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Paris Int'l Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Paris Int'l Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 191 [displaying comments 131 to 141]
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D. J. from North Carolina, USA
(4/11/2006)
"Fantastic race experience, but don't expect a PR" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon, so admittedly don't have much basis for judgment. Still, you'd be hard pressed to find a better race. The strong point is the course itself -- a tour of essentially all the great sights on the right bank. The crowds were very sparse in places, but there were long stretches with very enthusiastic crowd participation. The organization was good but not great. This year's model didn't seem plagued by the lack of toilets that others have complained about in previous years. The biggest problem was that there were huge numbers of slow runners who assigned themselves to the 3:30 and 3:45 starting corrals. Since the organizers don't require a proof that you can actually run a 3:30 marathon, you're welcome to put yourself with that group. As a result, the largest starting corral was the 3:30, even though fewer than half of the assembled runners could reasonably hope to make that time. This meant that the start of the race was more like a mass demonstration than a marathon -- lots of people holding up banners, with a number of folks dressed up in costumes. I expected plenty of that at a major marathon, but thought it would be at the back of the pack. The narrowness of some of the streets means that you'll be stuck in some heavy traffic for fairly long stretches. I quickly decided that I shouldn't focus on posting a really fast time, and managed to enjoy the run immensely. However, if your aim is to better your personal best by 5 minutes, you'd probably be better off in a smaller race. Another oddity of Paris (noted by others, but worth recalling) is that gels and sports drinks are practically unknown to the French marathon scene. The refreshment is in the form of water, orange wedges, and bananas. If you run with gels, you'd better bring your own, because you probably won't be able to buy any. And, as you'd expect, the combination of banana peels, orange rinds, water, and cobblestones makes for some *very* treacherous footing at the water/food stations. Those annoyances aside, it's a great race. Definitely one to put on your 'to do' list. | |
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D. B. from London, UK
(4/10/2006)
"A great place to run a first marathon" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 So, let me be the first to offer my congratulations to the Ville de Paris for a great day out and a beautiful course. 10km starting by the Arc de Triomph, down the Champs Elysees, East through the Faubourg, past the Chateaux de Vincennes, round the Bois de Vincennes, back into town along the North side of the Sienne, past the Eiffel tower and then west round the Bois du Boulogne and finishing back at the Arc de Triomphe once again. An utterly beautiful spring day. Unbeatable architecture and beautiful scenery. No hills to speak of - but for a few short tunnels. Food was well provided. Water stops and refreshments were plentiful. The organisation at the beginning involved some unnecessary queuing the day before, and (as ever in France) too few toilets. Small quibbles, though. The Parisians didn't seem to be out in huge numbers, but maybe they'd all gone home by the time I got there. However, there were plenty of bands and music along the way and a good finishing crowd. My first marathon, and a very painful second half given a foolish lack of training, but enjoyable despite that. Don't miss it for the scenery. | |
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keith ennis from Essex, England
(4/10/2006)
"The best marathon anywhere in the world??" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 A fantastic course, especially the first half down the wide avenues of the champs elysee - even with 35000 competitors there is no congestion at all and this is definitely a course where a PB is possible. The 2 loops round the parks are scenic enough, the long underpass at 27 km is good fun, and running along the river seine is pleasant in good weather conditions like we had this year. Organisation is flawless - good toilet and baggage arrangements, plentiful refreshment stations offering snacks and energy drinks as well as water, terrific medal and a decent t-shirt, great photography. In fact, the only glitch i can think of is that some of the sponge stations ran out ridiculously early, forcing runners to dip their hands (or heads!) into the water buckets instead. Spectator support is a bit limited for such a high profile event. Even in the gorgeous sunshine, the parks were practically empty and almost nowhere were the crowds more than one deep. But the finish is very memorable and it's a great experience. | |
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Dean Diefendorf from New York, New York
(4/10/2006)
"They Ran Out of Finisher's Medals!!!!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 (1) Not enough porta-potties. (2) Not enough water stops. (3) The race director did not order enough finisher's medals!!! Duh! All said, Paris is a beautiful city and the run was very scenic. Good idea to carry your own water though. | |
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T. W. from Lakewood, CO
(4/9/2006)
"One of the best marathons I've ever run in." (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Beautiful course! Spectators were VERY energetic. Music at several places along the course to get you pumped up. There were a couple of places without spectators, but that was fine by me. Aid stations were FANTASTIC. Rather than paper cups you get a small bottle of water with a lid. Didn't think I would like it, but LOVED it. Wish more marathons did this. Fresh - and in some places dried as well - fruit at every station. Sponge stops in several places. Some aid stations were very interesting: At about 17K you had your choice of beer or cola; at 20K as you run along the Seine they had cake, sparkling white wine, and, if you like, oysters; further along one station had salami and baguettes cut up into small pieces; Medoc Marathon's station had red wine (quite yummy); a Swiss group had cheese. Dried fruit comprised apricots, dates, and prunes. I skipped on the prunes. Plenty of porta-a-potties along the route. Of course if you're a man and only need to pee, you're in good shape since in Paris anything that's vertical is pretty much fair game. The course was marked in KM and miles, and there was no way of getting lost. Only criticism would be lack of visible volunteers at the Arc de Triomphe on the morning of. I had to search and search to find where to leave my drop bag, and none of the security seemed to know, and there were no information stations until you were almost to the drop-bag area. Also, would be helpful to have more volunteers who speak other languages since it's billed as an international event. Luckily I knew enough French to figure things out. The pasta party was tough to find, but it was enjoyable. If you do this marathon, which I think everyone should at least once, make sure to go on Thursday for packet pick-up. I don't know how it was on Friday, but on Saturday it was a total zoo with enormous lines!! Luckily I had gone on Thursday, and it was major easy. Bring euros with you on the run too, or to leave in your drop bag. There are several vendors past the finish line with all kinds of yummy food to refuel on, and they were VERY reasonably priced. Before coming make sure to train on hard surfaces. Most of the roads are either cobblestone or asphalt-covered cobblestone, and it's really hard on the legs if you aren't used to it. Even with the couple of small organizational issues, I'm giving it an A+, and I plan on running it again. Oh, the medal was phenomenal too! | |
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Stuart Ogilvie from Shifnal, England
(1/11/2006)
"Great scenery, enjoyable run, but very quiet" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my third marathon having previously been in London and Edinburgh. The course is fantastic, starting by on the Champs Elyse and running through the center of Paris out to the country is stunning. On the way back in you get sick of seeing the Eiffel Tower, but the river is stunning. Only fault is that away from the start it's very quiet, with the run around the old rugby stadium and tennis arenas almost deserted. | |
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Conor Gilmartin from Dublin/Sligo Ireland
(11/4/2005)
"A great tour of Paris" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great race. It was my second. I thought it was very well organised and the public was great. I was very tempted by the wine, but thought that was great. Only in my beloved France. I am glad to take that they don't take everything too seriously. I would agree with comments about the energy drinks and maybe gels. Maybe I should have tried the wine or cognac or even pastis that I saw along the road. | |
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m. s. from new york
(5/4/2005)
"Brilliant" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I put off running a marathon for years and years...finally decided to do one. So the first had to be something special. I was not disappointed. The only complaint I would have about this is that it is not a BQer! Some comments on others' remarks: - I believe there were more than four porta-johns at the start, though they were scattered around in ones and twos and very difficult to find if you weren't standing right in front of one. - not enough spectators? Maybe there weren't any in the Parc de Vincennes, but they seemed to line the streets and parkways everywhere else, obnoxiously chanting 'allez! allez! cou-raage! cou-raage!' (Mostly French, of course; a few English and a sprinkling of Canadians.) If Paris 2012 gets the Olympics...and I think it will...it's this sort of enthusiasm that will have carried the day. - the expo was miles out of town? Absolutely not, it was right there in the Porte de Versailles complex, a 10-minute metro ride from most parts of town. - wine at 40km? This was funny. The Medoc people were promoting their own marathon in September by offering cups of wine out of a barrel. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. | |
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y. k. from rosh ha'ayin, israel
(4/23/2005)
"perfect race" (about: 2005)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 It was a great marathon, with excellent organization. The environment and food were great too. | |
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M. S. from Shanghai, China
(4/22/2005)
"Great race, but lots of room for improvement" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I?ll try not to repeat comments others have shared. What can I say? ? It?s a great race through a beautiful city. I?ve run in Asia where the only crowd was my family at the finishing line (or not), so it seemed to me fairly well-supported. Even though the starting area was a bit of a zoo, and I gave up trying to get to my starting grid, how could I complain when I?m staring down the Champs Elysées to the Place de la Concorde, and the Arc de Triomphe is right behind me. Warnings for the women (and bladder-shy guys) about lack of toilet facilities cannot be made strongly enough. There are simply none to speak of. OK, 4-5 here and there, but lines a mile long effectively mean you?re out of luck. You could pop into a restaurant, I suppose ? a good pre-race exercise might be to map out McDonald?s in relation to the route ? or wait until the forests at the 12k and 34k marks, but it really makes one wonder on what exactly the race organizers spent the nearly $2 million collected from us runners. Getting to the race on the Metro was a breeze (Charles de Gaulle-Etoile on the 1, 2, and 6 lines), and I?d strongly advise everyone to stuff at least one extra ticket in their shorts. One comment I saw below was that the expo is far out of town. That?s not quite correct ? it?s right on the edge of town, at the Porte de Versailles, and the Metro station of the same name on Line 12 is directly across the street. Given all the construction in the vicinity, I could understand how getting a cab would be a nightmare. Take the Metro. The fuel points were very well stocked when I staggered in, but you have to be exceptionally careful. Banana peels and orange skins littered the ground everywhere, water bottles were constantly underfoot, the pavement was slick, and I witnessed at least two nasty wipe-outs on asphalt painted white, like on crosswalks. The water bottles were a problem, but when I compare them against paper cups I?ve had before, it?s manageable. Otherwise, could have used a Gatorade along the route, but adequate water was appreciated. Bring your own energy drink if you rely on it. The only other thing to be aware of is the road surface. There are some stretches where you?re running on cobblestone, which can be treacherous on the ankles and knees. While some areas are all cobblestone ? Place de la Bastille, Assembly National ? there are times when a bare section will just suddenly pop up. It pays to scan ahead every once in a while to survey what?s coming. Lastly, the ending was a bit frustrating if you were cold or impatient to just move on. Funneling everyone down Avenue Foch created a huge back-up after the chip removal station. Once you were past, though, it opened up, and it wasn?t too difficult to find friends and relatives, as long as you told them in advance under which letter to wait. All in all, some areas for improvement, but I was very happy to have participated and plan on being back in 2006. |
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