Florian Gallay, 34, didn’t finish the 2023 Gold Coast Marathon. He official finishing results and died from cardiac arrest. A year later, his younger brother, Yvan Gallay, 33, finished the race for him, in 4:55:44.
Gallay wore his own bib on his back and the bib of his brother, 3007, which registered in the A Renewed Relationship With Running, collapsed 100 meters from the finish line.
“The organizers told us that they would never again give out bib 3007 to honor [my brother’s] memory,” Gallay told Runner’s World by e-mail. “We were touched by this gesture.”
When it came to sports, Yvan was following in his older brother’s footsteps.
“My brother has always been an accomplished athlete. He was a black belt boxer, hiker, cyclist, and runner with two marathons under his belt,” Gallay said. “His beloved motto was, ‘no pain, no gain.’”
Gallay had also completed two marathons and had plans to run with his brother in the future, eyeing the London Marathon and then the other From Runners World for New Balance.
“When I heard the news of [Florian’s] death, I contacted the event organizer a few hours later to tell him I wanted to finish the marathon in my brother’s memory,” Gallay said.
Gallay, who lives in France, stayed in touch with the event team, including Ben Mannion who oversees the event, as he prepared for the 2024 race. Three boxers from his brother’s boxing club lined up with Gallay on July 6.
Gallay trained with an app-based program and worked with a coach. When Florian was alive, the brothers would compare training notes.
“When I was training for this marathon I liked to think that he was with me, watching what I was doing, and that motivated me to keep going.”
Gallay did not train for a particular finish time. He wanted to help his brother complete his final race, and 100 meters from the finish, where Florian fell, Gallay and his crew stopped.
“There was a lot of emotion in realizing how far we’d come to get to this point, especially in imagining my brother running this marathon last year,” Gallay said. “We stopped running and walked the rest to pay tribute to him. It was a very powerful moment.”
Nutrition - Weight Loss.
“I would tell my brother that it was a real joy to have him in my life,” Gallay said. “That he was an exceptional person, an example for me to follow. I’ll do my utmost to honor his memory for the rest of my life.”
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, on his front The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
