The monkey is finally off my back. I did manage to run every yard of the Paris Marathon. Perhaps I do not need to say much more - but I am writing this blog for general interest too - so I should - given the monumental build up - ha!.
9th April 2017 had been in my diary for a long time. It was a long time coming. I had been training for the marathon on this day for a long time - mainly over the grim winter. When Sunday morning finally arrived I was looking forward to it - definitely - I wanted to get on with it - but I have to admit I felt some apprehension and uncertainty - for reasons I have explained in earlier blogs. It was also very warm and forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far. It turned out to be very hot - a big factor for the runners - and for the spectators for that matter.
According to the Paris Marathon official web site 57000 people registered to run. 43754 started - a big difference. I guess there were many reasons - change of circumstances, priorities, injuries of course - but probably a lot just chickened out - because the training is hard. I was one of those in 2015 - but I made it to the start line this time. On the day there were 42441 finishers - so 1250 never completed. I finished 39891 in 5 hours 39 minutes - so there were quite a few behind me - and I feel for them - massive respect.
My time was very slow by majority standards - and slower than I hoped for - but actually does it matter to me? It should not matter because I know I did the best I could. What does matter - and makes me feel deeply satisfied - and yes somewhat emotional when I think about - is I ran every yard. I did not walk. I ran a marathon. I am not knocking the ones - hundreds in fact - probably several thousand who walked some of the course. It maybe a legitimate and effective tactic. Run - walk some - run again. Certainly I was aware that I kept passing people that looked familiar. But this is not how I wanted to do my one and only marathon. So for me just run - even if it is very slow in the end - a shuffle and probably not much more than walking pace!
Here are some random thoughts about the day - because there were so many - and it is difficult to order them :
- The start is on the Champs Elysee which is pretty incredible. When you register for the Paris Marathon you have to state your projected time. You are then colour coded with different start times. Of course many must overstate their ability in order to start earlier. (PS on the day they will only let you into the pen in accordance to your code.)
- It was truly memorable at the start. I had left my family (my fantastic support crew - Victoria & George). The sun was out - a beautiful morning. I was surrounded by thousands of runners. Many were chattering. Most like me - seemed a bit anxious. I talked to a younger guy from the UK. He had done a half marathon in February and struggled and only one other short run. Weirdly this encouraged me. Made me feel I had prepared better than that - so oddly I won't be the only one under pressure. Daft! The upbeat music created a carnival atmosphere. The 9.40 pen left and we gradually moved down towards the start. Then one of the most emotional moments of the whole weekend - the speakers started blazing out The Black Eye Peas - "Tonight is going to be a good night". What a song for the moment. So positive - so encouraging - and me and thousands wondering if it would be. Thousands of runners clapping their hands over their heads. So infectious - a fantastic moment. Here is the track - I will love it for ever !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA
- And then the start - very gently down hill - along the wide Parisian streets. It felt great. I was very aware - and running well - in the 9/10 minute mile pace. I wondered if I should slow down - save energy - but it wasn't feeling hard. I thought I would get some good distance under my belt - not sure of what the situation would be later. But it wasn't long before the lovely warm sun become a full on hot sun. It was the hottest day of the year and felt like it. This became a significant issue for the runners and the organizers because there was no hiding place except for the occasional building shadow or fleeting dappled light under a tree.
- The crowds really were great. Alesz allez! Lots of noise and music - bands - especially a lot of brass - at regular intervals. I tried to give them a little clap acknowledgement as I past - at least earlier on - to thank them for their efforts which really were meaningful and appreciated. On the bib number the organizers printed your christian name and nationality. Complete strangers shouted come on David, well done David, great effort David, you can do it David - not far to go David - almost always in the wonderful French accent. It was really appreciated - really helpful. If you are ever watching a marathon no doubt you encourage the runners. Do. Sometimes it really helps!
- Very few runners in the Paris Marathon are in dancy dress as the London Marathon. The course is largely a flat course but with a series of inclines on the underpasses - Seine side.
- As I have said it was a hot summers day albeit in the spring. It did not catch the organisers out. Bottled water and fruit was regularly available and was supplemented by the fire service creating huge showers with a hose and filling big bowls of water to use to cool ourselves. This was a godsend. I started without a cap but luckily picked Victoria and George out in crowd at around 11 miles (they missed me at 6 - I was too fast - ha!). They had the good sense to have my cap available. It made such a massive diference. At every water point I drank a bottle of water on the run but also soaked myself from the firemans bowls - poured a bottle of water down my back and filled my cap with water. Doing that every couple of miles helped hugely.
- One stand out memory was the regular sound of the unique French emergency sirens with medic vehicles and motor bikes negotiating through the runners.The runner attrition rate was obviously high. Ambulances and attendants were commonplace. I saw several runners on drips. Obviously dehydration was a big factor. It was a bit unnerving but I did everything I could to avoid it and actually despite chronically aching knees and muscle fatigue and a general sense of tiredness of course I feel I finished in pretty good shape.
- I saw Vicky and George at 20 Miles.It was great to see them.I felt very emotional. I knew I could finish from there. Maybe another hour and twenty. I had broken the back of it. There were many walking which somehow made me even more determined not too? When we chatted after the race Vic and George said how relieved they were to see me in reasonably good shape. Up to that point they admitted they were pretty anxious! Sorry kids!
- We ran along the Seine - past the Eiffel Tower - wonderful landmarks - but truthfully at that time I hardly looked. Just running - mind in a daze.
- Surprisingly much of the last part of the marathon was through woodland (I subsequently find out it is the Bois de Boulogne). The support was thinner but there were still plenty of support - lots of atmospheric music. It was mega hot - many runners walking. Weirdly - maybe masochistically - I sort of enjoyed those last 3 or 4 miles. It was not that I wasn't desperate to see the finish post - or that everything wasn't aching. They were. My legs were running themselves after doing the same thing for so many hours. I keep on about feeling emotional - but that is how it was. I knew I had prepared well. (No beer for 10 days, drank 5 or 6 pints of water each day for the last week and carb loaded in the last few days). I knew I should be able to get there. I had the strength and motivation from not stopping. I knew for me I was going to pass the test. I was obsessed by working out the part distances in miles to go from the kilometer posts and relating to the regular training runs I do at home. All you have to do is to get home from the golf course, the boating lake, Appley café! I really like kilometers now. They come more regularly than miles - ha! I have found when training that trying to get your mind off the running and think about something else makes the miles go faster. For the whole Paris Marathon I couldn't do it. I just thought about the distance to go and finishing. When you are not even half way it is hard but as I got closer and closer it really was a fantastic lift.
- And then past the stunning Fondation Louis Vuitton building and emerge into the streets with the crowds clapping and cheering - half a kilometer to go. The finish in sight. Wow - a precious moment - you run in up the funnel - mesmerized by the faces - and arms raised just on the line - and then in a heap. Its done and I am safe. Thank you. Amazing. Have I really finished! Have a really done it!
- Runners are everywhere - happy tiredness prevails. My big medal is collected with a T Shirt that says Paris Marathon 2017 Finisher! I take on more water and slowly make my way through the runners village towards the Arc de Triomphe to meet George and Victoria. It is fantastic to see them - a big sweaty hug. They will look after me for the rest of the day. I am spent.
- I just want to sit down - more water - but then what I really fancy - like many other runners on this hot day - is a cold beer - and George quickly obliges. We sit there for a while amongst other runners and their families. A lovely Irish couple. Wow - it all felt so good. Vicky and George seemed so chuffed and relieved that it had all worked out well. (It is tough for the spectators too - rushing around Paris trying to get to points on the course for a fleeting moment as their runner passes.)
- Fleetingly I am disappointed when we find out my finish time - I thought I was faster. It is very slow. Vicky and George are having none of it. Dad you are nearly 63. You have RUN a marathon - the time doesn't matter! They were absolutely right. I know to my core I had run a marathon. In a perverse way being out there battling for over 5 and half hours on such a hot day added something extra. I have done it. In the great scheme of things so what? but it means something special to me - it always will.
Thereafter it was all great. A stagger back to the hotel - for a shower and recovery. A lovely dinner out - and the next day a sightseeing boat trip on the Seine, superb lunch at the Chat Noir in Pigalle (Pigalle is a famous suburb of Paris but I didn't realise it was their Soho with bells on!) before the Eurostar back to London.
It is done - the monkey is off my back. My wonderful daughter kept reminding me - dad you have run a marathon. I bloody have! I have no desire to run another marathon (I think - but this high is addictive though) but already I am missing the running. I am pretty sure I will keep ticking over - I will.
Finally mega mega thanks to my family and to Jo for all their encouragement and support. It meant/means so much xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PS here are a couple of links to short videos of the Paris marathon 2017. They bring a lump to my throat. I was in there and part of the wonderful endeavor. Respect to anyone who runs a marathon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29gCwocwJK8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7FoEHw7OiY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA
Here are some photos :
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