Paris Marathon Race Report 2009

Running the Paris Marathon:

The day began with an early trip on the Paris Metro system from our hotel to the start line near the Champs Elysées. Unfortunately the race start time meant that we would have to miss the breakfast provided by our hotel, so we ate our croissants and bananas as we rattled through the city’s underground stations. At each stop more and more marathon runners boarded the train and the atmosphere of excitement and anticipation grew.

We arrived at our final destination and climbed the steps up to street level where we were greeted by the sight of thousands of runners and spectators. The area was littered with runners stretching and doing their warm up sprints. Already the morning felt warm, even though the sun was still hidden behind the stunning buildings surrounding the start area.

The Paris marathon offers competitors the opportunity to choose their expected race time and then join that ‘time category’ – which is then led by a pace-maker. For instance: if you wanted to run a 3:45 marathon, you would choose to join that particular group. The pacemakers who lead each group have large colour coded flags attached to them, making them easy to spot along the course. Then (in theory) all you need to do is follow your particular pacemaker to achieve your goal race time!

As the clocked ticked closer to the 8:45am we made the decision that we should enter our relevant pens and I wished my friends luck and joined the my group. The setting was amazing with the Arc de Triumphe directly behind us and the champs Elysées stretched out before us. More than 30,000 runners, just waiting for the word “GO.” The count down began and before long it was our time to begin to move forward. Shuffling to the sound of “Chariots of fire” blaring from huge speakers, we were off! It took almost ten minutes to get across the line, but with so many runners that was reasonable.

We began to pick up the pace over the first mile as the crowd thinned out and were into our stride in no time. But at mile 3 where the first aid station was located, we came to a stop. Due to a tight bend in the narrow road just after the aid station, runners were finding it hard to get through. This led to the creation of a back up of runners waiting to pass. In all we were stopped/walking for about 1 minute. Not exactly what you expect when you enter a big city marathon!

Once we got past the runner-jam, things returned to normal and the marathon continued. The course took us past and through some of most impressive landmarks and areas of Paris -including the Louvre, Place de Bastille, 2 Parisian parks, the Eiffel Tower and along the scenic banks of the River Seine.

The aid stations were located every 3 miles and were well stocked with Bottled water, Orange slices, bananas, raisins and sugar cubes. Each aid station was located on both sides of the road and was long enough to easily accommodate all runners. As the heat of the day increased, these frequent water stops became very much appreciated by all.

The support by Parisians for this marathon was huge, with crowds at every intersection and corner cheering on runners. Fire brigade units were out in force along with the police to help to encourage athletes as they ran. The heat increased later the race with temperatures rising to between 16c-19c, and as this is a spring marathon, those temperatures were hot for many of us who had been training over the cold and dark winter.

Finally we approached the end of the race, passing one aid station stocked with red wine and another stocked with something called Vanders ( FYI – Vanders = Cider!). Only in Paris…

Crossing the finish line we were greeted by cheering crowds and the wonderful fact that we no longer needed to run another step.

The Paris marathon was everything which I and my friends had hoped for and more. With the exception of the one point where the course became backed up, the race was extremely well organised and offers runners some of the most impressive buildings and parks in the world - to distract them from the pain of the race.

A highly recommended race

Endurance: The ability or strength to continue or last, despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina