Paris Breakfast Run
Runners from all over the world come together in matching t-shirts holding flags from their corresponding countries. Dave managed to find my friends Jodie and Jamie in amongst the thousands of runners (under the instruction to look out for a small blonde girl). So we all ran together, although running is an exaggeration for the first mile as it was very congested, but the laughter and general happiness all around us made up for that, as did running underneath the Eiffel Tower. It was such a relaxed run, untimed, and really good fun – for 7 Euros you can’t go wrong!!
Paris Marathon
Being plagued with PF I really didn’t think I would be at the start of the Paris Marathon, but I thought I would rock up and give it a whirl, I knew by half way we would be by our hotel so I could always pull out there and drown my sorrows.
We met up with two guys from Liverpool, well that’s what their vests said, however on their bibs one of them was from France, much like myself and Martin (as we couldn’t find GBR when we signed up). The other guy had chosen the country he wanted to be from – Columbia. It gave us a good giggle at the start.
The support around Paris was fantastic, lots of Parisians calling ‘Allez Lee!’. There were fire fighters with their hoses out (not in a rude way), there were gay pride dancers showing off their moves, wearing next to nothing but their moustaches. Martin asked me to mention the naked runner, who unfortunately was a little too fast, so myself and Dave didn’t catch sight of him. There was music all around the route, from singers, to drums – lots and lots of drums and as you run through the tunnels there was dance music. There was something to see throughout the route, but the most memorable for me was turning the corner to the sight of Notre Dame, was a beautiful piece of architecture, it’s stunning.
My feet didn’t play up too much until around mile 15, that’s where we started to slow considerably. Dave was an absolute godsend, he kept me going throughout, he was positive and cajoling, he peeled off at every water station to pick up water, raisins and bananas for me – risking his neck every time on the oranges strewn all over the floor.
I’ll admit to being very emotional towards the end, a mixture of not believing I would get to the end, doing not too shabby a time and the sheer beauty of Paris.
Unfortunately Martin and Mary had a mis communication in where they were supposed to meet each other, so took another 3 hours to find each other – you may as well do an ultra next time Martin.
So in conclusion Paris was amazing, I can totally see why Anne-Marie enjoyed it so much. We enjoyed it so much Dave and I have already signed up for next year……………..How many Massey’s can we get there for 2016????
Race report by Lee Hill