Bordeaux stalwarts gear up for New York marathon

Thirteen members of the Bordeaux wine trade are running the New York City Marathon this November.

The team includes Marie-Louise Schyler of Chateau Pichon Longueville, Kees Van Leeuwen of Cheval Blanc, Mathieu Cuvelier of Chateau Clos Fourtet, Henri Lurton of Chateau Brane Cantenac, David Launay of Chateau Gruaud Larose and Jean-Emmanel Danjoy of Chateau Clerc Milon.

They will join 45,000 other runners for one of the most renowned marathons in the world.

Ronan Laborde of Chateau Clinet, at 31 the youngest chateau runner: he has completed ten marathons, coming third in the 2010 Medoc Marathon and completing the 2010 Paris Marathon in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

Henri Lurton of Brane Cantanac, 49, is the oldest runner. He last ran the Medoc Marathon in 2003.

‘We not training together regularly right now because of the harvests, but meet at least once a month to ensure we are on track,’ Laborde told Decanter.com.

‘We have a doctor in the team as well, a 55-year-old cardiologist who has completed 15 marathons, so he is ensuring we are all ready to go.’

‘My normal life is not always that healthy, with way too many dinners for most of the year,’ Mathieu Cuvelier, on his second marathon after the Medoc Marathon in 2009, said. ‘This is also a good excuse to get into shape.’

The team is calling itself the Bordeaux Grand Crus Runners, and it will be raising money for the Lysistrata charity, which works to combat violence against women worldwide.

They are holding several fund-raising events in Bordeaux and New York, starting with a charity dinner on October 13.

The New York City Marathon takes place on 6 November 2011.

The runners are:

Marie-Louise Schyler,Chateau Pichon Longueville

Gilles Rambeaud , Maison Malet Roquefort/Chateau La Gaffeliere

Henri Lurton, Chateau Brane Cantenac

Kees Van Leeuwen, Chateau Cheval Blanc

Luca Leclrecq, Chateau Lafon-Rochet

Erwan Le Brozec, Chateau d’Armailhac

David Launay, Chateau Gruaud Larose

Ronan Laborde, Chateau Clinet

Yannick Evenou, Chateau La Dominique

Cecile Daquin, Chateau Pape Clement

Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, Chateau Clerc Milon – his first marathon

Mathieu Cuvelier, Chateau Clos Fourtet

Julien Barthe, Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot

Pic: Martineric

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux