"We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness."
- Maxwell Maltz
My Story: Globetrotting from Running into Cycling...

Page 1 2 3 4      Lilli The (Ex-)Runner    Lilli The Traveler

ESC Toulouse/France

For the first time ever since I left the European continent in 1998 to study on the American continent, I was not happy to return to the United States after the summer break 2003 which I spent backpacking Europe for a month with tent, sleeping bag, and an Interrail train ticket. I rounded up the European summer in the Swiss Alps training for the New York City Marathon for a month. After 4 years in the U.S. and the completion of my athletic eligibility in the NCAA system, I had had enough of the country. I was ready to leave and open another chapter of world and life discovery. However, I was stuck at the University of Arkansas for yet another year that I was missing to finish my graduate degree (MBA) at the Sam M. Walton College of Business... or so I thought... UNTIL...

One day in October 2003 I was walking through the undergraduate floor of the College of Business when a display of images from places all over the world with flyers hanging everywhere caught my eyes. One flyer with letters that I deciphered as "Study abroad in FRANCE","spring semester", "also for MBA students!" struck me in particular. I thought to myself: "France? For MBA students? I am an MBA student! And I want to leave the U.S.! France? Why not study abroad at home in Europe? I want to move to... FRANCE!!!". Roughly two seconds later I found myself in the computer laboratory e-mailing both the study abroad contact person and my MBA director.

Less than four months later I packed all of my belongings and left the American continent... 5.5 years after I entered it as a pure German, pure runner and straight out of German high school. I returned to Europe as a German only on the face of my passport, as an ex-runner, with one university degree (BSBA) in the pocket and another (MBA) in smelling distance. Even though I was tired of living in the U.S., it was very hard to leave. I had spent some incredible years in the United States, years that left deep marks on me as a student, athlete and most importantly person. I learned and experienced a lot during those 5.5 years. But I was out to add more to the learning experience which I could only do somewhere else in the world. Toulouse, France was my next chosen destination for this endeavor.

February 11th, 2004: My last contact as a visa holding resident in the U.S.. February 12th, 2004: Return to the Roots in Stuttgart, Germany. February 15th, 2004: Move onto a new international but inner-European chapter. February 16th, 2004: Arrival at the business school (ESC) in Toulouse, France. February 18th, 2004: First day of classes as a German-origin U.S. exchange student at the ESC Toulouse.

Marion Clignet - "La Bonne Fé"

As I was injured once again when I moved to France, I remembered my road bike that I had bought the summer before; it had long been covering itself with dust in our basement in Germany. France. Isn't France home of the world's most famous cycling stage race? Isn't France supposedly the home of cycling? Maybe I should take my road bike with me to Toulouse and hop back on it... It was fun last summer, maybe I really should try it?!?! Maybe there are cycling clubs in Toulouse that I can join to have some training partners?

Shortly after I arrived at the business school (ESC) in Toulouse, I started cycling once a week and began to look for clubs in the area on the internet. I found two clubs, US Colomiers and GSC Blagnac, that seemed like what I was looking for. I contacted both clubs via e-mail but no response. No, I told myself, I am not giving up on my cycling idea just yet...

During my online search I stumbled across the website of someone named "Marion Clignet". I had never heard of her but I quickly realized that she was something very special in the sport of cycling not only in France but in the world. Looking at her palmarès, I was extremely impressed: 6 times world champion, one world record, two Olympic Silver Medals, and many more heavy metals hanging down her neck of glory not only in athletics but far beyond the cycling track. It wasn't simply her athletic abilities that inspired me immediately. The more I researched her name online and the further I got to know her in person later on, the more I was thinking "WOW....!!!" in disbelief and utmost respect. What an incredibly strong character overcoming odds of all sorts and keeping such a pure personality full of honesty, sincerity, and firm connection to earth.

Less than 24 hours after I e-mailed Marion to ask about clubs in the area (she is from Toulouse), I received a response. I became member of her club CA Castelsarrasin soon after and we became friends in no time. Marion had retired from cycling after the Sydney Olympics but then returned to have one last shot at an Olympic Gold in Athens. I had the honor to get a first-hand view on her difficult quest in 2004, received immediate reports all the way from the World Track Championships in Melbourne through her last-ever race, the Giro d'Italia. It was terrible to witness such cycling greatness struggle in situations she never had to face before...being beaten by others, having to realize that her mind was impreding her body; that it was not quite as strong as it used to be; and that things were not quite going like they used to go. It was rough to watch from the outside, not being able to help but only try to send e-mails of encouragement.

After the Giro d'Italia and her final retirement, I asked Marion if she was willing to coach me. Our athletic cooperation began in September of 2004. Our teamwork has not ended since and I do not intend to ever terminate it from my part. You learn the best from the best, especially from someone like Marion. So in September 2004 my serious cycling journey was bound to begin, shifting to second gear on a hopefully straight highway with an attitude that I learned from even more equally special and inspiring individuals that I was fortunate to cross paths with: The Kenyans!

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