TONTONS DU PACE, EPISODE 2: ADHENO

After the hugely charismatic Grandpa Bernard, our Tontons du Pace series takes you to meet one of the characters who inspired these portraits in the first place. For years, Adheno sold clothes in his vintage shop in central Lyon. But above all, he's what you'd call a born entertainer. Lyon accent, slang, humour. Always sharply dressed. And the gift of the gab, with no off switch.

He talks. A lot. And then he talks athletics.
We eventually realised he really knew his stuff. The local runners, the young pros, their times. He's done the rounds of Parilly, the Parc de la Tête d’Or, the clubs, the races. And he still runs. At 62. Tireless.

“My talent is to keep running.”

Naturally, a talent like that speaks to untalented runners like us.

He's told us the story of his mate Rachid Ziar at the Paris Marathon 25 times.
Beaten by Benoît Z… while eating a banana. He still brings it out, word for word, and it lands every time.
He makes you smile. He makes you laugh. He's all about connecting with people.
He's endearing, Adheno.

Thanks to all the youngsters, Yann, Mathieu, Flavien, Dorian and Paolo, who came along to share a few kilometres, then a few drinks, with Adheno. It's so cool to see these generations brought together by a love of running. Thanks to the great Adheno for opening up to us, and for opening the doors of his flat and his world.

And finally, thanks to Matthias for having the eye and the talent to capture these images and moments, and for turning it all into a few minutes of pure running culture and human connection.

You can watch the video on our Instagram. Long live untalented running. If you know a Tata or a Tonton du Pace, feel free to drop us a DM on Instagram to suggest them 🙂