Leclerc Gouesnou Brest Métropole: Maël Sicot, Marie Lohéac-Bouchard and Maël Gouyette take the spoils

On Sunday, October 12, 2025, Gouesnou in Finistère experienced an intense, electric afternoon. The Leclerc Gouesnou Brest Métropole was more than just a race: it was the stage for the 2025 Brittany Championships, giving runners from across the region the chance to showcase their ambition, endurance and determination. With 1,800 participants across the 5K and 10K distances, a new event record, the field was packed and the atmosphere charged. The schedule was well established: the 5K started at 3:15 p.m., followed by the 10K at 4:15 p.m. according to the official timetable.  The 10K course, made up of two 5K loops, featured frequent changes of pace and fast sections but was never completely flat, offering ideal terrain for tacticians. The racing lived up to expectations.

Maël Sicot: the old king returns

When an injured champion comes back, you always keep a wary eye on him. You watch from the corner of your eye because every stride carries both fragility and desire. For Maël Sicot, Sunday had all the makings of a revenge mission, a wager placed on body and mind. The winner in 2022 and 2023, Sicot missed the 2024 edition because of a troublesome quadriceps. He was still expected to be somewhere between recovery and the start line, walking a tightrope. Yet from the opening kilometres, he was right at the front, setting the pace, throwing in attacks and testing his rivals’ reactions.

At the 5K mark, the course-record holder, who ran 29:15 in 2022, and his companions were already moving at a furious pace, reaching halfway in 15:03. From there, the race became a “dance of pain”: every surge was a gamble, every counterattack a minute stolen. Sicot made a move at the 4K mark, breathing heavily on his rivals, and Benoit Fanouillère responded at 6K. Then, over the final two kilometres, a battle of nerves unfolded. Who would crack first? Sicot raised his arms in the sprint, winning in 30:19 ahead of Fanouillère (30:24). “I didn’t feel like the strongest today, but perhaps I was the smartest,” he admitted, his eyes filling with tears. He spoke of the doubts in the finishing stages, the fatigue between surges and the fear of giving way. Even so, the playmaker had once again imposed his authority.

Benoit Fanouillère, edged out by the young Drôme hopeful Maël Henric (third in 30:25), faded in the finishing stretch and admitted he had “no excuses”: his legs had not responded, but his respect went to the winner. The runner from Côtes-d’Armor is already looking ahead to the Allonnes cross-country selection race, hoping to bounce back. Sicot’s 2025 story has all the makings of a fable: a warrior returning to the front line, more mature, more calculating, yet still unwilling to give up the glory.

Marie Lohéac-Bouchard makes it three in a row

If there is one race where being the favourite is no burden, it is the one for Marie Lohéac-Bouchard. The 2025 French 10K champion arrived in Gouesnou full of confidence and with a clear goal: to put her name on the roll of honour once again, this time by erasing the course record. She did exactly that. Running 33:42, the physical and rehabilitation medicine resident in Brest smashed the previous mark of 33:53, set in 2024, leaving little room for suspense. The Iroise Athlétisme runner said she had aimed to go out on 33:30 pace and stay well sheltered in a group where “the sensations were good” while saving enough energy to make it to the finish. The Paimpol native stood on the top step of the Gouesnou 10K podium for the third consecutive time.

© Marie Lohéac-Bouchard led from start to finish to claim the Brittany title. © STADION-ACTU

Her pragmatism makes perfect sense: alongside Sunday’s race, she is also chasing a place in the cross-country selections in Allonnes and Carhaix, as well as at the European Championships. This home-course time therefore landed like a promise fulfilled, a card played with confidence. The women’s podium followed a familiar script: Laëtitia Bleun­ven (35:24) and Mazarine Amis (35:37) completed the top three in the same order as last year. A sign that among Brittany’s women, consistency goes hand in hand with competitiveness.

5K: Gouyette lays down the law as Nédélec steps up

Before the 10K runners took off, the 5K had already delivered its verdict. In this fast, hard-fought format, the athlete with the most imposing résumé made his mark: Maël Gouyette, the 1,500m runner at the Paris Olympics, set a new course record over the 5K in 14:01, 26 seconds faster than Benoît Campion’s previous mark. But victory did not come without resistance. Sébastien Nédélec came on strongly, surged midway through and pushed back the fatigue. In the end, he was beaten in 14:05, agonisingly close, but with the satisfaction of a strong time and a new level reached.

© Breton runner Maël Gouyette smashed the 5K record. © STADION-ACTU

Nédélec’s progress this season shows that he is hungry for faster times and bigger ambitions. He has already set his next target: breaking 30:10 for 10K. In the men’s race, Pierre Couzinier took third in 14:41. In the women’s 5K, Gaëlle Muderhwa edged Marion Le Goff on the finishing straight, with both credited in 17:25, while Manon Le Fur completed the podium in 18:06.

What this edition leaves behind

Look beyond the results and Gouesnou 2025 left several lasting impressions:

• A remarkable increase in numbers: with a record 1,800 participants, the event showed just how strongly running has taken root across Brittany.

• A high-calibre field: attracting elite runners, Olympians and cross-country selection hopefuls reflects the event’s growing stature after eight editions and its place on the calendar.

• Human stories: Sicot returned from injury, Gouyette came back from a fracture, and Lohéac-Bouchard balanced training load with international ambitions. Every time told another chapter.

• A springboard into winter: many runners treated the event as a key step in their preparation for cross-country, selection races and their end-of-year goals.

A stronger Breton identity: the regional championship dimension gives the wins extra meaning and local pride.

✔ Find all the results from the eighth edition of the Leclerc Gouesnou Brest Métropole 5K and 10K.