← Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris
I signed up for this race at the expo in 2018. I had entered the Breakfast Run that year and found myself pressing register at the 2019 stand!
Unfortunately due to a back injury my training was not ideal and my longest run was 16 miles so I always knew to would be tough.
The expo was brilliant - lots of people to talk to and great running gear to purchase too. The metro is so easy to use (easier than the London Underground) so getting from my hotel to the expo was no problem at all. Paris is such an amazing city you have plenty to see and so while you are there over the race weekend.
Saturday morning was the 5k Breakfast Run which I would highly recommend. As a solo runner it was another chance to meet people and chat along the way. It is stunning running round the Louvre then down by the river.
Race day was very well organised; clear starting areas, plenty of toilets and a well managed bag drop (not that I used it as I was so close to the start/finish).
The route was amazing - so much to see and hear you really don’t need headphones. There were very well stocked aid stations and they topped up my bottle so I could stay plastic free. I was in the last wave off as it was my first marathon and the cut off for the race is 5.40 which is very tricky. Despite our wave going off so long after the early waves there was always a good selection of foods at each station on the course.
At 37km the race almost came to an end for me due to horrendous back pain. The medics however were truly amazing and despite being told by them to stop, they relented and supported me to the end (following me on their bikes and feeding sugar cubes each km!). They had spent half an hour getting me back in my feet and for that I am eternally grateful.
As I said previously, the cut off was 5.40 and they are very strict. I passed the 40km marker at 6hrs and that was my last recorded time.
I crossed the ‘finish line’ soon after and received my medal and t-shirt but no official time.
Would I do this again - definitely! The support was outstanding throughout and despite not getting the time I hoped for they got me to the finish and I can call myself a marathoner 😃.
Just one more thing... the medals are a little bit basic but ultimately it’s the achievement you truly remember not the medal 🏅.
