Nice Premium: The one that took place last Sunday was the 19th edition of this competition. Can you remind us of its history?
Pascal Thiriot: The Nice International Half Marathon was launched in 1991 at the request of the City of Nice, driven by Tony VIVARELLI, and thanks to a handful of passionate runners.
In 1998, the creation of the 10 Km of Nice within the Half Marathon brought a new dimension to the event.
In 1999, I became the outgoing President of the Jeune Chambre Economique and a former high-level athlete was appointed to revive the event, which had seen a decline in participants and partners. Being both a former high-level athlete and from the Jeune Chambre Economique, since then, Azur Sport Organisation has been managed like a company, and the event has evolved from 2,500 participants to 8,000, with the creation of a race for 9-15 year-olds, a popular walk, and a women’s race, the Niçoise.
Moreover, the development of the Prom Classic in 2003, which was created by the ASPTT in 2000, has become the number one 10km race in France with over 6,000 registrants.
In 2003, ASO worked on the marathon project, and in 2006, following the call for projects on 06/06/06 by the General Council, the marathon was selected as a major sporting event within the framework of sport tourism development for the department.
In 2008, in its first edition, the Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes marathon became the second largest marathon in France behind Paris with 10,000 registrants (a world record for a first edition).
In 2010, the Alpes-Maritimes marathon served as the marathon for the French championship.
NP: Organizing such a competition requires a significant organizational effort. What is your secret?
Pascal Thiriot: ASO has 4 permanent employees to manage our 3 events, and we rely on a total of 1,500 volunteers without whom the events could not take place, as well as the technical services of the municipalities, their project leaders, and municipal police. We must coordinate, manage, communicate, and develop with all these people; a lot of work is also done in relationships with partners.
NP: There’s also the issue of financing. What is the budget and how do you manage to handle it?
Pascal Thiriot: The overall budget for ASO events approaches €2 million, so we take up our pilgrim’s staff to equip ourselves to meet everyone’s expectations. We would like to be able to increase our budget to offer more to participants and develop our events.
We are an association, and we’re not here to make a profit; we fight to obtain partners and grants which are entirely for organizing the events. Grants do not exceed 30% of the budget, which is well below what exists elsewhere.
ASO is the only French association that organizes three events of international scope.
NP: From a sporting perspective, can this Nice event be considered among the most important in France, even in Europe in terms of the number of participants and results?
Pascal Thiriot: The Half Marathon is among the top 10 national half marathons, the Prom Classic is the number one 10km race in France, and the Alpes-Maritimes Marathon is the second French marathon. One could say that we are very well positioned in France in running and making people active and ensuring they enjoy it.
