Paris Marathon 2003
 

Has anyone personally run the Paris marathon or planning to in April? 3 colleagues and I are running and have never done this one... any specific suggestions or advice are much appreciated.<BR><BR>Best,<BR>Wendy

I've never run it, but was my sister's photographer a few years ago (she will probably post a reply here). She said it was the best marathon she ever ran. There are a lot of people along the course yelling encouragment. The course runs right through the city past all the monuments. It can be cold that first week in April. In fact, it snowed the week after we left!

Wendy: You go, girl! Di.

That was me! Burta was my photographer. I have now run 10 marathons, and if I had to choose a marathon to repeat, it would be Paris. Those French really know how to throw an event! You will have fun and after that, all other marathons will pale by comparison (unless you do another French one). In fact, since my family may not be going to Spain with me next year for the Barcelona Marathon, I'm considering doing the Paris Marathon again!!<BR><BR>Suggestions--watch out for the cobblestones. Wherever possible, run on the sidewalk or where the road is smooth. Also, bring a light jacket if you are comfortable running with that, just in case. That year, there was a lot of rain that caught us by surprise so the day before, Galleries Lafayette was packed with Americans scrambling for running jackets! However, I got warm within the first 2 miles and ran half the race with the jacket on, half off. At the very end, though, they wrap you in mylar but I was still cold. I'm not saying it WILL be cold, but do take precautions just in case.

topping for Wendy

Melissa,<BR>Have you done the Venice Marathon? Has anyone heard anything about it?<BR>Thanks...and sorry to hijack the thread a bit!<BR>Jan

No, I have not done Venice but a few of my friends did this year. They seemed to enjoy it! I saw a brochure on it and I could swear it said they limit the number of runners to something like just 7,000. Does that sound right? Also, they start the race outside of Venice proper (out on the highway leading into Venice) and you run in. You finish by running thru the island(s) and up and down those darn stairs fronting the Doge's palace, etc. I think the final finish line is in a park near the residential area.

Melissa!<BR>Thank you for the detailed advice... Let me know if you register to run...!<BR>Bonne route,<BR>Wendy

I got one more for ya! Not a tip, just a tidbit. Do you know that less than 10% of the runners are female? French women are only just coming into social consciousness, so the concept of them participating in such sports is not common yet (but they are catching on). The year I did it, all the women runners were invited to a reception by the Mayor's wife! Unfortunately, it was on a Wednesday and I did not arrive till Thursday.<BR><BR>This means that all the women along the course will cheer extra hard for you--you know, kinda like for &quot;the sisterhood.&quot; It makes you feel very proud of yourself, like it is REALLY REALLY an accomplishment! <BR><BR>The other perk is, you will be totally surrounded by fit men. ;-)

Melissa,<BR><BR>Sorry for answering so late, I'm in FLA with family for the holidays and training on the beaches.<BR><BR>Thank you so much for the FYI about les femmes! I didn't know that...<BR><BR>A couple who are friends of mine own a bistro in Paris, and they've run every American marathon you can think of and are doing the Paris marathon for the first time... and my clients who are running with me are all women, so we should boost the stats above 10% even if it is just a little!<BR><BR>The bistro is planning a victory celebration already, (like any of us would 'win' hah!) I'm just hoping to run longer than my 12 miles I'm doing now... one can always hope.<BR><BR>If you run the marathon, come on over and join us! If you can go, e-mail me directly and I'll give you my Paris #.<BR><BR>Bonne Route!<BR><BR>Wendy<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Melissa,<BR>Thanks for the info on the Venice Marathon. Paris is a tad early for me so I am shooting for October.<BR><BR>Wendy, check out the site www.coolrunning.com. They may have more information on the Paris Marathon. It is a great motivational site for runners and seems esp. geared toward newcomers to the marathon experience. It is very active with lots of good info.<BR>Cheers and good luck!<BR>Jan

Wendy,<BR>I did a search on Coolrunning and came up with quite a bit of info. Here is the specific site.<BR>http://www.coolrunning.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=simplesearch&amp;SearchIn=ALL&am p;ForumChoice=ALL&amp;SearchTerms=Paris+Marathon&a mp;BooleanAND=YES&amp;SearchDate=ALL&amp;SearchUse r=&amp;ExactName=no&amp;File=temp-2452637-031820-un4q.cgi&amp;Total=25&amp;StartAt=A:000004&amp;Exc lClub=yes<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Jan