The modern Paris Marathon unfolds along the Right Bank of the Seine and sees nearly fifty thousand runners.
The modern Paris Marathon unfolds along the Right Bank of the Seine and sees nearly fifty thousand runners.
Ah, April in Paris! The perfume of freshly baked baguettes mixing with the first blossoms of spring. The sun climbing ever higher in the sky to better bathe the city in its special light. And on the second Sunday of the month, the thunder of nearly one hundred thousand sneakers pounding the pavement as runners from around the world compete in the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon.
“In the early nineties, I worked for several years in New York,” Pascal Silvestre began. “I started running there, and I knew I one day wanted to run a marathon. My dream was to do the New York Marathon, but I returned to Paris to live. That was my first marathon; after that, I was hooked. I’ve now run the Paris Marathon twelve times, eleven times in a row. It’s always a gift to be able to run through Paris, the most beautiful city in the world—or at least one of them. It’s a special moment of the year to be able to be in Paris as spring arrives. There’s a sense of rebirth in the air, and it’s a great time to be running. We’ve been very lucky the last sixteen years. Once or twice we’ve had chilly, windy days, but most of the time we’ve had blue skies and perfect temperatures for running.”
The very first Paris Marathon (known then as the Tour de Paris Marathon) was held in 1896, on the heels of the first modern Olympics. A distance of forty kilometers (24.85 miles) was selected, as this was the distance from the battlefields at Marathon to Athens. One hundred and ninety-one runners raced from Porte Maillot to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. There was a hiatus of eighty years before the next marathon was held in Paris. This time around, the course was extended to the standard 42.195-kilometer (or 26.2-mile) length. Since the first modern Paris Marathon was run in 1976, the course has changed a number of times. These days, it’s run completely on the Right Bank of the Seine and sees approximately fifty thousand runners.
Whether you’re a lover of Paris and want an opportunity to commune with the City of Light or you’re a newcomer hoping to experience the place you’ve heard so much about, the Paris Marathon will satisfy. Pascal went on to describe the course. “All the runners converge on the Champs-Elysées, where the race begins,” he said. “You have the Arc de Triomphe [which honors soldiers who perished in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars] in front. The first two miles head downhill and bring you past the Place de la Concorde [one of the city’s major squares]. You pass the Louvre and then the Place de la Bastille [where the infamous Bastille prison stood until it was dismantled during the revolution of 1789–90]. Here, you begin to pass through the markets. The smells of freshly baked bread, roasted chicken, and other foods are very tangible. You can’t help but start thinking about what you’ll treat yourself to after the race is done. Soon after, you enter a park, the Bois de Vincennes, which is Paris’s largest park. After circling through the woods here, the route heads west along the river, back toward the center of the city. You pass Notre Dame, the Musée d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, and through another park, the Bois de Boulogne, before reaching the finish. This is my playground, where I train. But on the day of the race, it’s that much more special.”
Runners who feed off the energy of an enthusiastic crowd to push them past “the wall” may find the spectatorship in Paris a bit lacking. “In New York, when the marathon is happening, it’s the main event of the day,” Pascal opined. “In Paris, it’s not a focal point. In fact, many Parisians may not know it’s even happening.” The low-key personality of the Paris Marathon extends to post-race festivities. “The French aren’t into big pre-and post-race events,” Pascal added. “Many finishers will join friends and go to a local restaurant. You won’t see many runners wearing their medals. It’s just not the French way. My group of running friends will usually select a bar to meet at after the race and enjoy a few beers.” (The notion of French runners gathering for a few beers may seem foreign to some, but Paris has seen an explosion of craft brewers in the last ten years—not in the least because France is Europe’s largest barley producer and the world’s greatest exporter of malt.)
Given his dozen circuits of the Paris Marathon, Pascal has a passel of great memories of the run through the world’s most beautiful city. “My first time, in 1996, I was shy and didn’t know if I could finish. I didn’t mention that I was participating to anyone; when I finished, I cried. After that, I was more organized in my training, and I ran the course nine times in under three hours. In 2011, I was asked to be a pacer—what an amazing day! I felt a huge responsibility, as the runners I was pacing had put so much energy into trying to break the three-hour mark. I’ll never forget their hugs and handshakes after we finished. When you see people finishing, it’s overwhelming—their fatigue, their emotion. For many, it’s the experience of a lifetime. It’s not only a marathon, but it’s the Paris Marathon.”
PASCAL SILVESTRE began running in 1994 when he quit smoking. He’s gone on to run fifty-seven marathons, including New York City, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Marine Corps, San Francisco, Big Sur, Sedona, and Paris. Pascal created the website Runners (runners.fr), France’s leading running site, and is also the author of Marathon, a collection of ten short stories that involve the marathon experience.
If You Go
Getting There: Paris is served by most major carriers. Special travel packages from Air France (800-237-2747; airfrance.us) and KLM (866-434-0320; klm.com) are available for marathon participants.
Best Time to Visit: The Schneider Electric Paris Marathon is generally held the second Sunday in April.
Race Information: Entry forms and other information are available at www.schneiderelectricparismarathon.com.
Accommodations: The French Tourist Office (francetourism.com) lists a broad assortment of lodging options around Paris.