It’s 2020 and there are children to be cared for. “Children and the Future” are determined to continue to make a difference. They won’t let Covid pull the rug under No Finish Line. They have risen to the challenge to convert those heart-warming scenes of throngs of warm-hearted folks coming together as a community – an unstoppable wave of kindness walking those extra kilometres or indeed many more for the children. How to do that in 2020?
The ironic challenge is that the traditional No Finish Line camaraderie is almost the opposite of 2020s unique norm requiring social distancing – the NFL ambiance radiates closeness and bonding – a tight wave of caring and fellowship.
No Finish Line though is a survivor like the children they help – they have thought out of the box and come up with an answer: Go Virtual. And Go beyond borders.
Eight Days Non-Stop
The answer is the 21st Virtual Principality of Monaco No Finish Line and was launched on Saturday 14 November, and run to Sunday 22 November 2020.
So this year, due to the Covid crisis, Children & Future, the association organizing the event, has introduced this survivorship-inspired special virtual dimension to the event. It also went beyond the Monegasque borders, which a virtual event lends itself to doing, and is setting itself the objective of covering 400,000 km. Just run or walk in an outdoor location that you choose yourself individually. The beauty is in the simplicity. Do as many kilometres as you desire and do it as many times as you like. The more the merrier. It really is that simple. To participate you just had to download the Zapsports application, select the No Finish Line race and start the stopwatch.
For each kilometre travelled Children & Future pledges to donate 1 euro to support projects in favour of sick or disadvantaged children.
Monaco’s No Finish Line for the first time, is accessible to you to run anywhere you like. Digital communication through social networks makes this possible; there are already around 12,000 followers. This new dimension makes it possible to collect yet more thousands of euros to help children who have been made even more vulnerable by the international health crisis and climate disruption.
Wilfred Yeguete of Roca Team Fame is Godfather for 2020
The distinguished sportsman, Wilfried Yeguete is the new godfather of No Finish Line 2020 and is stepping out himself. This former French champion with Le Mans in 2018, one of the very best French players, has since 2019 been one of the stars of Monegasque basketball with the Roca Team. Wilfred has chosen to plunge in to get involved with Children & Future to help children – a commitment commensurate with his sporting talent!
HelloMonaco Interviews the Organizers
HelloMonaco: How was organising the Monaco NFL event virtually for the first time – difficult or not?
NFL Virtual: NFL Virtual was a new challenge, since we are all volunteers. This took time, but with the fame of the name No Finish Line in Monaco, we enjoyed confidence from our longtime partners.
HelloMonaco: Are you happy with this new experience?
NFL Virtual: We do miss the atmosphere as we know it, on the track, but we keep up the spirit!
HelloMonaco: Please do tell us about any celebrity participants.
NFL Virtual: So lucky we are! We have our Sovereign HSH Prince Albert II who gave us official publicity from the outset. Our godfather of the year is basketball player Will Yeguette, very motivated! Olivier Giraud, French and Chelsea international football player, announced our race and Nico Rosberg made a personal announcement as well.
No Finish Line Results
Results were continuously processed by computer and available for consultation at any time on the childrenandfuture.com site.
The 200,000 kilometres have been surpassed! Sunday 22nd November at 3pm, after more than 190 hours of racing, the 2020 edition of the No Finish Line came to an end, in the presence of the godfather Wilfried Yeguete of the Roca Team, Jacques Pastor, Didier Gamerdinger and Karen Carvalho representing the National Council, with a notable score.
Compared to the previous editions, the participants ran more kilometers daily (+25% on average) and between them, on average 1000 km per hour.
317 704 euros were collected which will thus be donated to finance projects in favor of sick or underprivileged children, including a special allocation for children in the disaster-stricken valleys. More than 4 million euros have already been donated since the start of the NFL.
The awards ceremony will take place in the first quarter of 2021 for local participants.
The winner of this edition is Didier DA Costa with 756 km. He led the race from the beginning and runs in Ireland. The 2nd is Alain Forcella with 615 km and the 3rd was Christian Dal Corso with 486 km. The first woman and 11th overall, Karine Borgheresi with 394 km. The 2nd among woman is Cathy Muller with 376 km and the 3rd is Laura Gross with 301 km.
The first winning team is Barclays Monaco and Fight Aids with 10,181 km. The 2nd, the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Monaco with 8384 km and the 3rd the SBM Offshore with 7368 km.
NFL – Did You Know
The tortoise beats the hare: 62 year old Alain Forcella has been running NFL for 17 years and won it twice “Don’t run fast; don’t be ashamed to walk” he says.
Monaco Special Olympics have fielded a ginormous team of 80. They’ve been #1ranked in the association category before – watch out!
21.570 kilometres completed after only the first 24 hours – that’s 21.570 euros for kids.
Toys and Panettones – Casino Monaco stepped in to support a good cause with their 5 euro a panettone sale. Meanwhile toys donated at Fontvielle – thanks to Sower d’espoir and Monaco Humanitarian Aid with the help of Monaco taxis will find their way to delight the kiddies who suffered in the valleys from Storm Alex.
