The Qu’est-ce
que c’est? 12 Hour Run was almost cancelled due to cool weather as most runners demand temperatures in the 100’s.
They were disappointed by a cool front that reduced the low temperatures into the 60’s with marginal highs approaching
86 degrees. “This is not what we expected and signed up for!” one runner was overheard complaining about the milder
temperatures. The days was full of running performances that resulted in double previous mileage for many people: Vinh Nguyen, 28,
whose previous long race was a marathon, powered on to first with 60.8 miles! Thuy Thantrong, 27, whose long run was a 5K,
decided to go for a 50K and stopped with 31.9 miles; and Ian Stewart, 11, decided his 10K long run needed to be replaced with
a half-marathon and ran 13.4 miles.
A new application format for the “Qu'est-ce que c'est? 12Hour Run was instituted this year with the theme of
“Making Race Registration Slow and Difficult.” Requiring several essay questions to be answered, a phone interview,
and the submission of a drawing or picture on the race theme, this process managed to keep the number of runners within the
desired number. The awards plaques continued to be created from “found objects” picked up from the highway and
helped bring in focus the race name, “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” Meaning: What is it? Qu’est-ce que c’est? 12 Hour Charleston,
South Carolina July 4 - Paved 1.03 Mile Path 1. Vinh Nguyen 28
60.8 2. Andrea Stewart 46
51.5
John Kraus 62 PA
51.5 3. Noah Moore 39
50.5 4. Karen Pearson 46 GA
42.2 5. Lia Knower 49 GA
40.2 6. William Keane 65 NC
39.1 7. Lauri Fauerbach-Adams 39
PA 33.0 8. Thuy Thantrong 27
31.9 Daniel Lieb 35 NC
31.9 10. Lynn DiFiore 42 TN
26.8 Robert Crosby 51
26.8 11. Valerie Kraus 59 PA
20.6 12. Ian Stewart 11
13.4 13. Alex Morton 61 NC
12.4 This
is a non-corporate sponsored event
The name “Qu'est-ce que c'est? was chosen for a number of reasons,
however the director has difficulty recalling the exact reasons. Some runners speculate the French phrase meaning, “What
is it?” (or more literally “What it is?”) was chosen to reflect the difficulty in conceptualizing the distance
of the initial run of 50 K. Others believe it refers to a popular song, “Psycho Killer”, by the Talking Heads.
One runner said, "It probably just rhymes with 50 K.” Besides the race director’s liking to say Qu’est-ce
que c’est?, another reason the name has been maintained is to continue irritating some runners who have difficulty pronouncing
it.
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