Paris Marathon 2019

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  • I'm imagining some 15% near vertical hill now :#
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    It's not actually at all steep. If it came at mile 6 you'd barely notice it. It's just that it appears well into the race when you're feeling fatigued and dreaming about the finish line.
    I guess the giveaway that it'll sting is the nickname for that park on these forums for many a year has been "The Park of Death". :D
  • FRG2FRG2 ✭✭✭
    I found the course reasonably flat, perhaps because it was my first marathon, so I was more concerned with how many miles were left! Don’t remember any champagne, or even wine... do remember the park, though. Rally as many of your fans as possible to cheer you through there and on to the end!! 
  • StephAStephA ✭✭✭
    Webby4216, it really isn't much of a hill - like Eggy says, it just comes when you're tired and its quite a straight road so it feels like its just goes on!!

    I've just booked my accommodation - £350 for 4 nights in an apart-hotel, pretty pleased with that!!

    For anyone who hasn't booked Eurostar but is planning on it, they've just released a bunch of seats for £29 each way!
  • I am looking at getting transport and accommodation booked this week. Saw the £29 offer but they must be for obscure times as I couldn't find any on the dates I wanted.

    Got the family coming over with me to support, may well get them to stand in the "Park of Death" to cheer me on!! :D
  • Carol4Carol4 ✭✭✭
    How hard is it for the supporters to get around and where are the best spots 
  • Happy new year all. Great to see everyone getting excited about the marathon. I got the marathon guide from the organisers through the email which was a good 'it's starting' point... I've signed up for the Hillingdon 20 mile race on 10 March as that should be a good warm-up. Also the Hastings half, which is preposterously hilly but I have a few friends there so it's more to catch up... 
  • StephAStephA ✭✭✭
    Carol4 It is pretty easy for supporters. I had my mum and sister following me round using public transport - I saw them 4 times - near the Bastille, along the river quays, in the Park of Death and near the finish - and they found it quite easy and fun.
    My bonkers husband used one of the velib bikes to see me, I think 5 times.

  • Thanks for the tip StephA - just booked the Eurostar and nabbed one of the £29 tickets!

    hi to everyone else popping in :)
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    @Carol4 - I've sent you a copy of the Paris Supporters Guide that a forum regular put together. It's been used with great success in navigating supporters to a few spots on the course to cheer on their runner.

    If anyone else wants it of it let me know and I'll send a copy.


  • <blockquote class="Quote">
    <div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/Eggyh73">Eggyh73</a> said:</div>
    <div class="QuoteText"><div>@Carol4 - I've sent you a copy of the Paris Supporters Guide that a forum regular put together. It's been used with great success in navigating supporters to a few spots on the course to cheer on their runner.</div><div>
    </div><div>If anyone else wants it of it let me know and I'll send a copy.
    </div><div>
    </div>
    </div>
    </blockquote>
    Ooh yes please @Eggyh73 that would be great :-)
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    @K83nd0n - I've sent you a copy of the supporters guide.
  • StephAStephA ✭✭✭
    Eggy, would you mind sending me the supporters guide too, thanks!
  • Eggyh73 - me please too if you dont mind...thanks
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    @StephA @Webby4216 - I've sent you both copies of the supporters guide.
  • Hi folks, Paul from Dublin here, i've been lurking on this thread for a couple of weeks but just signed up.
    Paris will be my first Marathon, i've done the Berlin half before so I love a good "racecation" :smiley: @Eggyh73
    if I could get a copy of that supporters guide that would be great as my wife and daughter will be there, cheers !
  • StephAStephA ✭✭✭
    That's really helpful Eggy, thanks! Last year, I wrote a likely time on each mile for my family who didn't really plan ahead of time where they'd see me, so this might be a bit more organised for them!
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    @greenpesto - Welcome to the thread! You've picked a fantastic race for your first marathon. I've sent you a copy of the supporters guide.

    StephA - Supporting at a big event like that can be a logistical nightmare unless you've planned ahead. I think one of the best bits of advice in the guide is the supporters having something that clearly makes them stick out. Makes it much easier for you as they runner to see them, and in turn for them to see you.
    In previous years the supporters have often got together as a group and used flags on extendable poles to highlight their position on the course. As someone running it was a great boost when you approached an area you knew they'd planned to be at and seen the flag dangling in the distance.
  • Carol4Carol4 ✭✭✭
    @Eggyh73 what do you mean by flag. Is that a National flag or is a more a banner type “Go Carol”
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    Any flag that stands out is good. There wouldn’t be many Australian flags around, so would be easy to spot. 

    The forum spawned its own flags a few years ago, which was a stool on a flag! Easy to spot and no doubt confused many people as to which country had that on a flag!  :D
  • Thanks DrScott177 - you don't do medical forms by any chance, do you? ;)

    The hill into the BdB - as others have said, it is only really even detectable because you've just run 21 extremely flat miles. For me, it's never the bit that hurts - that's the 22-25m stretch in the Bois, that drags on and on!

    Supporters - a bit of planning as Eggy suggests and 3 or 4 sightings are possible. Avoid trying to get out to the Vincennes end (takes too long). I'd suggest Bastille on the way out, Bastille on the way back (or down the road towards the river a bit) and then to the Bois RER and walk a KM down the course. You've no need of extra support in the last 500m (and zero chance of spotting it) but could really use it on KM40/41!

    Have you all downloaded the marathon app? In years gone by, it's been really interesting to watch one's progress against other runners.
  • Carol4Carol4 ✭✭✭
    @dom norrish I love your sense of humour.  I have downloaded the app.  How do you get to see the progress of others?  Do you need to make connections?
    Also re supporters following their runner. I am guessing there is live tracking and are there timing mats on the course and if so how far apart?  I am going to run with my mobile ph for photo ops (need to practice running and taking photos) and was wondering if anyone had used “track my phone” in a big race. If that works successfully the supporters would have a bit of an idea where you are on the course, ie still coming or have already past that point.  Sorry for rambling on a bit 
  • <blockquote class="Quote">
    <div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/Dom%20Norrish">Dom Norrish</a> said:</div>
    <div class="QuoteText">Thanks DrScott177 - you don't do medical forms by any chance, do you? ;)

    The hill into the BdB - as others have said, it is only really even detectable because you've just run 21 extremely flat miles. For me, it's never the bit that hurts - that's the 22-25m stretch in the Bois, that drags on and on!

    Supporters - a bit of planning as Eggy suggests and 3 or 4 sightings are possible. Avoid trying to get out to the Vincennes end (takes too long). I'd suggest Bastille on the way out, Bastille on the way back (or down the road towards the river a bit) and then to the Bois RER and walk a KM down the course. You've no need of extra support in the last 500m (and zero chance of spotting it) but could really use it on KM40/41!

    Have you all downloaded the marathon app? In years gone by, it's been really interesting to watch one's progress against other runners.</div>
    </blockquote>
    I habe tried downloading the app but it won't let me log on. Even if I reset my password it tells me my password is incorrect 🙈
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    @Carol4 - There is live tracking via the app. There are timing mats every 5km in Paris.
  • StephAStephA ✭✭✭
    @Carol4 if you're on Facebook, you can set the app to update your facebook every 5km
  • Carol4 said:
    @dom norrish I love your sense of humour.  I have downloaded the app.  How do you get to see the progress of others?  Do you need to make connections?
    Also re supporters following their runner. I am guessing there is live tracking and are there timing mats on the course and if so how far apart?  I am going to run with my mobile ph for photo ops (need to practice running and taking photos) and was wondering if anyone had used “track my phone” in a big race. If that works successfully the supporters would have a bit of an idea where you are on the course, ie still coming or have already past that point.  Sorry for rambling on a bit 
    They've remade the app this year from scratch so not sure if comparisons will appear at some point in the next few weeks, but in previous iterations if you connected it to your Garmin or Strava account, it would compare your training (mileage, pace, etc) with others in your pen, age range, gender etc. It was interesting to see how relatively well I was training compared with people who were aiming for the same time.

    I did also have log in issues initially. I ended up changing my Time To credentials through the website, waiting overnight and deleting/ reinstalling the app - not sure which part of that did the trick, but it now works for me.
  • FRG2FRG2 ✭✭✭
    It’s often easier for you to spot your supporters than for them to spot you. I have a photo from Paris where my parents and mother-in-law are still looking for me, although I’d already passed! 
    Last time I wrote the agreed ‘meeting points’ on my hand in km so I was looking out for them. The crowds are thick in places, and it’s good to agree which side they’ll be, and stick to the same side throughout the course. 
  • Hello everybody. This is my first post on this forum and Paris 2019 will be my first ever marathon. I hope to do it under 4 hours. I was wondering about a couple of things. What is your race day strategy? Are the pacers good? Thanks. 
  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2019
    Phronesis - Welcome to the thread!
    Personally I wouldn’t trust a pacer for a couple of reasons. You’re putting your race after all the training you did in the hands of someone you’ve never ran with and have no idea how they’ll approach the run. Secondly I’ve seen many a pacer get it horrifically wrong, including at Paris. I recall one year watching a 4 hour pacer fly by me around mile 10. I ran a 3:46 that day and he would have started in the pen behind me!

    Race strategy in terms of time should be based on training. You really want to be running as evenly as possible, but I would allow for some fade in the second half of the race. I’m unusual in that I’m not a watch checker. Most people frequently check their watch for pace. At Paris I just use the race clocks at the timing mats. I calculate what time I want to hit the next 5km and check that come the next timing mat.

    The only must I’d say is use the course markers for distance. Your watch won’t be 100% accurate.
  • Eggyh73 said:


    The only must I’d say is use the course markers for distance. Your watch won’t be 100% accurate.
    Worth noting that the Mile markers aren't as easy to spot as the KMs (France is metric) so it's a bit risking relying on these. The pace bands they give you at the expo are in 5k increments, if memory serves, so that's helpful.

    I use my watch, but not excessively - just try to stay within 15 seconds either side of my mile pace whilst also not breaching my heart rate thresholds. Get it right, and you finish strong and with a negative split. The key is adjusting effort to fit within what your HR is capable of supporting on that day...
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