A Run Through the Pyramids at La Grande-Motte

By Quan | 22 March 2026 | 3 min read

How I learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Deluge During a Half-marathon in Jean Balladur's Seaside Vision

Race day at Les Pyramides

Waterproofing is a nice concept until you begin to sous vide from underneath your poncho. It all became a theory once the downpour commenced around mile four of Les Pyramides Semi-Marathon at La Grande-Motte.

Earlier in the week I read an interview of poet Alice Oswald’s. She talked about gardening (something she does to not think, but do) and water, how it flows and you’re thought through by it, like a river to the ocean.

On this particular morning, the water definitely flowed, and everyone kept trying to find higher ground around the billowing mud pits.

It became an exercise in futility as the water had its way.

By the end, I realized the tips of my fingers and toes were numb, the blood coursing towards the core to keep warm. I’d feel them again an hour later after a much appreciated hot shower.

During the run, a man from a balcony yelled out, encouraging me from his warm, dry abode. “Allez! Bon courage!” I waved back with rain pelting my face. I waved at all the volunteers along the route, drenched, guiding us along from beach, to pond, through forest, and around the unusual architecture of this town.

In the 60s, France decided to transform this mosquito infested coastline south of Montpellier to become a vacation destination to offset crowds at more popular towns along the Côte d’Azur. Its architect, Jean Balladur, took inspiration from the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico to create this town from scratch.

FC2603_1080x1350_Les-Pyramides_la-grande-pyramide-02

A building named the Great Pyramid demarcates the two districts of the town. One side of it is rounded, denoting feminism, which represents the Couchant District (sunset), where its buildings are curved.

“Allez! Bon courage!”

The opposite side has straight lines denoting masculinity for the Levant District (sunrise). It took him 30 years to complete his grande oeuvre, which was derided as an architectural wasteland initially, but like most ahead of their time, it is now celebrated and holds the title as the greenest city in Europe.

And on this day, one of the wettest. It seemed like a good idea back when I chose it, seeing all the sunny photos from a place that gets over 300 days of sun. But the water gets its way. And all the runners fortunately found theirs by the end.