Monday 14 April 2014

6 April, 2014. Paris Marathon


2014 Paris Marathon (6 April)

It was time to switch over to the road marathon scene again.  It had been 15 months since my previous road race over that distance, where I was coming off a PB in Hobart (only to be beaten by Rocco by 5 seconds in the last 200m – we never forget these things!)

I was meant to travel to Europe last year to watch some Ashes cricket and le Tour de France but it didn’t work out so the opportunity presented itself this year to get some travel in for a month in Europe and when Steve Bruggeman mentioned that Sue Jeffrey (running her last marathon) and himself were running the Paris Marathon, I thought that would be a great opportunity indeed.

Six Foot Track was completed only 4 weeks prior to the race day of April 6, so really I was in decent enough running condition and I only did one long run of around 30km since the 45km race in the Mountains, but concentrated on some speed and tempo work to sharpen up on the road running.

I arrived in Paris on April 1 and was extremely glad I did as jet lag took a good 48 hours to overcome.  I found I was taking 3-4 hour naps in the middle of the day but that could not be helped and on top of that I got the Paris sightseeing out of the way in the first 3 days.  I rested the weary walking legs on the day before the race and again was happy I did that.
The marathon started at 8:45am on Sunday morning.  Very unusual time (regarded as late), but the weather was perfect with the sun out and it was around 10 degrees.  Forecast max was about 18 and I think it got there by about noon before clouding over and cooling down a few degrees.  I dropped my bag near the finish line that was on the other side of the Arc de Triomphe so then I had to quickly scoot across the Arc again to the other side where the start section was.  Can you believe there were cars still somehow allowed on the famous road roundabout (11 roads lead off it) so it was mayhem as all these marathon runners were crossing the Arc and dodging some cars – ahh that is Paris!

The elite runners were off at 8:45am and my chosen target time starting group (3hr 15mins) was off at about 8:55am.  I got to the side of my starting shute about 2 minutes before we were given the all clear to race  There was no benefit of waiting around in a mass crowd, so I hung out to the side of the shute and then casually joined the back of the wave as we crossed the electronic timing mats.  I was surprised at the starting pace by all in the group.  3:15 time equates to around 4min 37sec km pace and it seems everyone was running at that pace to begin with so I got away rather smoothly.  I was blown away by the amount of runners out there.  I was told around 42,000 runners were expected on the day and I don’t think the figure was too far off.

You begin the first 1km by running down des Champs-Elysees, with a slight downhill over the flattened cobblestones.  Then you begin to enter the narrower streets of downtown Paris passing many monuments and attractions such as Louvre and the Bastille. The crowds lining the streets were simply amazing from the beginning of the race right through to the end.  Three or four deep they were (exception was the large parks where crowds were minimal) and at times it felt you were like one of those leading Tour de France cyclists trying to climb a High Class Category mountain where the crowds are all over the road and just leaving a thin passage for you to pass. Allez Allez they kept shouting and it really spurred you on.  That was definitely the highlight!  A full 10/10 for the crowd involvement and attendance, never felt anything like it and did not anticipate that many people cheering.

Despite the large number of runners, your rhythm was not overlay stalled during the run (well not in my pace group anyway).  The first 25km were like running in the first 4km of the Sydney Marathon – plenty of people to chat too if you wanted and plenty of overtaking, but for some reason my pace was constant despite weaving and signaling throughout the packs of runners.

I really only had one main goal in this race (some have A,B,C) and that was to break 3hrs 15mins.  It would mean taking very close to 5 mins off my PB/Hobart time and it should then mean I would qualify for Boston next year based on age category (no giveaways here).  So the pace to beat was 4:37 per km.  The way to tackle and achieve this was to try and negative split the race somehow.  This plan hit home even further on the Friday at the running Expo where we picked up our running bibs.  On a special notice board there, runners randomly stuck “post it notes” giving their thoughts and tips.  The one that stuck out for me and is simple as can be was “First Half Don’t Be Silly, Second Half Don’t Be Scared”. Straight to the point and effective which gave me some comfort that my plan would hopefully work provided I felt great on the day.

The kms were ticking over on the Garmin, 5km, 10km, 15km, 20km and then the half way point of 21.1km.  I was following the front end of the 3:15hr bus for the first 18km but gradually got ahead of the group and with pleasure as these bus passengers would be almost hugging the driver and made it difficult to let any runners to pass.  

Amazingly my splits per 5km were extremely close and average pace was about 4:37 and I felt really great, breathing no problem, happy and energetic.  My quads were getting a little tired but as Paris is a flat course (total elevation of 190m – equivalent of Melbourne I think), the same muscles work constantly in your quads and thus can cause these aches.

Drink stations were every 5km and you are handed 330ml sized plastic water bottles and there is plenty of fruit.  Australian marathon organisers should take note as these bottles are great provided staff is there to clean up the recycling after the event is over.  Taking a bottle or two each 5km meant I could drink when I wanted to without stopping. This is exactly what I did and I had some Hammer Endurolyte Fizz Tablets in my Spi-Belt (cash for comments) to dissolve into the water.  These worked well (I had 5 during the race and two Second Surge Gels) and I avoided the adductor cramps that plague me many times on race day over longer distances.  

The kms were heading into the 30km stage and the crowds were still in force. My 5km splits were getting slightly quicker so I had a feeling my goal was in sight.  I usually look at my average pace and set my Garmin to that mode, but the only concern is when you read off your GPS watch, it shows your average pace over the distance you have run so far, so you sometimes need to remember you may have run a bit extra than the course proper itself (the blue line that measures the most direct route is 42.195km) as you need to run wider to overtake other runners.

35km-40km was run through the west side of Paris via the Gardens/Park before heading up to Foch Ave as it leads its way to the Famous Arc. By this time, my quads were burning in pain as each leg strived forward.  Still no cramps though and that was a great feeling as it meant I could still run at a decent pace without that fear in the back of my mind, so all it meant was I should have a cup of cement and harden up to get over the burning sensation of the quads.  I felt as if I was speeding up some more but my km times for 41km and 42km were slower for some reason (fatigue obviously ???) but I gave everything I could in that last dash for home.  By this time I was monitoring my total elapsed time on the watch and was so thrilled and excited running down that main wide finishing straight knowing that my goal was about to be achieved.  In the end it was 3:14:07 so I had close to 200m of free ‘space’ behind me.  A negative split of about 50 seconds too.  PB by just under 6 minutes and hopefully Boston qualified. Mission accomplished!

Highly recommend this race to everyone – crowds and course excellent and well organised despite the large numbers competing.

NRG had a good number of runners in the race and many raced with injuries and should be proud.  The results to my knowledge of their run were (apologies if I have missed anyone) :
Kai Kasad                                3:54:53
Steve Bruggeman                   3:58:32
Ricky Yim                               4:15:39
Nadia Akarie                           4:17:55
Gary McCartney                     4:23:05
Susan Jeffrey                         5:28:13
Frederique Tonnelier               5:28:16