It was a 10 kilometer race, but above all a wonderful lesson in pushing yourself and being part of the Beneva Montreal Marathon.
Félix Bégin-Hétu, who suffers from Down syndrome, still looked as fresh as a rose despite a large blister on his right foot as he reached the finish line near the Olympic Stadium on Saturday morning.
“I won my race and it was very easy,” said the 27-year-old runner proudly, wearing bib number 321, traditionally reserved in the running world for an athlete with Down syndrome.
Accompanied by his father Sylvain and his big brother Vincent, the courageous Félix ran for an hour and 33 minutes before pointing both arms to the sky. The goal was to complete the test in less than 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Félix Bégin-Hétu, who suffers from Down syndrome, poses proudly surrounded by his big brother Vincent and his father Sylvain Hétu after completing the 10 km run near the Olympic Stadium on Saturday, September 23, 2023 Completed the Beneva Montreal Marathon. Photo Benoit Rioux
“We did it in 12 minutes, faster than we thought,” confirmed the father. It went really well. We’re a little surprised.”
“It’s impressive,” said his big brother. Basically, what I can do, Félix can do too. It just requires a little more effort.”
Skeptics confused
As he crossed the finish line, Félix felt pain in his right foot. When he took off a shoe and a pair of socks, he discovered a large blister. The Warrior’s Wound.
“We finally realize he’s human,” his brother joked before getting him a granola bar, an apple and chocolate milk.
“The goal is to support Félix in everything he does,” added Sylvain, a proud father. When the marathon organizers approached us, he himself insisted on running the 10km. We were a little skeptical, but he’s just overcome another hurdle. A few years ago we wouldn’t have thought it would go like this. He managed one kilometer, at one point he wanted to do five kilometers, but he only ran ten kilometers and we don’t know where he will stop.”
A message of inclusion
In this great adventure, the Bégin-Hétu family comes from an environment where we interact more with people with Down syndrome through the “Course Three, 2, 1, Go!” presented in August and supported by Regroupement pour la Trisomy 21.
“We realize that many people don’t know anything about Down syndrome and they realize it’s possible [pour un trisomique] Running 10km brings inclusion and that’s nice to see,” concluded the father.
- After the shorter distance events on Saturday, the start of the marathon and half marathon will take place on Sunday September 24th, from 7:45 a.m. at Espace 67 on the island of Sainte-Hélène.