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Paris Marathon 2014
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good morning orapidrun - yep local chap, south of the county Wallingford way, did not know about kidlington 5k series will give that a look up, are they cross country ish or plain hilly?!
Jolorr82 - Paris is a fantastic event. A good course, and it's certainly a very good PB potential course. The water stations can be a bit chaotic, but that stands for any big city marathon really.
agentpenguin - road races and hilly esp Combe I&II
http://www.kidlingtonrunning.org.uk/mota-vation/mota-vation-series-2014
Looks like the first one was yesterday... They're popular, few hundred turning up to each event. Races range from 5k to 4ish miles in length. Have you signed up for Paris 2015?
Jolorr82 - I thought the water stations were pretty good actually considering....just perhaps aim to take a water later in the station....they were a good 50-75m long. A spare bottle top would be a good idea also.
Jolorr82 - Paris is pretty flat, except for one or two small inclines along the river. Definite PB potential - I knocked 10 minutes off my PB last year after setting it 6 months before in Amsterdam, which is as flat as a flat thing.
I've bitten the bullet and paid up for Paris 2015, might as well get it over with! It's a great course, this time I'm hoping to actually look at the scenery, I didn't even notice we were running along a river!!!!
Heroine - I think most of us have missed many of the sites on marathon day. This year on my third Paris run I finally noticed Roland Garos!
oooh...Loch Ness mara looks amazing. Somebody please put me off wanting to run this by telling me how miserable it would be in feisty weather.
Thanks for the info and advice guys, sounds like you all had a great experience and there is room for PB improvement on top!!
I have decided to take my ballot place for next year, looking forward to it already. Would also be good to glean some insider info from you all over the next year, I hope that's ok?!
Running Rodent: great effort on the PB, its great when the hard works pays off. Sounds like the course is relatively tame, don't mind the hills that much as long as they aren't too big.....
The Jimbob: which did you prefer Berlin or Paris? As I mentioned some of the reports said that it was pretty hectic around the food tables, but I'm more of a gel than food fueler anyway.
J
Hi Jolorr: Paris is more beautiful course (although I did not finish). Berlin is better in terms of fruits, sports drink and organisation.
Berlin v Paris? Difficult one. Both are brilliant but Paris has a better forum...
Very good MacPerky......I would agree!
Spitfire51: I've been in Berlin twice but never for the marathon, great city. I'm sure you can give Paris another go, finish it off!!!
Having done Berlin twice, and Paris three times I would definately say Paris is better.
Forum is definitely awesome for Paris
I haven't been to Berlin and Paris was my one and only marathon, but I found the organisation to be fine, except for the toilet situation in the pens but I would suggest getting there very early and using a café loo, then getting in line for a portaloo in the pens. Water stations were a bit manic but that is due to the amount of people using them, I don't think they could make it too much better - I run with my own water bottle anyway so only use the last couple of stations. The support was fantastic, there's only 2 places where it was a bit lonely and that was in both wooded areas but there's so many runners that you're always in a crowd.
Benignmurmurring - Don't be a wimp, Loch Ness is going to be awesome irrespective of the weather!! I am not going to run it with a PB in mind, just with a finish in mind and to have fun, it's a great opportunity to keep ticking over for Paris 2015 and to learn a bit more about how to run a marathon successfully. I've booked a log cabin near the start of the race and my husband is going to attempt it as his first marathon, we are both really looking forward to it! We refuse to consider bad weather - we're taking a BBQ!!!
I like your positive thinking Hero re Loch Ness.
And there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong running gear....
I just hope the midges are expired by then. If not, the wind and rain should keep them at bay.
Last year Loch Ness marathon was hot(for Scotland!) I know the folk from here struggled with the heat - but then anything above 12 is to hot for us!
Well I've read enough good stuff over the past 500 pages to jump in and put my name down for Paris 2015. Did Berlin last year as my first ever marathon so really looking forward to this one. Day after my birthday though, so could be fun...
Paris vs Berlin
Expo. Paris wins like London you collect you race number first and then funnel through the expo. Berlin you go to the expo to collect the number and back thru after- totally chaotic and un-German. Transport wise it was quick arriving on the Eurostar getting to the expo.
Start. Paris wins. Pens organized loads of space. Berlin start terrible considering such a major race.chocka
Finish: Berlin wins. Brandenburg gate vs Woods of death! The finish area is excellent in Berlin but Valencia trumps them both.
Course: Paris wins. As a city, there is plenty that is easy on the eye when u are struggling especially along the seine. The tunnel is a bit smelly and the woods are endless, but it's Paris by a nose.
PB potential: Berlin wins. Despite the chaos in the first half and the busy drinks stations., the 2nd 20k of Berlin are superb. Lightening fast, flat and wide and fantastic support along the way. It's the world record course! That said, there's plenty of flat and atmosphere in Paris and virtually no hills so there is pb potential a plenty.
Atmosphere: Paris by a whisker cause there are so many friends and Brits doing it. The Germans enjoy their marathons so Berlin has a great atmosphere and deserved a title of marathon major.
City:Berlin is cheaper and does better beer, Paris is easier to get to. Berlin by a nose.
Verdict Paris 4 - 3 Berlin
Paris Baby!
Plus points - easy to get to , good transport links in Paris ,City centre start and finish , start is well marshalled and wide roads so no real bottlenecks , mainly flat , good support on the route ,,,, the Runners World Paris Forum support for pre event questions
Negative points - lack of portaloos
Hi and welcome Chris Morgan. Delay your celebratory birthday drinking for the post-race meet up in Corcorans.
I am not a wimp HiaHS!
just looking for reason to curb my enthusiasm. I soooo want to come to Loch Ness in September but its currently causing matrimonial disharmony 
I'm working on it slowly. Do some of you meet up for a post-race celebration in Inverness or are you all staying elsewhere?
BM - there will be a few of us staying in Inverness, so I'm sure there will be a few drink drinkies afterwards!
C'mon...we all secretly love the insufficiency of the portaloos. What else would we moan about otherwise? And when else could we get to pee publicly in appropriate locations in the French capital?
I have today....drum roll...completed my first bike ride with cleats. And I didn't fall off! For those of you newer to the thread. This is rather a large achievement. The first time I attempted a ride with cleats, I fell off 6 times and cracked the frame of my bike. I've been too terrified to try them since...
Well done TinkerBel!
I haven't fallen off for a while, touch wood!
Well done Tinkerbel. I admire your courage and determination, the thought of such things is enough for me!
Simon - if I am serious about this whole thing for next year I may come visit you for some lessons. At the moment just normal pedals in use here.