Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris 13 Apr 2025... a tale of hunger, goals & rewards

Sunday 13th April 2025 | Paris, France | Author Debbie Kay

This time last year we were all gearing up for London Marathon 2024. A few of my lady running buddies were doing it ... and I had serious run envy!!

I had been fortunate to have 'won' a Ballot place for 2020 VLM (for my 50th Birthday) due to covid didn't run TCS London Marathon until Oct 2022. I was very excited for the fantastic experience they were going to have, and watched everyone on the tracker with great excitement for them!!

Also, over the past few years I had slowly (-age related ;) ?) gained weight and needed a target to stop me reaching for the extra crisps, biscuits, cakes, -well any Carbs in general!!, Coupled with thoughts of my London experiences although brilliant experience- could I have ran it quicker? I struggled from mile 16 getting slower and slower up to the finish.  So started looking at running another Marathon for when I turn 55, early on I decided not London. For me, it was a once in a lifetime chance and 840,000 applications for the ballot it's a slim chance. Another marathon would have to be big and special as I'll always have my London memories to compare any other with!!

Among other cities, I looked at Paris- The entry fee was a bit more than what I'd usually cough up, but early bird entry was @ Eu149 (plus insurance) with guaranteed entry I knew wasn't as much as Berlin ballot. I compared and costed flights, train, tunnel etc, looked at travel time and managed to bag cheap early booking flights from Manchester for £100 return and a budget hotel just 2kms from the start/finish. So all in all not too extortionate.  A great 55 years birthday pressie to myself, but only if I met my target weight.

So not to have wasted the £££s I'd spent- I worked hard with resisting the extra carbs, being hungry!!, doing the cardio to burn fat and thankfully reached my target weight. As a bonus my running got more consistent and faster!! I watched You tube videos of Paris Marathon to keep motivated and excited.

Training and Goals........

Just before Christmas I started the 16 week Garmin Intermediate Marathon plan by Keith Anderson, practiced fuelling needs as there's real proper food on the course (after all it is Paris!) on my long runs, and before I knew it 16 weeks had passed and Race was upon me:

I had 5 goals:-

1. to finish

2. beat my London time 4hrs 57mins 20 secs

3. 4hr 30 mins would be fantastic

4. to get around in less than VW50 silver grade time of 4hrs 20mins 48 sec without dying would be my golden goal!!

5. above all enjoy it!!

I flew out early on the Saturday morning (with lots of marathon runners & supporters on the plane) making my way from CDG Airport across on the Metro to the Expo to pick up my number- The queue to get my number wasn't bad but the queues for the photos ops were horrific (so I left those!). As well as your number you got a protein bar, safety pins, pen and a lovely backpack

I made my way to the hotel unpacked and went out for a McDonalds- (they serve beer in McDs in Paris!!) Then went back to the hotel- prepped most of my gear and settled for an early night.

Race day...........

I had prepped well. I knew that there's various kinds of food on the course. Water was by paper cups or refilling your own container, so I packed and filled my water bladder, including electrolytes, to save me having to stop and refill bottles. I had a pocket full of Cliff blocks. As I had picked the 'slowest' finish time wave of 4hrs 30 mins I didn't need to be at the starting pen until 11'o'clock to start at nearly 11.30am. The organisation was slick, the volunteers were only to happy point you in the right direction, the bag drop being in the finish area only 5-10mins walk from the start- with plenty of loos and both male and female urinals around too.

Once at the starting pen, there were waves of excitement as you could hear runners being set off and gradually moving forwards away from the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe down The Champs Elysee. All different nationalities French, UK, Columbian, Far East Asian, Australian, Belgian, Mexican- just amazing!!. Getting nearer to the start a blue rope/band was lifted with runners passing under, I squeezed in and this was it. Counting down with an epic audio then Cinq, Quatre, Trois, Deux, Un, ALLEZ!!! That was it off down the Champs Elysee towards La Place de la Concorde, desperately trying not to go too fast as it's slightly down hill!!

The route is epic, passing Iconic parts of Paris. Beautiful squares, Arc de Triomphe, Opera Garnier, the Louvre, Place de la Bastille.... in the city the crowds are amazing, shouting cheering, music, cowbells and noise - no barriers- sometimes feeling bottle necked, closing in as they look out for their loved ones. Then you travel out to slightly quieter parkland the Chateau de Vincennes, Hippodrome and past the Zoo, heading back to the city. Now you're running back on yourself through the Place de la Bastille again and then towards the Seine. There is a series of tunnels, all lit with different themes and music. 'HBO's The Last of Us' theme, disco electric and an odd organ music one too!! Crowds on the bridges cheering the runners on, running alongside the sightseeing boat tours. Going past some Olympic rings, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower is just incredible.  After the Eiffel Tower the run along the Seine continues and then you turn towards Roland Garros Stadium and through some quieter parkland to the West of the city- the crowds thin out a bit here and I knew there was a climb in elevation around 35kms to the last km or two. I had been, telling myself all the way round, to save my legs for this as I knew this is a killer... but for me the climb never came, not compared to Dronfield! As you come out of the parkland there is a slight descent back into the city. My watch congratulated me on completing a Marathon so I now had no idea on my time or distance, despite me trying to stick to the famous green line where I could! The Crowds were deafening, there's a green lit section with numerous screens celebrating just 500m to go and then a barriered section with the supporters banging, slapping the barriers, yelling, shouting including 'Allez Debbie' 'Bravo Debbie' A deafening sea of noise that powers you on - then the final sharp turn on to the famous cobbles and Green carpet. I managed a sprint finish to the end, not knowing if I had made my desired Silver time. 

Post Race...

I have to say, for the price of Eu149 I can see where the ££s were spent. There tons of portaloos, still with queues!! traffic free routes through a capital city. The famous green line on the course. The feed stations were well like no other, spaced out with a mega choice of carbs and fruits including salt biscuits, various sponge cakes, chocolate sponge, french gingerbread, bananas, raisins, sugar cubes. There were water stations (tank lorries) at each feed station and they'd put on extra water too as it was warm. There were periodic hoses too if you needed to run through. There's all manner of about 40 live bands en-route, brass, folksy, jazz, drumming, rock, Dj sets. Amazing volunteers and goodies at the finish, fruit, apples, pears, bananas and water. As a finisher the medal is beautiful, a lovely t-shirt  too but there is the addition of the backpack when picking up your number.

Organisation was slick, and thankfully gone is the need to have a doctor certify your fitness - you just complete an online course informing you of signs you are struggling and upload this to be verified. 

Mens race won by Bernard Biwott 2hrs 5mins 25 secs Womens race won by Bedatu Hirpu in 2hrs 20 mins 45 sec.

I finished in an incredible 4hr 19 mins and 59 sec. I was Finisher 33754/55495 Womens 7123/16533 and  Age category 179/681

If you're fed up of not getting a London slot and want to do a Big Ticket marathon, then I'd say Bon Chance, and try to book early before the prices increase!! 

No better way to see beautiful Paris, just amazing....