This was my first international overseas race. I was lucky enough to get in on a ballot place!
My family & friends decided to come along and cheer me on – it is Paris after all.
We rented an apartment central for getting out & about which was easy enough (with my husband Ally doing all the guide work)!
On the first morning after arriving we headed to the Expo to collect my race number & pack which included a drawstring bag, water bottle & various sweets, nuts & vouchers!
We also had t-shirts to collect for the ‘Breakfast run’ which was held on the Saturday morning which is a 5k run open to all marathon entrants, friends & family.
This was a fantastic fun relaxed run, it was lovely to see everyone participating. The Mexicans were by far the liveliest, singing & chanting along the way, great atmosphere & took in some of the major sights Paris has to offer – starting at the Arc de Triomphe, passing the Eiffel Tower where everyone stopped for the photo opportunity. It was a cooler morning but great for running. At the finish line there is coffee, water, bananas but the best was the croissants & chocolate brioche! Well worth the €7 entry fee & a must for any future participants!
The rest of the day I took the opportunity to rest my leggies before going out for a lovely Italian meal to finally take on board those last important carbs to keep me going for the 42km that lay ahead.
Race day morning and after a surprisingly good nights sleep I felt quite relaxed & ready.
A short metro ride away and I was soon joining all the other runners heading to the start at the the Arc de Triomphe, there were not many fancy dress entrants, I saw a mini mouse, a prisoner with ball & chain & one guy with a carton of ‘Taiwans fav fruit juice’! But nothing on the scale of London.
It was a beautiful bright morning & warm at 8.30 am! It was quite a walk up to my 4hr estimate finish time pen, as I passed a sea of sub 4hr runners I felt I was going against the tide! But I was not alone!! An hour after the official start I could hear the countdown but couldn’t see the start line, it felt a good 10mins before we were crossing it, along the cobbled road down towards the arc de Triomphe, crowds were lining the streets & a mass of runners bobbing heads with no sign of my 4hr pacer who I planned to keep in my sights…..
The route is initially through the built up streets which offered some shelter from the heat of the sun, along the wide tree lined roads, there were much needed water stations every 5k which also offered orange quarters which unfortunately some runners discarded at their feet and made for some careful manoeuvring so as not to slip never mind the plastic cups that were offered at some of the stations & strewn across the route!
The crowds were brilliant along the way not only lining the streets but some places in the middle of the road too! Cheering everyone along ‘allez allez’ I was finding the race was flying by as I caught up with my pacer at either 9miles or 9k, I was getting confused by the markers?!
I was enjoying the atmosphere so much I was flying along & kept thinking I must be calculating the mileage all wrong as I was having far too much fun!
There were hoses out along the route which was very refreshing but totally messed with my hair as I got a soaking!
As I came along one bend I could see about a dozen very smart firemen lined up cheering us along – I very nearly missed my family cheering me at this point, oops!!
They had been enjoying the day & getting in on the action while waiting for me, cheering on the crowds, high 5ing runners & even getting ago of the drums!
As the km/miles were ticking by I was a bit concerned about a tunnel coming up at the 16mile mark – I needn’t have
worried tho as even at 1.4km long there was music albeit the tune from ‘The Omen’ as I passed through – I had to laugh & keep going!!
I took advantage of most of the water stations avoiding the oranges & isotonic stop where the road was all sticky from the spillages and made for a funny noise as we ran over this part.
I had the 4hr pacer in my sights at the final 40k mark and even passed the lovely people offering wine as I was not stopping again!!
At this pint I could see a few of the runners were pulling up, walking and I even saw a couple lying at the side of the road receiving first aid.
The final 2k seemed to go on for EVER! I actually thought I could get sub 4hr at this point but my knee had other ideas so I decided to calm down and make sure I finished in one piece – round the corner & the final straight to the finish line was in sight!
An unbelievable beautiful route with an almost carnival atmosphere with all the bands along the way and welcoming friendly encouraging crowds made for an amazing 26.2 mile run – I could almost do it all again…….
Report by: Sally Bruce