Today, we have a kind of dream come true. Former fan of the show The studio, I met Bruno Blanchet to discuss his passion for running and training. Indeed, the latter mentions that his interviews are mainly oriented on his characters like Anne-Marie or Tite dent but rarely to talk about sports.
A great traveler and currently living in Thailand with his wife, we wanted to establish a relationship between the practice of a sport and travel! Who better than Bruno to explain everything to us, in a colorful and humorous way!
Daniel: What made you decide to start running?
Bruno: When I was young, I played a lot of team sports such as hockey, football, soccer, etc., but never individual sports. I practiced running a bit, but only with the aim of being better prepared for the team sports that motivated me. For me at that time playing sports was a gang affair and I couldn't see myself doing it alone.
Everything changed around the age of 40. I was in Fiji and I lived on an island where there were no roads so scuba diving was my daily activity. As it is not a very demanding physical activity, I quickly realized that my physical form was not optimal and I wanted to remedy the situation. Since I was limited in my options and the running is alarmingly straightforward, I took to running on the beach.
I was fortunate to have the precious advice of a friend, a former elite runner, who was with me on the island. We concocted a little trail in the jungle and one thing led to another, I signed up for my first competition in life, a few weeks later. It was in 2004, a 10 km, and I was sure I was going to win. The reality was quite different: a little boy of about 8 years old passed me ... in a gougoune! Despite everything, this race left a deep mark on me and contributed to my love for running. I now run everywhere I go.
I ran so much and managed to win a race, but think again, that was not a good thing for me. I got so put pressure subsequently that I lost the very essence of my desire to run. I burned myself… both physically and mentally and I stopped running for 3 months which resulted in loss of fitness and weight gain (which my Thai friends are not shy to point out to me).
I then started again and it did me good. I'm running now for the right reasons in my opinion; or be part of a community of fit, energetic and comfortable people. I run especially so as not to win a race again!
Daniel: Are you a competitive person if I understand correctly?
Bruno: It is certain that my past as an elite hockey player modulated this trait. Also, I am not someone who has huge ambitions: I just live. I just want to have time; time to practice, to do things that I love, etc. and experience as little stress as possible. But yes, I am competitive and it annoys me when it pops up.
This competitive aspect also led me to do bodybuilding (we hope with a Altterre 😉) and muay thai boxing.
Daniel: In your opinion, what parallel can we draw between traveling and racing?
Bruno: Each race brings its share of preparation: from the preparation of the race itself, to the preparation of our bags, to the hotel reservation, to the logistics of the trips, etc. Everything goes there… like during a trip!
We must promote these aspects and not just move around just to go running. Let's see it as a trip where we enjoy the experience by visiting, taking pictures, talking to people, in short, taking the time.
Seeing it from that angle, it makes everything lighter and more pleasant. It also allows you to open your eyes and appreciate the experience more. I have traveled Thailand up and down thanks to various sporting events!
Daniel: Can you tell us a racing anecdote that you experienced and that marked you a lot?
Bruno: My girlfriend and I were doing a trail run in the north of Thailand. She was registered for the 10 km and I for the 30km. The chrono chips, for this event, had to be fixed on the shoes.
We felt great that day… so good that we both finished second in our age groups! Proud, we headed to the lap tent only to find that we had accidentally mixed up our chips before the start! Results? Two beautiful DNF. We laughed so much, but we laughed at "we are really pies".
Just before the awards ceremony, my girlfriend and I took pictures of ourselves with the trophies that should have been ours. Back home, we bragged about having finished second with the said photos as proof! Don't look for our trophies on our bedside tables though!
WoW! So interesting as an interview! It makes us discover a new face of this comic that I already appreciated. Very original and relevant guest. Hat!
Indeed, a great interview, thank you!
Thank you for this great interview! Bruno is such a good storyteller and he has a lot of experiences! Cool!
Indeed, he has a natural talent for storytelling!
Awesome! Thanks