Courir pour la mémoire is a 5 km and 10 km running event on Marseille’s Corniche, the road along the city’s seafront. It links a straightforward road race with a public message: recognition of the Armenian genocide and support for peace. The event was founded by Pascal Chamassian, honorary president of the Courir pour la mémoire association, after the race was launched for the genocide’s centenary.
The course uses the Corniche, so runners are on one of Marseille’s most identifiable coastal stretches rather than a closed stadium or park loop. The field brings together people who come for the running and people who come for the act of remembrance. Chamassian summed up the idea simply: the race was meant to carry a message through an event.