea of going through a kind of selection, by carrying out before the summer of 2023, a marathon in a given time.
Namely less than 4 h 15 for boys and less than 5 h 15 for girls. In the end, 26 people achieved this goal. But four runners, flirting with this time, were fished out. They will therefore be 30 employees to embark on February 12, 2024 for America. The on-site program is not yet defined, except the marathon who will end this stay on February 18.
Their first marathon
This adventure has already created “dynamics” within the group of participants. “First to find out who was going to start, says Clément Bazerque, head of the design office who took the plunge, despite his lack of experience over the distance. And then, once the group is formed, to encourage each other”. Moreover, the mobile applications of exchanges facilitate the conversations and the transfer of photos.
These long-distance runners got together for the first two collective training sessions. “Because we were not released into the wild, warns this football player who started running when he quit smoking 5 years ago.
The preparation was intense. It was even more difficult than the 42.195 km we had to cover in Saumur in mid-May. It was 3 to 5 sessions per week, over three months. Interval, jogging up to 30 km… It was tough.
A program concocted by Johan Lamy, coach at the Nantes Racing club. Which served the original Concellois who, although more adept at trails than bitumen, achieved a time of 3h 27’56 “.
A bond between employees
He wasn’t the only one challenging himself for the first time. Romain Maillet, a resident of Landemont, has also registered for the Saumur marathon. He took it well, pushed by his wife, the 42-year-old football player finished in 4:16 a.m., and was fished out. “It would have been too stupid”, concedes the employee in aluminum production. While remembering having experienced a terrible post-race (tension lowered to 8.5, extreme fatigue, etc.).
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He also recognizes “the good atmosphere” created by this challenge. It is not finished. The group will have to live together for a week. 8,000 km from Loire-Atlantique.
For other employees, the half-century will be celebrated on Friday September 22 and Saturday September 23, 2023. Activities and visits to the company will be on the program. Customers and suppliers will also be invited. The opportunity to recall that the company has developed gradually, at the rate of one employee per month (650 in total).
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2023-07-04 09:48:36
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