Paris - Versailles

It was another lovely morning when I woke up. It has been a real Indian Summer lately, with temperatures still regularly above 20°C during the day and no rain for the last few weeks.

I had prepared all my kit last night, and having woken up, I slipped all of this on quickly and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast before jogging down the road to the station. I wasn't the only guy in shorts and t-shirt on the platform this morning and there were a good 10 runners already waiting for the train when I arrived. When I got on the train, it was more of the same with half of the passengers dressed in running gear ready for the race. This year the event had managed to complete its quota of 20 000 participants one week before the race, as opposed to last year when only 16 000 runners had entered.

I arrived at the Eiffel Tower where the race was due to begin just after 9:00 am for a 10:00 am start. There were already crowds of runners lined up in the pen waiting for the off and this was an hour before it was all due to happen. It was a lot busier than last year with crowds already waiting for the off. The usual staggered start was in place with 300 runners being released every minute, or rather 150 - 175 every 30 seconds. I slipped as far as possible through the crowds to approach the start line. I managed to get as far as the urinals where I waited with other runners quietly, listening to the announcer talking non-stop and keeping my nerves as calm as possible before the start.

I was just looking around at this point, when I spotted Fred from the club relieving himself in the toilets just beside me. I waved, but he had difficulty in waving back, but he came over to join me. He was supposed to be meeting work colleagues but had missed them in the throng. We had a chat and I told him that he couldn't use his excuse of having to stop for a pee after the last time I beat him on the 4 Chateaux race. I told him my race plan of running about 3:55 pace for the first 6 km before the big hill and then seeing how I felt once that obstacle was completed. Fred said that he'd follow me and see how long he could hold on.

We finally set off about 6 minutes after the elite runners and the relief to set off was tangible. All of the tension and nervousness is released in those first paces and we settled down into a steady rhythm. The first km was slower due to the msucles being cold from 1 hour of standing, waiting around and also due to having to swerve around slower runners who start at the same time.

I made sure that I didn't tire myself out too soon after the start and the pace for the first 6 kms alongside the Seine, running West out of Paris was as follows:
3:57, 3:45, 3:49, 3:54, 3:58, 4:01

The last kilometre was the start of the Cote des Gardes, the big hill pulling out of Paris, up through Meudon which lasts for 2 kilometres. Fred was still with me here and I shortened my stride and took it easy up the hill. These 2 kilometres were negotiated at 5:03 and 4:56 before we reached the top and stretched away again.

The road was undulating from here on in, through the forest on tracks and then back onto the tarmac. Fred would pull away from me on the downhills, and I would reel him back in on the slight uphills. I finally thought that I'd got the better of him after overtaking him at the 11 k marker, but after passing some other runners from the club, including Patrick and Philippe, he came past me again and I tucked in behind him.

We were neck and neck to the final straight at the outskirts of Versailles and I wondered then if we shouldn't agree to cross the line together. Fred had other thoughts however and pushed hard again from 14.5 k onwards and so I just followed him. I could see he was tiring and I had the advantage knowing where the finish line was after an extremely long straight. Apathy set in at this point and I reminded myself that my objective was to beat last year's time - full stop. I'd run 90km this week and the race was not an objective in itself. Fred put in a sprint for the finsihing line and I let him go, completing the course about 5 seconds after him in 1:05:03 or one minute faster than last year.

I am pleased with the result as this equates to an average of 4:02 per km over the 16 km course, including the 2 km hill where I was running at 12 km/h. As I was running in, I felt that I could manage this pace over a half-marathon and so the objective of 1:24 is totally feasible.

Video of the course below: