So we are finally back after spending 2 weeks on our own European Vacation
(Chevy Chase would have been proud of all our shenanigans). There was
Louvre, Notre Dame, St. Peters, The Sistine Chapel, The Coliseum, planes,
trains and automobiles, and Kim ' s very first earthquake. OH YEAH and
then there was the Paris Marathon of course.

We arrived in Paris on Friday 2 days before race with the plan to stay off
our feet as much as possible and adjust to the time change. Yeah great
plan in theory, in practice, not so much. I mean it's easy to plan not to
walk around Paris when you ' re not in Paris but quite a bit harder when
actually there. Oh well what are you going do. Okay on with the race info.

Prerace
We hit the Marathon Expo on Friday and picked up our race kits and timing
chips. It was a pretty good Expo overall. I got all kinds of information
on other European Marathons, and then realized that they were all written
in French... DOH!! Decent race kit with some samples and Saturday Pasta
Dinner was included. Shirts were not tech however but were nice, well made
T shirts. We decided to break down and buy a couple of souvenir tech
running shirts. I thought about buying some gels but decided against it.
All the gels were in tiny plastic tubes that reminded me of crazy glue
instead of "normal" packets. Oh those crazy Europeans. Although maybe
taking nourishment out of a squeeze tube would make me feel more like an
astronaut. No problem I had planned ahead and brought some from home.
Saturday morning we headed out to the Breakfast Run which was a fun
relaxed 5k put on by the Marathon. It was nice as I was able to run a bit
and get the legs loose for the next day. Not much of a breakfast at the
end however. Some water, bananas, coffee but no problem I had kind of
anticipated this and had eaten before hand at the hotel. I was more
interested in getting a short run in than the breakfast portion of it.

We returned to the Expo Saturday night for free pasta dinner. The dinner
was okay. I had very low expectations as I know that in big races like
this it's mass feeding time, a fattening up of the herd before the
slaughter. The pasta wasn't great but wasn't bad so I will give it a
tentative / reluctant thumbs up. Also it was FREE which is always my
favorite part.

The Race
Got up on time after a pretty good sleep, ate breakfast and headed by
Metro to the Start / Finish area at the Arch de Triumph. We spent a good
half hour fighting our way through a massive traffic jam of people to get
to the baggage check, dropped off our stuff and made our ways back to the
starting corrals. I left Kim at her corral and headed further up to my own
making it there with 5 minutes to spare. This seemed like being early
unlike my first marathon where I was in the porta potty when the starting
horn sounded and I had to sprint to get to the starting line (sprinting
before the start of a marathon is definitely not recommended).


Weather was not bad for running, around 15 degrees, sunny, no wind to
speak of but was somewhat humid.
The gun sounded and we were off ... .. well sort of. I had never run in
a really big marathon before and with 37,000 runners Paris is definitely
that especially given many of the streets are quite narrow by North
America standards (more about this later). It took over 9 minutes of a
slow walk to reach the actual starting line and good thing because the
road was littered with hidden obstacles. Discarded runner> '> s sweaters,
pants, water bottles, garbage bags etc. where everywhere and well hidden
in the feet of the packed together crowd. I had been given a heads up
about this before hand (thanks Sabrina) so knew enough to tread carefully
here.

Once I actually got over the start line things picked up. I was able to
quickly get up to speed or in this case over speed. I had vowed to not
come out too quickly but realized by the end of mile 1 this was nearly
impossible. The street was jammed and I sort of just went with the crowd.
I mean I felt great so what if I was running a little faster then planned,
what could happen (all long distance runners feel free to insert laughter
here).

Oh oh, first minor glitch. I had pinned my gels to the back of my shorts
as I had seen others runners do this. Less then half a km into the race it
was clear that this was not going to work for me. The gels were bouncing
up and down, flopping around worse then a freshly caught fish on the dock.
A quick check revealed that one had already gotten loose and escaped. I
pulled off the rest and decided to carry them by hand before they all got
away. Astronaut food tubes now seemed like a much better option, damn me
and my mocking.

Course was beautiful as we ran right through the heart of Paris starting
just in front of the Arch de Triomphe. I tried to take in as much as
possible but with the street jammed with runners you really had to watch
the road. I remember almost hitting a barrier separating road lanes as I
took my eyes off the street to look at the Louvre as we passed it. Talk
about getting you to refocus.

I came into the first water station at 5k feeling pretty good. Water
stations were every 5k on the course and were very chaotic with so many
people trying to get to them and then back onto the course. Water was
given out in bottles instead of cups so you could take the bottle with you
and carry it for a while. There was no Gatorade / Eload type drink except
at the 40k station which made my tightly clutched gels all the more
important. Stations also had dried fruit (no thanks), sugar cubes, oranges
and bananas.

Oh ... oh. glitch number 2 appeared just after the first water station.
I passed the station took a sharp left hand turn and then came to a
complete stop behind the runners in front of me ... hmmm. Talk about a
strange experience. The race had come to almost a total stop. We had
turned onto a narrow street that was only maybe 50 meters long and then
turned back onto another street this had caused a major bottleneck
reducing the speed to slower than walking pace. This cleared up as soon as
you turned the next corner but cost around a minute, I vowed to make this
up over the next few miles (oh wait wasn ' t I already running faster
then planned).
Race route continued out past la Bastille and into a large park that took
us past Chateau de Vincennes. We looped around the park and then headed
back in to the heart of the city again and the half way point of the race.
By this time it had begun to get hotter out but still not too bad. I still
felt pretty good and was keeping a steady pace. I had hoped that things
might thin out as runners spread out over the race course but it was just
as crowded at the 21k mark as it had been at the start of the race.

Crowds and fan support were really great along the course with people
cheering you on almost everywhere on the route and it seemed that more
people jammed the sidelines the farther you got into the race.

Race route continued back into the city passing close to Notre Dame
Cathedral and then hugging the bank of the Seine River from the 25k mark
for the next 8k. This included passing through 3 underground tunnels. Two
of these were shorter and you were able to see the end of the tunnel once
you entered it. The other one was much longer and was very hot and humid
inside, you couldn ' t see the end of it for quite some time. The French
runners were chanting something in unison that echoed loudly in the
tunnel. Sorry I have no idea what they were yelling but it was very
entertaining nevertheless. As I came out of the last tunnel close to the
30k mark I wondered how Kim ' s race was going so far. I also noticed
that I was starting to tire but was still holding pace pretty well. At 30k
my time was a PB faster then my time in any 30k race. That would be great
except for the fact that I still had 12k to run.

The route from 30 to 35k took us along the river past the Eiffel Tower but
on the opposite side of the Seine and then moved father east into another
large park. Somewhere along this stretch I began to slow down.
The last part of the Paris marathon takes you through this park and then
finishes at Ave. Foch back in sight of the Arch. For me the last 7k became
a struggle to try to keep running as I got slower and slower. My early
fast pace had finally caught up to me turning my legs into jello and
causing bad cramping in my right hamstring. Unlike my first marathon I
didn ' t hit the wall but the cramping in my leg killed any chance of
finishing fast.

Somewhere between the 35k and 40k water stations I saw an extra station.
They were giving out some kind of cake (huh?) and cups of what looked like
apple juice. I passed on the cake but grabbed the juice in chugged it.
ARRGGG it wasn ' t juice it all but some kind of alcoholic cider (I
think). Not exactly what I needed at that point, that will teach me to
take unknown beverages from strangers.

Finally I rounded the corner out onto Ave. Foch and down to the finish
line. It was just as crowded at the end of the race as it had been at the
start which is pretty unbelievable. It was so crowded in fact that I had
to wait in line for about 10 minutes just to get my chip taken off. Here
is a picture of me crossing the finishline. I leave it to you to find me..
kind of like the runners version of Where's Waldo

Post Race
I got my finisher's medal, a rain poncho (they give them out instead of
blankets) and some food and then found a curb to sit on for awhile. I
thought about getting a massage on my legs but the lineup was massive so I
took a pass on it. I hoped that Kim ' s race was going well and that she
was enjoying it. The finishers area was a zoo but very well managed.
Numerous and I mean numerous people were sprawled out in the middle of the
roadway either being attended to by emergency personal or other racers. I
walked past one guy lying on his back, his eyes were cloudy and staring
off into nothingness. Some other guy was asking him if he could see him,
pretty scary stuff. I was glad it wasn ' t me.

I rested on the curb for awhile and then I went up as close to the front
as I could to watch others finishing and to wait for Kim to finish her
race. I hoped she wouldn ' t be in staring guy condition. After watching
people come in for a while I saw Kim off in the distance running for the
finish line. Way to go Kim on finishing your first marathon. She looked to
be in pretty good shape so we got some food (more food for me) and sat
down to eat. While we rested we watched some poor guy who was walking
along pass out on his feet and smash face first into the road. He was out
for about 10 seconds and then came to as other people tried to help him.
Poor guy' s face was really cut up. I reminded myself to make sure I
sat down if I started to feel dizzy.

Conclusions
The Paris Marathon is a great race in a fantastic city. As with most big
races not really a race to attempt to run a PB due to how crowded the
course is but besides that an amazing experience. The race organizers have
to be commended for how well this race is managed and run. I would do this
race again in a second. Great course, great organization, really great fan
and city support.

TRES BIEN
Posted by chris mcpeake

 

The Running Room Club Update:
Sudbury Store (Cedar Pointe Plaza)

Hello everyone-

To all those who ran Boston this past Monday - CONGRATULATIONS!!! We can't wait to hear all of your amazing stories.

There are only 10 days left to register for the Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes taking place on Monday, May 3rd. You can sign yourself up for 5K, 10K, 21.1K or 42.2K distances, and there are family events of 1K and 5K. Come out for your event and stay to cheer on the longer distances! Volunteers are needed, so if you or someone you know has some time, please register at www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com.

Have you been thinking about how you are going to stay motivated through the summer? We have a great solution for you: become a Running Room instructor! For a small time investment on your part, you receive a great discount as well as the reward of helping others reach their goals. Just call Tawnie or Kris and we'll set you up with the clinic of your choice.

Looking for a great walk or run this week? Here's what's going on at our FREE PRACTICE on Wednesday and Sunday:

Wednesday
Learn to Run – 10:1 x 2
For Women Only (Sharon) – 10:1 x 2
5K Run (Tawnie) – 10:1 x 2 + 8
5K Walk – 45 minutes
10K Run (Katie) – 5K
10K Walk – 8K
1/2 Marathon Run – 9 hills + 7K
1/2 Marathon Walk – 9 hills + 7K
Marathon Run (Steve) – 10K

Sunday
Learn to Run – 10:1 x 2
For Women Only (Sharon) – 10:1 x 2
5K Run (Tawnie) – 10:1 x 2
5K Walk – 45 minutes
10K Run (Katie) – 6K
10K Walk – 13K
1/2 Marathon Run – 18K
1/2 Marathon Walk – 9 hills + 7K
Marathon Run (Steve) – 29K

Happy Trails!
Your Running Room Crew
523-4664

Happy trails,
From your Running Room crew