Paris Marathon 6/04/08
Thought it was about time someone else apart from Richard did a race report!
This was my second ever marathon and my first big city one. I felt pretty nervous about it, but I have to say I enjoyed (nearly) every minute! It is a very well organised start and despite the 28,800 runners, I didn’t feel it was particularly crowded, with only one point about 5kms in, where we slowed to a walk for a few seconds.
The weather turned out to be fine, despite the forecasts earlier in the week of hail / snow / rain. It was a dry and crisp 8 degrees or so, which suited me fine, and also meant I didn’t have to wear shorts and expose my blue-white Scottish legs to the critical French public.
The route is nice and flat and goes past some major sights such as the Eiffel Tower. At about 19kms the route goes through a long underpass – dimly lit, no spectators, just the sound of several hundred pounding feet – felt like a scene from a zombie film (28 Days Later, specifically), especially when a roar passed through the runners and reverberated around the tunnel!
There were also numerous bands playing at points all the way round - jazz groups along the Seine and an ensemble with a druid-like figure in a goat’s head dancing around in front. This was only at 12kms, so I can’t have been hallucinating.
There were refreshment stops every 5kms, with water and a selection of odd things to eat – dried fruit, sugar cubes, slices of orange and bits of banana. All very well, but this meant that for a hundred metres every 5kms, you had to pick your way through a slick of orange peel and banana skin mixed with water, on top of cobbles. Quite exciting, but an added obstacle I could have done without.
And yes, they do offer you wine at 38kms and also cider at 39kms. I even saw a runner partaking of the wine, but have to say it was the last thing I wanted at that stage.
I was attempting to run to a particular time schedule this time (5.15 mins per km), as opposed to Edinburgh last year where I just tried to get round without collapsing, and it held pretty good for the first 30 kms, but sadly fell apart a bit after that. I picked myself up for the last couple of kms but couldn’t regain the lost time, so came in an irritating 48 seconds over the 3hr 45min target. Still, at 20mins faster than my first marathon, I was pleased, and I did manage to get round without walking this time, so the last few months since joining PRC have obviously had an effect! Just need to work on those last 6miles….any tips?
Report and Photos Aileen Ross
