Simon's job log: 10

The story so far... Simon works for a small IT firm in North Yorkshire, and runs marathons to raise cash for Alzheimer's research.  

Spring time in Paris

31,000 runners, two drag queens, and a French pacemaker barking orders. This was my Paris Marathon 2009. 

Lining up at the back of a crowd of over 31,000 people, about fifteen minutes back from the start line, left a few minutes to chat to some of the other runners. Most of them were marathon newbies, some had run half-marathons before, whilst others had only started running two months ago - and now they were attempting a marathon!

I did have something like a plan this time. I had registered in the pink time zone of runners who expected to finish in a time of 4h30m. However, I have said before that I would be trying for 5h30m again this time. The only reason I registered in the pink zone was because that was the slowest group offered when I registered originally. So once the race started, I planned to fall back as soon as possible to my own 12m per mile pace, which would lead to a finish time in the region of 5h30m.

Even though the crowd was tightly packed, it started to thin out a little as people got to the start, as everyone wanted to jog over the start line rather than walk over it. Eventually I crossed the start line at about 8:57am (French time) and started my Paris Marathon attempt.

Following the flag

Fortunately for me, the Paris Marathon employs runners to act as pacemakers. Their sole aim is to run the race in a certain time. So, as I ran down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, I kept on looking behind me for the 5h30m pacemaker’s trademark flag. I felt like I couldn’t settle down into a good rhythm until I saw it - and seeing the first kilometre marker also got me worried about how the distance would be counted - France, of course, uses the metric system, where a marathon is 42.195km, not 26.2m. If the distance was only marked in kilometres, I would have to do some pretty quick mental arithmetic to work out when I’d passed each mile and from that work out my pace. Not something I wanted to do whilst running a marathon.

It was whilst running (slowly!) down the Rue de Rivoli, an extremely long street that eventually comes out at the Place de la Bastille that I 'caught up' with the 5h30m pacemaker group, which I stayed with for the rest of the race. Now that I was following a pacemaker, I didn’t need to worry about kilometres vs. miles, because all I needed to do was just keep pace with him.

There was plenty of support from bystanders; some Parisians were even game enough to shout 'Allez Simon!' (Go Simon!) because my name was printed on my bib. It all contributed to the great atmosphere at the start of the race, helped along by the thousands of other runners going past us.

I took my first bottle of water at the water station on the Place de la Bastille. There was also food on offer as well as drinks (orange segments, bananas, raisins and sugar cubes), but because I hadn’t eaten anything but energy gels during training, I didn’t take any food. After Dublin last year, I’m wary about anything upsetting my insides.

The intensity of my training for the marathon and how exhausted it left me, as well as the fact I took a three week holiday in the middle of my training meant I wasn’t trying for a personal best this time, but moreover, I wanted to make sure I completed the marathon comfortably, rather than like in Dublin last year, where I felt I nearly killed myself finishing it.

The miles leading up to the half-marathon point took us round a vast park called the Bois de Vincennes. I took advantage of two sponge stations along the route as now the clouds had cleared a little and the sun had come out.

Back again

After what seemed like an age running through forested paths and wide open green spaces, we finally made it onto the Avenue de Gravelle, which eventually brought us back into the city centre.

Running up towards the Place de la Bastille again, we were joined by two drag queens, who tried to chat up the pacemaker - but he was too busy concentrating on the route. Unlike me, who nearly tripped over the kerb as I passed them.

After crossing the Place de la Bastille again, the course followed the River Seine, running past some of Paris’ most famous landmarks, including the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. Watching the spire of the Tower appear from behind the trees and gradually running towards it was a genuinely beautiful sight. There were also plenty of vocal, supportive crowds in the centre as well, which helped spur me on.

After passing the Eiffel Tower, the course then left the city centre again and followed a route through another huge park on the west of Paris called the Bois de Boulogne. This was probably the hardest part of the race, not least because it was the last five miles, but also because there were relatively few supporters around this section, my muscles were really starting to feel the strain now. I wasn’t just tired, I was getting that achy feeling where when you stop running for any reason, trying to get going again is twice as hard because your legs feel like lead.

Group strength

Having the group of people around me, running with the pacemaker really helped at this point. Not only was the pacemaker shouting encouragement (in French, of course) but at this point in my previous marathons I’ve usually found myself virtually alone, which saps your resolve. Keeping up with the pacemaker and the group helped me keep on track when I know that, had they not been there, I probably would have slowed and fallen back miles ago.

Finally, we left the park behind and started on the final mile down the Avenue Foch, which led up to the finish line. I didn’t feel like I could charge across it, but I definitely didn’t feel as physically awful as I have done before.

Even though I completed the marathon under my target time of 5h30m and even though I beat my personal best (though only by a matter of seconds) it still felt a little bittersweet, because I felt that I could have run faster and shaved another half-hour off my PB.

However, I still stand by my decision not to try for a PB and to deliberately under-estimate my performance. This was my third marathon in less than a year, after all!

I suppose there is always next year…

My earlier job logs