I found a free banana and an ice tea at the expo. I found there was a small queue at the ASICS wristband but it moved fast. I had the the reply email with the barcode and the guy just scanned it and the band printed out. Super easy and fast. Doing the breakfast run this morning so having a practice of my breakfast this morning. Can anyone advise which is the best metro stop for the start of the marathon. Sorry it probably had already been covered. I thought a lot of that stuff would have been printed out and given to us when we registered. Also we got a cool backpack
I found a free banana and an ice tea at the expo. I found there was a small queue at the ASICS wristband but it moved fast. I had the the reply email with the barcode and the guy just scanned it and the band printed out. Super easy and fast. Doing the breakfast run this morning so having a practice of my breakfast this morning. Can anyone advise which is the best metro stop for the start of the marathon. Sorry it probably had already been covered. I thought a lot of that stuff would have been printed out and given to us when we registered. Also we got a cool backpack
Just walked down the champ Elysee! its looks like they are preparing for a war rather than a marathon!
i counted over 200 minivans , police tanks and water cannons! All the roads, parks and metro stations boarded up! There are police every hundred meters or, doing stop and search on people especially with bags!
if you are going there today... do not wear a yellow vest!!
Getting to the Breakfast Run was an exciting last minute challenge (most of the Line 1 stations towards Etoille are closed due to the protests, bag checks when approaching the Arc de T).
@domnorrish I got kicked out of Concorde station this morning whilst changing trains as they were closing it (bad timing!). Was on my way to Parkrun - thank goodness for Citymapper!
I’d highly recommend using Citymapper if anyone needs to check their route. Once it tells you which lines you need I’d also check on the ‘lines’ section of the app that there aren’t any planned closures. It’s also useful to have in case of any last minute changes (like I had this morning).
Yes I saw all the police too!!! Just got back from the breakfast run. Always great fun to do. I felt fine running as my chest is finally clearing, it was good to put myself to the test to see if starting tomorrow is realistic. My lungs feel a little congested now but nothing to worry about so I’m feeling more confident about it than I was.
My cold which started on the plane, turned into a chesty cough and some weaknesses by yesterday evening after exposure to cold Paris weather after warm spring temperatures of Cyprus. Skipped the breakfast run to get as much sleep as I can, I'm getting lost of rest at the hotel today, and getting a combination of painkillers, vitamins, honey lemon teas! Definitely not the best scenario and not what I was expecting for the 1st marathon but I will be on the start line tomorrow morning to run as much as I can.
Nice one khanivore! We have expoed and are waiting for dinner. Had some fun on the rer and metro with Charles de Gaulle/ Etoile being closed as are staying near the arc but are done for the day. Bring on tomorrow!!!!
That's my carb loading sorted anyway. Went passed a local bar yesterday , and saw they were doing cous cous. Thought "useful". Ordered got massive pots-not bowls- of cous cous and stew,plus some chickpeas. Enough for two ,maybe three. Kept having to tell myself it is possible to Carb OVERload.
With drinks ,less than 20€. There are some advantages to staying out in the sticks.
<blockquote class="Quote"> <div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/phronesis">phronesis</a> said:</div> <div class="QuoteText">Good luck and thanks for all your helpful commentary. One last thing anyone got a cure for a common cold the night before a marathon? </div> </blockquote> You might sweat it out if you run 26 or so mile? Worth a shot
Good luck everyone for tomorrow. Glad to hear you're feeling better clairejones. Hope everyone gets a good night's sleep.
Time for some motivating words from Pistol101 from a previous year's Paris Marathon forum:
"When you stand on the Start Line, you join the club. When you stand
at the Starting Line you earn your membership. Millions dream of being
where you are. You are no longer a dreamer. You are a doer.
Thousands
more started a training programme but never finished. They started with
the same enthusiasm as (or more than) you. They started with more or
less the same physical gifts or disadvantages as you did. They had no
more and no less reason to be successful than you. But somewhere
along the way, they lost that enthusiasm. Somewhere on the road or on
the track or treadmill, they decided that the rewards just weren't worth
the effort. They decided that they could live without finding their
limits, without challenging their expectations of themselves and without
taking a hard look at their image of themselves. You didn't. If
you’re standing at the Start Line, you've not only accepted the
challenge, but you've also beaten back the demons. You've conquered your
imagination and self-imposed limitations. You've gone further, got
stronger and become tougher than you ever imagined."
Morning all! Brilliant words from pistol above. Have an awesome race!!! And in the words of Steve way, "don't be shit!“. It doesn’t mean you have to run the fastest or the most amazing race ever but be true to yourself and find your not shit groove. Enjoy and look up! It's a beautiful course and we have perfect goldilocks weather for it.
I enjoyed that. Did slightly better than expected 2.48, my second best time. Nice and cool once the race got underway. Hope every one enjoyed their races.
About 4.40, so about an hour outside my target time. Disappointed ,but not too much. The glee of passing the finish when the last 8 miles were such a slog made up for it.
First marathon ,but won't be my last. I know I can do better. I'll probably do one every year or so-or at least that's how I feel at the moment- so I might as well make it a big one. Stockholm early summer looks interesting for 2020.
Congratulations everyone who finished and commiserations anyone out there who didn't. We both had a great day! Not fast but weather was beautiful and course alterations were lovely. See you at the pub. We should be there at 6ish.
Andrew glad to hear you're going to come back for more. That's exactly how I felt after my first Paris three years ago, and I still feel I want to do it again right now (well maybe not right now). I've not done Stockholm, but Eggy or others on the forum can probably tell you more about that one. I'm thinking maybe Amsterdam next...
Hope everyone enjoyed today and had a good run. Paris really did look lovely today, even the woods at the end. I liked the new loop around the Opera, more interesting than going straight down Rue de Rivoli, and it was a nice surprise when the half marathon point came up much earlier than I'd expected. I did something stupid to my Garmin just before the start so it wasn't logging my splits, but in a way, it was possibly a good thing, meant I just ran on how I felt. Managed a new PB by ten minutes with 3:25:07, which wasn't bad at all, but nicely still leaves a little room for improvement I hope. My A goal had been sub 3:20 to get a Good for Age time for London, but actually being 5 minutes off it feels better than if I'd just missed it by a minute or two. Even if I hadn't had to make a hasty toilet stop in the Bois de Vincennes I still wouldn't have made 3:20. And this time I did remember to look up and see the Eiffel Tower, so C goal accomplished too.
Comments
Have a great race everyone
its looks like they are preparing for a war rather than a marathon!
i counted over 200 minivans , police tanks and water cannons! All the roads, parks and metro stations boarded up! There are police every hundred meters or, doing stop and search on people especially with bags!
if you are going there today... do not wear a yellow vest!!
Never done this run before, but it was great fun!
I’d highly recommend using Citymapper if anyone needs to check their route. Once it tells you which lines you need I’d also check on the ‘lines’ section of the app that there aren’t any planned closures. It’s also useful to have in case of any last minute changes (like I had this morning).
With drinks ,less than 20€. There are some advantages to staying out in the sticks.
<div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/phronesis">phronesis</a> said:</div>
<div class="QuoteText">Good luck and thanks for all your helpful commentary. One last thing anyone got a cure for a common cold the night before a marathon? </div>
</blockquote>
You might sweat it out if you run 26 or so mile? Worth a shot
good luck everyone!<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6027274/uploads/editor/jo/fadq2ckbwfzz.jpeg" alt=""> I had a little run today and it was nice
But somewhere along the way, they lost that enthusiasm. Somewhere on the road or on the track or treadmill, they decided that the rewards just weren't worth the effort. They decided that they could live without finding their limits, without challenging their expectations of themselves and without taking a hard look at their image of themselves.
You didn't. If you’re standing at the Start Line, you've not only accepted the challenge, but you've also beaten back the demons. You've conquered your imagination and self-imposed limitations. You've gone further, got stronger and become tougher than you ever imagined."
Enjoy and look up! It's a beautiful course and we have perfect goldilocks weather for it.
Paris, France
Exceeded expectations as well, 3:32:15. Really happy.
Hope race was great for everyone else
First marathon ,but won't be my last. I know I can do better. I'll probably do one every year or so-or at least that's how I feel at the moment- so I might as well make it a big one. Stockholm early summer looks interesting for 2020.
We both had a great day! Not fast but weather was beautiful and course alterations were lovely. See you at the pub. We should be there at 6ish.