British wine merchant enters Medoc marathon in style

Bordeaux Index is hoping to raise £10,000 for charity with a team of runners in this weekend’s Medoc Marathon.

The Bordeaux Index team

According to the London-based fine wine merchant, its eight-strong group of runners will be the first British team to compete in the French sporting event.

They will be raising funds for The Sick Children’s Trust and The Benevolent.

The event is billed as the longest – meaning the slowest – marathon in the world, and features seranading musicians as well as 9,000 entrants, who can enjoy fine wine and oysters as they “run” between the châteaux.

The Marathon du Medoc also awards medals to all participants who finish the race within six and a half hours, almost four times longer than British runner Paula Radcliffe, who set the women’s world record for the London Marathon in 2003 with a time of two hours and 15 minutes.

“It seems only fitting that during this momentous time for sport, Bordeaux Index announces our involvement in the 2012 Marathon du Medoc and reveal the charities we will be supporting,” said Gary Boom, Bordeaux Index managing director (but not Medoc Marathon entrant).

“Ours is the first UK team ever to enter the race so on 8 September our team of seven plucky staff members – plus one guest – will run 26 gut-busting miles through some of Bordeaux’s most famous scenery and vineyard regions,” he added.

“But regardless of the fine food and vinous luxury on offer, our team will ignore all distractions and instead concentrate on running and raising money – we’ve got a fund-raising target of £10,000 for our two chosen charities: The Sick Children’s Trust and The Benevolent.”

The Bordeaux Index team consists of (left to right):

BI team doing Mo Farah’s Mobot

Jean-Louis Ruffet
Peter Newton
Elia Leonardo
Sylvain Lepeltier
Jon Roach
Arthur Gibson
Philippe Guittard

Plus Charlie Mount, who works for The Royal Tokaji Company, and is not pictured.

To support the two chosen charities, online donations can be made here.

Click here to read more about the Marathon du Medoc.