Paris Marathon

I was starting my second Paris Marathon this year with the clearly defined objective of getting under the 3 hour barrier. Training had gone well overall and I was convinced that this time I was going to achieve my objective. Like all good management schemes, the goal was realistic, realisable and reasonable. First lesson: never under-estimate your adversary, especially when it is a marathon.

I am not entirely a novice over the distance now. As those of you have been folloowing this blog know, this was my third attempt at the distance. Now, I don't consider myself as an expert either, but I'd already paid the price for over-estimating my abaility over the last marathon and I'd learnt my lessons well: drink from the first feeding station, take on food every 40 minutes, cut your toenails the week before the race, and so on. No, this time I was prepared both physically and mentally.

After an agitated night and little sleep, due to the excitement of the race to come, the sun rose beautifully at dawn and the temperature was clement at around 10°C. In fact, it was too nice. As a true-blooded Englishman, I would have prefered more clouds and a little light drizzle. It was decidedly too nice outside and before the start I made my first mistake of the day by refusing the offer of a cap that Laurence proffered before leaving the house.

We met up with Paul, Anne, Louise, Christèle and Hélène to drive to the race together. There was much excitement and everybody dealt with the stress in their own manner. At the Arc de Triomphe, I left Laurence and friends to walk down to my starting block with Paul. I wished him the best of luck for his 3:30 objective and entered the "sas" for the 3 hour position. Major problem: too much tea at breakfast and the queue for the toilets is endless. I relieve myself against the toilet but outside and meet Mireille from the club who is having the same predicament. The gun goes off for the start of the race and I see Fabrice a few rows ahead of me. I accelerate slightly to catch him up and we run together for the first 3 kilometres. Bruno B catches us up too in his St Germain vest and we all set off at 3 hour pace: 4:15 per km.

I'm feeling good and I leave Bruno and Fabrice at this point after 4 kilometres to run at my rhythm. I had set the garmin to run at 4:12 pace in order to leave me with 2 minutes margin for the end of the race. I'm running easily at this point, relaxed and happy to be on the course. The kilometres go by and I take care to drink deeply at 5 then at 10 kilometres having taken my first gel just before. There are many runners around me and it isn't always easy to get by but I stick with my pace. We leave Paris in the East and pass in front of Vincennes Castle: it's pleasant to see some trees and more greenery which makes for more shade. This is when I begin to notice the heat of the day for the first time and I avoid the sun and try to keep to the shade as much as possible.

I go through the half-way point in 1:28:05, an average of 4:10 per km - perfect. The crowd supporting the race is dense and the atmosphere as we head back into Paris at Porte de Charenton is electric and gives me a real boost. I make the most of the downhill here before heading back up towards Bastille. We head down to the Seine and I see Nick on the riverside waiting to run the end of the race with Anne. We run together for a few hundred metres and he encourages me on. I leave him at the entrance to the first tunnel alongside the river. I didn't remember just how painful these tunnels are, all enclosed and lit by artificial light. The air isn't good down here and I begin to feel slightly claustrophobic. It's a real relief to get back into daylight again after a kilometre underground, even if you have to climb a few metres uphill to find it. These little climbs are wearing : four in all and I finally get to the 30 km point in 2:05:51. I'm very tired now and my motivation is beginning to flag slightly. Nevertheless, I do a quick calculation and figure that I can drop my pace to 4:25 per km and still finish under 3 hours. The thought cheers me up and I feel that I've already conquered the distance.

At 32 km, as I run through a sponge station, I drink down an energy drink and this wakes me up and my pace recovers to 4:10 speed again. I feel good again and I start to look forward to the 35 km mark and having another drink. I finished my last gel at 30km and it feels like an eternity ago. I lost 2 other gels in the tussle at the start of the race and now I'm regretting that I have no more ressources on me. The feeding station at 35 km is a welcome sight and I take another bottle of water on the move, thoroughly disappointed, however, that there is no energy drink available. Only 7 km to go now - the end is in sight and the goal achievable. I start slowing relentlessly and between 35 and 36 km Mireille overtakes me and I increase my pace to stay with her. Another kilometre down the road and I overtake her again as she starts to slow too.

The next few kilometres are infernal. I get confused with how many kilometres are remaining and I run out of energy. My motivation is at rock bottom and I can only think about resting, stopping the effort of running and relieving my aching legs. At 39.4km I stop my watch and I begin to walk, hoping that someone will come to help me. I wander down the road in zigzag fashion and my head is spinning with dizziness. Mireille overtakes me again and then the 3 hour pacemakers come past - my objective leaves with them. I want to get to the 40km feeding station to find some assistance but as I cross it the usual tables are still not visible so I stop right there by the side of the road and lie down. At this point, people come towards me and try to help. They bring me some sugared water to drink but I'm not too thirsty. I just want to close my eyes and sleep but I tell myself that it's not the most reasonable thing to do - too frightened to not wake up I suppose. I look at a couple watching me and the scared look on the woman's face. I imagine that she thinks that we must be completely mad to pay to take part in this sort of amusement. If pushing your body beyonds its natural limits can be considered an amusement. Personally, I'm not amused at all and I worry about the consternation I would cause Laurence if whe was to see me in this state. They ask me if I want to be transferred to the first aid tent and I accept willingly.

I ask someone to pour some water over my head to cool me down and it is an enormous relief. The first aid personnel arrive and put me on a stretcher to the first aid tent 100m down the road. I feel a real idiot having caused so many problems and having so many people around me, looking after me. In the tent, I rest for 35 minutes and start to chat with a Belgian runner in the same state as me on the stretcher next to mine. They take my blood pressure (9/6) which is as close to death that you can get, and my temperature - normal. I want to leave now, not to finish the race as I have no particular objective or goal to achieve, but to meet the others at the arranged meeting point. The first-aiders won't let me go until my blood pressure has returned to normal and when it does I accompany my new Belgian friend to the finishing line. I jog easily with him over the last 2 km to finish in 3:47 !!

What an exploit ! Mireille finishes just under the 3 hour barrier and my only regret is not to have been able to stay with her until the end and to finish together. So close yet so far!

Too much sun and too hot for my liking. Better luck next time.

The others all fared better than me. Laurence finished in 4:06, disappointed not to have gone under 4 hours, having lost her girlfriends in the crowds at the 15km feeding station. Anne and Hélène finished in 3:57, Louise in 4:00. Paul achieved a PB going under 3:30 for the first time to finish in 3:27:59. An excellent performance and a well deserved result.

Conclusion: I'll be back next year to beat the bugger.