Andrézieux-Bouthéon. Urban trail or volleyball: the call of sport resonates on the banks of the Loire

Over the years, it continues to grow "and inevitably makes volunteers and organizers want to get more involved in the face of success." The Andrézieux-Bouthéon Urban Trail will invade the town's iconic locations, for an exercise combining athletic performance and the discovery of local heritage.

The two traditional distances of 10.5 and 17.5 kilometers will obviously be on the program, as will the 5-kilometer "open" race, a victim of its own success last year when it was launched. "It is open to everyone, especially young people aged 15 and under, who are not allowed to run the other distances, which are timed races," explains Gaétan Favard, from the sports department, in charge of coordinating the event.

The organizers are also building on this success by offering a "Father's Day challenge" over this distance. It will be run in pairs consisting of a young person and one of their parents, regardless of which one. "There will be a final ranking, and the registration fee will be 10 euros for the pair, instead of 12 euros if they had run individually," explains the organizer. Unfortunately, one of the disciplines tested last year, a 10.5-kilometer Nordic walk, has been removed from the program. This is due to last year's very low participation.

The route, which will notably cross the Roger-Baudras stadium, the Palais des sports, the Bullieux, the town hall park, the Théâtre du Parc and the Château de Bouthéon . "It's a great tool for promoting the town, because there will inevitably be participants from outside.

But above all, it helps show that despite constraints, particularly budgetary ones, Andrézieux-Bouthéon remains a sports city," rejoices Pierre-Julien Marret, the deputy in charge of this area. A large turnout of volunteers, but also of city officials (who handle some of the logistics as well as the opening and closing of the visited sites) is expected. There will be more than 90 of them, many coming from the Athletics Faculty, but also from the volunteer platform and social networks.

This dual collaboration between the association and the municipality should attract even more participants this year. "We had 265 registered at the end of the week, and we always double that number in the last week," adds Gaétan Favard. With the 500 participants hoped for, compared to 400 in 2024, the event is slowly approaching the previous scores of the Eurofoulées from a few years ago. With a little more room to spare, since the maximum capacity for the race is 800 places.

They'll still have to push the boundaries. During this highly athletic weekend, members of the Entente forézienne de volleyball will set up the nets in front of the Cabl esplanade (Loire River Recreation Complex) for a day of four-on-four matches on grass.

Here again, "so that everyone has fun," as President Alexis Paviet-Salomon already stated last year , two tournaments are scheduled: one is "leisure" oriented, the other "competition." In the second, a few semi-professional players participated in the previous edition, which promises a high level. Last year, there were nearly 260 of them, divided into 65 teams (the tournament was full), to swell the number of athletes present in the town for a less conventional and more sweaty Father's Day.

Urban trail: registration on logicourse.fr . Registration closes on June 13 at midnight. Times and prices: 5 km at 9 a.m. (6 euros solo, 5 euros/person in pairs); 10.5 km at 9:05 a.m. (12 euros); 17.5 km at 9:10 a.m. (17 euros). Volleyball: 40 euros per team. Registration only online on the EFVB website (via SportEasy). Tournament starts at 10 a.m.