I was born on April 12, 1963 in Lyon, France.
Today I live in Paris. I am a professional photographer. As
far as I can remember, I have always run.
UFO
- How and why did you start to run ?
Jamel Balhi - I started to run to escape. To
run away from society, things I didn’t like, boredom. I wanted
to go to the sun, to meet nice people, just like when you
go on holiday. I felt like going away, being on holiday forever!
But it was essentially a rejection of society, the consumer
society that makes fools of us, with silly fashions. And I
wanted to go to Asia.
It was
the hippie culture ?
Yes, the
hippie culture. It was an ideal of life.
When
did you start to run ?
I’ve always
run, I never depended on competitions to. I used to run to
go to school, to cross the streets, since I was 7 or 8, actually,
as far as I can remember… Then came the competitions but I
was too independant…
So you
decided to go on a trip...
I wanted to meet a friend in Shanghai,
he had invited me for a cup of tea…At that time I had already
run a little bit. But it all really started with this journey
to Shanghai.
In which
year was it ?
I had the
idea in 1985 and left in 1987. I made many short trips before
leaving. In the summer of 1986,
I ran to Istanbul then to Amsterdam to test my shape.
You
had no model, but may be a book had a special impact on you
?
I always
liked novels about exodus, stories of men in prison, the travelling
literature in the 70’s hippie style. But I’m a bit sick of
Kerouac, Ginsberg and the Beat Generation. I’m a bit sick
of Americans. When
you think of it, you realise that Kerouac was a mass craze.
In the 50’s, those few guys, Kerouac, Burroughs and Ginsberg,
etc, created that movement, but it could have been anything
else. People would have followed anyway because those kind
of guys are impressive, they can talk, like salesmen. Even
if “On the Road” is a hymn to liberty, it’s outdated now.
The books are mainly about booze and I don’t think hippies
identify with the ‘Beat’.
You
say that you’re a bit ‘sick of’ Americans, but you’ve just
crossed the United States from north to south...
I’m not an anti-American but I don’t like
this expansionism I find really excessive. We have no choice.
Anyway, I wanted to know them better.
Your
favourite movie is American, isn’t it ?
Yes, it’s
Midnight Express.
And
by the way, what’s your favourite band ?
Pink Floyd, and musicians like Bob Dylan.
Let’s
come back to your first travels, Istanbul, it was the influence
of Midnight Express ?
No, not necessarily. Midnight Express
was that same kind of 60’s and 70’s hippie thing. It’s not
Midnight Express that decided me to run… I just wanted to
run in Europe before going to Asia. I looked for a destination
whose distance was roughly equivalent to two or three months
of running. A long holiday. I was passing my high-school diploma
at that time.
What
was your state of mind when you left for Amsterdam, and Istanbul ?
I was in good shape and I knew the kind
of training I needed consisted in adapting myself to repeated
efforts. Actually, the most difficult thing was to deal with
the unknown.
Running was not a problem. My body’s ok. It’s more about time
spent on running… Between 60 km and 80 km, the difference
is in the mind, not the body. You just have to be able of
doing two more hours on tarmac. That’s all.
What
was your first race ?
I was 16, it was Saint-Etienne-Lyon. A
great 60 kms classic race that takes place every year in December
and gathers several thousand runners. It was in 1979, it was
the first time I had run with a number. I finished !
What
was your training ?
None. Thirteen metres
and fifty. From the doorstep to the fireplace in the apartment
in Lyon. The distance was thirteen metres and fifty. I ran
to the fireplace to check if I could enter for the race. When
I got to the fireplace I thought “it looks ok”.
Were you in a club
?
I run as it comes.
Now I’m in the Tremblay-en-France club because there are good
friends of mine there. I don’t need to be labelled as a runner
to run. I don’t like to flaunt it.
What are your personal
bests ?
On
marathon…It’s been more than ten years now…It must be around
2h25 or 2h27… and on 100 kms… 7 hours and… I don’t know. That
may be one of my fault, I mean the lack
of rage to win. I don’t give a damn at all. I just do my thing,
run when I feel like it.
But you probably
had a training if you did 2h25 on marathon…
Yes but I had a predisposition too.
When I run with my rucksack I am at 12 or 13 km/h and when
I come back, I need to make intermittent runnings, to run
on tracks and do a series of 400 m and 1000 m. I do my training
instinctively most of the time.
How many ultras have
you finished ?
I can’t answer that kind of questions
for example.
How do you see yourself
amongst the other ultra-runners ?
We’re the same family. I made the
Sand Marathon three times, in 1992, 1993 and 1995. There’s
a 70 kms stage and it’s the main event of the marathon : I
finished first in 1995, before the Russian who was the leader
of the 100kms races. That day was my day. Besides everybody
was waiting for a chance to trip me up. I am known to do my
stuff by myself. Another anecdote… It was in 1996, a short
time after my departure from Paris to link the holy cities.
I was in a youth hostel in Angoulême and we
were not many. A runner stopped by with a whole team,
a physio, a dietician, a nutritionist, etc. He was a very
famous runner, a good one, with times, titles, medals. He
knew who I was, and we met. I remember his doctor was irritated
because the shower pommel couldn’t get separated. I was about
to leave for almost 20 000 kms of running and I had left Paris
for several days. We had a good contact but no more. He knew
exactly what I was doing but ask me no question. They didn’t
invite me to go to restaurant with them either. I was nothing
in their plan. They completely ignored me and though, they
perfectly knew what I was doing at that time.
So you’re the same
family in spirit, but you feel different in reality…
Yes, we’re the same family because
we all use our legs to run.
How
do you calculate the distances when you run ?
With
maps. At the moment, I run a lot in the Buttes-Chaumont park,
in Paris, but never more than 20 kms. Beyond, I’d rather link
two cities.
Do people recognise
you in the park ?
Yes, most of the time. The joggers
do in general. They don’t want to disturb me, some of them
just say hello, others say nothing because they’re embarrassed.
Well I’m not Yannick Noah anyway… It’s easier for me.
What you like most
in your way of life is to be different, isn’t it ? Not to
do like everybody else ?
Yes and I still have this desire
not to be a follower. When somebody does something, I won’t
systematically do the opposite, but I’ll try something different.
To choose to do the opposite is already a conditioning.
For the anecdote,
how do you manage to change used shoes when you’re in Tibet
?
Nike France has supported me from
the beginning. They sent me shoes in general delivery. That’s
not really a problem. It happened I ran out of shoes and couldn’t
receive some… Well, I take any shoes then. With a pair I can
make between 2000 and 2500 kms. At 40°c, the tarmac is burning
hot and uses soles faster. Tracks use a lot too, more than
ordinary roads.
What’s
your favourite surface ?
Roads. Especially
main roads. This is my universe. It’s the road that made me
choose long distance running. That’s what I like. It links
all men. I like the world of the road : trucks, gas stations,
smell of gasoline…
You can’t start without
a coffee in the morning. Do you take the usual runner precautions
: stretching, warm-up, etc. ?
In
the morning, I’m a cat. Slowly at the beginning. My muscles
wake in the first kilometres. I don’t stretch. I’m stiff like
a stick but on the other hand I’m built for running. I can’t
raise my leg but it doesn’t matter because I don’t need to.
I let things be, naturally. It’s good to do stretching but
I would have to do it all the time. In my case it doesn’t
make sense to stretch once in a week. So, it’s everyday or
no day at all. It’s no day at all.
Do you have a ritual
before running ?
One, two or three coffees. I hardly
eat before 11 or noon. After 20 kms, I start to eat. Even
for a marathon or any competition I don’t eat in the morning.
You told me that
you didn’t really need moments of recovery. You could feel
drained, though seldom, because of malnutrition or drops of
energy. Have you ever thought during your travels that you
had to stop before it went wrong ?
No, it’s not about the physical condition,
it’s more about weariness, sometimes it’s mental. Countryside
too. I mean it’s hard to live in countryside. It’s repetitive.
Most of all in countries with one political regime, one religion,
one cooking speciality, one language… you eventually meet
people who all look the same.
From this point of
view, which country was the most difficult ?
China. People were not easy. They
all look the same. Not physically but they were all hostile,
not hospitable. You are the stranger in their country, them
on one side, you on the other one. They always make you feel
it. I spent a year in China and I hardly had any good experience.
You don’t meet people at home in countries like that, at night
you just go back to your hotel.
Hotels… by the way,
how do you manage with expenses ? There’s no sponsor on your
pictures…
I make a lot of conferences, I show
my slides. At the
moment I’m always in some place. I travel by train, with my
slides and books. People know me thanks to word by mouth.
I speak of my travels with my pictures to children of every
age who are very attentive. I think teachers understand their
interest. It’s often the same people I see after each travel.
We keep in touch.
Are they fans ? How
do you explain their admiration ?
I have no fan club. But I’m very
happy because I can pass on positive things. What they probably
find extraordinary is ordinary to me. Besides, we live in
times when things can’t be simple anymore, and people accept
it that way . Everything goes fast, everything’s planned to
make money which is not my point. I don’t run after money
and if you look twice you see that nowadays all that works
in society, all the positive things, all we’re conditioned
to like are actually for making money.
It’s something that
bothers you ?
It’s something I want to run away
from. I’d rather go to simple and free things. The problem
is about people having dreams. I have no dream so I’m not
living any of them, I’m living, period. I don’t dream except
when I sleep. I have ambitions, concrete plans but they’re
not made of dreams.
Another mystery is
about your rucksack. What do you put in it ?
My photography kit, a pair of pants,
a sweat-shirt and a raincoat.
But don’t you have
to deal with extreme weather conditions sometimes ?
No, it’s
ok because I choose the right seasons. In my last journey
I crossed the usa from
north to south and I left from Anchorage,
Alaska. It was during spring and the temperatures were between
10 and 15°c. But on the other hand it can be very hot. The
highest I experienced was 58°c in the Taklamakan desert
in western China, on the Silk Road. I walked a lot.
Did you feel in danger
in those moments ?
No I didn’t, I run on main roads and
there’s always a truck to stop. I just need to show my flask.
In Tibet they give barley alcohol, in China it’s mostly some
beer. The drivers give you what they drink on road.
Not very good for
being hydrated…and it’s diuretic…
There’s still a little water though…
Did you ever meet
people or tribes during your travels who considered running
as quite natural ?
No I didn’t. I seldom left roads
so I didn’t go off tracks, or into the depths of countries,
or isolated places. My point of view is from the road, which
means “traffic” and “civilisation”.
Do you think about
the day when you have to stop ?
No, one day for me is today. I was
asked the same question ten years ago. I don’t push beyond
my limits, I’m not reckless.
What’s your next
project ?
The state highway 7, I’ll leave in
early April. I’ll finish the book I’m writing in the meantime.
Do you have a credo
or a motto ?
“A stranger is a friend we haven't
met yet.” I was in a bar in Danemark and it was raining. I
just arrived after a day of running and didn’t really know
where to sleep. I was talking with people. It was a small
village. I asked a beer and started a conversation with someone
next to me. He offered to give me shelter and I asked him
why. He told me that for him a stranger was a friend he hasn't
met yet. I’ve kept that sentence in mind. I need to hear that
kind of things from people when I’m on the road. It makes
me feel good.
In your books, you
talk a lot about people and little about running. It’s a bit
frustrating sometimes…
And yet, it’s running that brought
me everywhere I went.
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