Paris Marathon 2010

Standing in the front of the Arc des Triumph on the Champs Élysées with 40,000 other runners was an amazingly surreal experience. The energy and excitement was matched only by the incredulity and the hilarity of trying to ignore the goings on while standing next to the male urinals and the French runners having a last smoke before the start gun.Given the amount of people in front of us the start line seemed deceptively close, unfortunately the width of the start gates did not match the width of the
Champs Elysees as we all started to funnel it became very obvious that we were not getting to the start line anytime soon. 20 minutes later as we threaded our way through a mountain of throwaways we finally started the course.Running as a coach with my Lymphoma Leukemia Society Team in Training group it was my responsibility to get these newbie marathoners safely through the entire 42 km. This being our first European marathon I was a bit nervous about water stations, crowd participation, facilities etc. Initially the crowd seemed somewhat subdued; it seemed to take about 4km before we started to get any sort of crowd participation after which it was amazing. The first water stop at 5km was an experience. Instead of small paper cups of water we were given sealed plastic 250ml water bottles, imagine 40,000 runners each taking one or two swigs per bottle and then throwing them aside. The rubble and waste was amazing, an environmentalists’ nightmare. Initially we tried to carry our bottles while running in order to not waste the water but after a while we did like everyone else and pitched ¾ full bottles to the side of the road.We had been forewarned ahead of time not to expect the traditional sports beverage along the course so many of us were stocked up with e-load tabs and sports beans. What we did not expect was the mountain of banana and orange peels on the road at each water station. The French had substituted the traditional chemical supplements for the more natural and healthy fresh fruit variety. Unfortunately what they did not anticipate was the slick, sticky layer of peel created by 40,000 discarded pieces of banana and orange peel. The combination of uneven cobblestones and these discarded peels led to some uneasy running especially as our feet and legs started to tire.The cobblestones along the route became challenging at around 32km. Although it was only in sections, the stones proved harder to navigate as our legs and ankles started to tire. By the end of the run my feet were considerably sorer than any other marathon I believe it had to do with these cobblestones.The course itself was absolutely spectacular. In the future it is going to be hard to find a more beautiful scenic marathon. We started in front of the Arc de Triumph on the Av. Des Camps Elysees ran past the  Louvre museum, the Bastille, through the beautiful green park area past the Chateau de Vincennes, and then back along the River Seine, past the Notre Dame Cathedral the Eiffel Tower finally crossing the finish line on the Avenue Foch.  All along the route groups of precision drummers and pipers set the beat, the enthusiastic spectators never diminishing from start to finish. The weather could not have been better, cool and slightly overcast every once in a while the sun peeked through but nothing to be concerned about.  Clothing as usual in any marathon was a concern. Every runner was provided with a plastic poncho in our race kits with proved invaluable at the start line and as we crossed the finish line we were provided with another poncho. Short sleeves and shorts were the choice of the day and luckily it proved adequate.All in all the Marathon de Paris was an amazing experience I highly recommend it to anyone whether it be their first or 50^th marathon.