Paris Marathon 2014 Race Report

Last weekend I ran in the 2014 Paris Marathon and loved it... I've been running consistently for about 18 months, I've done a few 5k Park Runs, a 10km and felt the need to push it more to do a half or full. When we booked our European Vacation and I noticed the Paris Marathon was on when we were finishing our trip I thought it was a sign... I didn't really think about the 4 weeks before when we would be travelling through Europe - eating and drinking lots, and maybe it wouldn't be the best preparation.. Oh well all done now - and I wouldn't change a thing! I love Paris too and thought it would be an amazing first marathon experience.

My preparation was a 16 week program I found on Runners World for beginners and it was fantastic. I followed it pretty much to the dollar and enjoyed it - maybe not so much when I was doing my big early Saturday morning runs - but I did it, and had my goal in sight.

The day began at 5.45am where I ate some Porridge and a banana for breakfast. After a quick shower I took the metro to the Charles de Gaulle Etoile metro station (right near the Arc de Triomphe). Here's my selfie at the hotel trying to psych myself up!

I was there very early but was just taking in the atmosphere and quietly panicking! I had been chatting to a big group of runners on the runners world forum and we had arranged to meet and have a group photo at the Arc De Triomphe just before 8am.

I made it with plenty of time and chatted to a few of them (they were lots of people), and it was lovely to meet some people I'd been chatting to for months. One of the ladies in the group Kirsten was also in my pen so we walked down and settled in to wait for the start and took some photos and tried to soak up the atmosphere.

There were only 2 toilets in each pen which was absolutely ridiculous, so we first off lined up for the toilet. We thought why not - no doubt we would be needing it later so may as well try to use it first up.

The first wave (the elite group) started at 8:45am, and there were waves for every 15 mins of goal time after that starting with 3 hours. I was in the last wave for 4hrs 30 and over and we started at approx 9:50am - so had lots of waiting! I was trying to get my head around the race and knew there were drink stops every 5-6km, so just tried to break it down into 8 x 5km runs which are do-able, instead of a 42.2km run.

Here are my splits:

0-10k: I was running pretty much to plan until 10km when I had to go to the loo. I was not going to pee on the side of the road or in a bush as so many others did so I lined up for a toilet which unfortunately took 6 mins off my time. I was a bit disappointed as I was on track with my times until that point (which was to beat 5 hrs, and do under 7 mins/km avg. The marathon started on the Champs Elysee and ran downhill to the Place de la Concorde, took a left and ran down Rue de Rivoli past the Louvre Museum, Hotel de Ville and to Place de la Bastille. The drum bands, singers etc at every few kms were just amazing! It was so entertaining. I hardly listened to my music because I was too busy taking it all in!

10k-20k: From 10km-20km we went through a more residential part of the course and then into the Bois de Vincennes Park. The Chateau de Vincennes was just gorgeous to run past.

20k-30k: We headed back into the City and along the Seine and past Notre Dame Cathedral. I was drinking water at each stop and having a shot blok at each water stop too and that seemed to work. I felt strong. At the Half Marathon point they had Powerade so I grabbed a bottle and drank the majority of it. It was a nice boost. At 28km we ended up in the first tunnel, including the one where Diana was killed. The longest tunnel was very dark and 850 metres long, and they tried to liven up by having DJ's with disco lighting. I loved it - I wanted to start dancing.. but lots of people weren't too impressed with it. I did not love the steep inclines out of the tunnels. Just before 30km we came to the Eiffel Tour.. what a beautiful sight!! I was happy to see we were nearly down to less than 10km to go... single digits I could do!

30k-40km: We kept pushing through past the major sites and headed back through some residential streets. We ran past the Roland Garros Tennis Courts (which I was excited to see as I am a big French Open fan), and headed into the Bois De Boulogne Park. I knew this was the last stretch so tried to push it but my legs felt like lead! There were so many people walking and I was walking/running, but trying to run more than walk!!

42.2K The End was in site! The crowd was amazing! The amount of people who were yelling out "Allez Australie", "Allez Rachel" - it was incredible and just kept me going! My official final time was 5:24:05 which was considerably slower than my goal of 4:30-4:59. It is all good though - It was a learning experience, and I can always try to beat it next time. Next marathon I won't be travelling for 4 weeks beforehand with little to no running, and I will definitely be more realistic with my goals.