Carine Durr chairs the association which organizes la Hochfeldoise. The project was born one evening when she arrived late for the general meeting of the Hochfelden firefighters. “We came back from Strasbourg with friends, she remembers. The mayor gave us a challenge and we took it up. He told us, if you make a Hochfeldoise, I’ll follow you.”
This teacher from the André Siegfried high school in Haguenau did not imagine for a single moment that this initiative would be an incredible success. Around fifteen volunteers set to work. From the first edition in October 2022, 2,000 people run or walk in pink in the streets of the city which has around 4,000 inhabitants. They were 2,700 a 2O23.
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Chloe, 23 years old, manages the event’s social networks: “We have lots of people who relay our stories. Cancer affects a lot of people and everyone likes to do their part in this fight. When the march starts, we see all the streets of Hochfelden in pink. It’s really beautiful to see. This enthusiasm also shows that small villages are able to come together around this great cause.”
Yoga, swimming and sophrology sessions for patients
48,000 euros were collected in 2023. A sum entirely donated to the Cœur des sables associationwhich organizes sports and well-being activities for cancer patients in the canton. Every week, around fifteen activities are offered in several villages in the canton, including sophrology, swimming, yoga and even onco-aesthetics.
“It warms our hearts that we are able to bring together so many people around this great causewelcomes Carine Durr. It’s quite simply because everyone around them, in their family, has someone who is sick and therefore feels concerned. And then we donate all the money to set up activities for patients in our sector. It’s at home, it’s for our patients. This year, we have between 30 and 40 patients who benefit from it every week. For us, the objective is to perpetuate these activities in the Land of Zorn for as long as possible. As long as there is money, there is activity.”
Essential activities to rebuild oneself. Aurélie Bierbaum is the godmother this year of the Hochfeldoise. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2019. Today this physiotherapist gives yoga classes to patients in the area, in Wingersheim les Quatre Bans, near Hochfelden.
“During my treatments, yoga helped me a lot to be calmer, to sleep better, she testifies. This is something I wanted to pass on to patients. You have to relearn how to trust your body a little, because I still had the impression that my body was betraying me. It’s important to see that even if you have cancer, you can succeed in doing things. And then it also allows you to find yourself. Strangely, we are among ourselves, among sick people, but that’s where we will perhaps feel the most normal and talk about something other than that.”
Since January 1, 2023, approximately 70 cancer patients were able to benefit from the fifteen weekly activities organized thanks to the Hochfeldoise. In total, this represents more than 1,000 physical activity and well-being sessions.
The third edition of the Hochfeldoise will take place on Sunday October 13, with a 5 kilometer race at 9:30 a.m. and a walk at 10:30 a.m.
