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Fabien Hisbacq
Published on Oct 27, 2024 at 12:02 p.m.
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3.8 km to swim, 180 km to cycle, 42.195 km to run. Basically, a long-distance swimming race, a stage of a major cycling Tour and a marathon to follow. It’s a Iron Man, an extreme triathlon. And recently, a jeweler from Castres (Tarn) suffering from cancer came to terms with it Barcelona (Spain). He tells.
It is about Luc Atgé. Well known to the people of Castres. But also those who have cancer or are around sick loved ones. Because this sports fan, which has chained the longest and legendary races from 1999 to 2022 (three times the 100 km of Millau, as many as the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, the Grand Raid des Pyrénées, the Diagonale des Fous…) is also reached by the crab. Since 2022.
And far from giving up, he created in the south of Tarn what is perhaps the only sports team in France entirely made up of cancer patients. The Crab Teamwho meets regularly to walk or take on challenges…
“My dream as an adventurous ultra trail runner”
It was a question of challenge for Luc Atgé at the beginning of October. Registered on the Iron Man of Barcelona therefore. “A dream from before when I was healthy.” Before the crab, with painful words, plunges it into a tunnel (“high-grade clear cell renal cell carcinoma with venous tuberculosis and Lieberkühnian adenocarcinoma in the colon”). One year after my last rays and the start of immunotherapy, 14 months after the laminectomy […]my dream as an adventurous ultra-trail runner becomes a sick superhuman challenge,” sums up the one who never gives up.
Went from swimming 25 m to… 3 km!
He looks back on a recent past where this seemed absolutely not possible.
“I swam 25 m in front crawl, no more, I was running out of air, I couldn’t breathe. I ran 3 km, back pain, abdominal pain with scars and no more air. It’s not easy to training, with diarrhea, loss of saliva, cramps, peeling feet with hand-foot neuropathies”.
Luc Atgé
Iron man
But he is “The Volunteer”. “They say that I have an extraordinary mind and I am convinced that we can do it! »
“I refuse to die now!” Above all, I want to show cancer patients that it is possibleeveryone can take on an impossible challenge, the human body has incredible energy and resources! It’s up to us to be convinced of it,” pleads the champion.
Very complicated beginnings
With a robust training program of six days of training per week, he went from 25 m to 3 km swimming, from 3 km to 25 km running, from 40 to 120 km cycling… All that remained was to combine the three in succession. D-Day…
Serene in Barcelona, Luc Atgé still suffered, obviously. He comes out of the water “tired and demoralized having taken 2 hours”, when he thought he would do 1h45. He goes cycling in the last ten… “My ass hurt!” My eyes closed, until the 48th km, I was ready to get into the support truck. and go home,” he recalls. “But I couldn’t see myself telling patients, you’re right, we need to know our limits and be reasonable.”
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As the race progresses, morale returns. And the muscles follow. At an average of 25 km/h, he clings to the groups which overtake him with a loop in advance.
“Nathalie, Mélanie, Cécile, Anne, the fan club is there, plus the extraordinary audience. I’m super motivated,” says the champion, who goes to the bathroom, changes and leaves on foot.
Luc Atgé was in bad shape at the start of the bike course… Before regaining his strength. (©Sportograf.com)
On time
“Run, walk, run, walk… I saved 1h30 on my cycling forecast, which allows me to plan 6h30 for the marathon! Easy ! », rejoices Luc Atgé. But it won’t be fun.
“My back hurts, my feet hurt… Three laps of 14 km to do, the first with lots of people. The second there are fewer of us, the third lap… there are fewer spectators, we don’t We don’t see any runners anymore, we follow each other 100 m from each other…”
Luc Atgé
Iron man
And the clock is ticking… “I’m thinking because according to my calculations I risk not crossing the line before 16 hours of racing…” Which would earn him an elimination.
He then hears the supporters shouting to him « you are an ironman ». “The longest, most endless 2 km… But he did it. In 3:43 p.m. It’s an ironman. “Not a blister, not an irritation, sore arms, back, feet, so happy, I didn’t even cry,” sums up the champion.
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He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do it before he got sick
“I dreamed of it when I was fit but I was afraid of not being able to do it, I made it sick, under treatment, being convinced that it was up to me to decide if I wanted to succeed! », he concludes by repeating that “anything is possible”: “There is always hope, medicine is not an exact science… and the human body can be surprising! »
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