"It took over a year to organize the first race."

His prize - 13,310 francs - came from a subscription opened by L'Auto, the paper which organised the race.

We could have organized the race differently if we had known.

Last year, the 60-member committee that organizes the race briefly considered changing the name, but unanimously rejected the idea.

It's taken him three years to organise the race, and select the crews.

It got to the point where people organizing the race would say: 'Why bother?

And, he might have added, no deep ideological fight over how to organize the human race.

Bernard Fagan was the first to organise the race.

Kaufman organized the first race as an April Fools' Day promotion.

"Since most executives are competitive by nature, this is an extension of their life," said Rob Hogan, the promoter who organized the race.