Hey RMA crew!
Just been supporting at the Paris marathon and actually now mid flight heading for New York then Boston marathon this weekend. The Paris race was awesome. It should be on everyone’s bucket list. Best to get there on the Thursday or Friday before to settle in and fight the jet lag! The 5k International breakfast run on the Saturday is a must even if you walk it. You start at the marathon finish line and head to the Eiffel Tower for breakfast. Best photo ops so bring your camera. We ran into RMAers Linda and Sally from Hobart which was ultra cool! They hand out every runner’s country flag and it’s an amazing international vibe. The Brazillians were crazy! MUST DO if you run the marathon or not!! On race day the first 1.9k is downhill along the Champs Élysées. Adrenalin is up so you have to remember not to go too hard, too fast and blow up later. The last 10k is past the Eiffel Tower into the park and slight incline so tough finish!
We stayed a couple of blocks off the Champs Élysées at Hotel de Friedland which was pretty cost effective. It was tiny but did pass the important test in that you could open the door without hitting the bed! Breakfast was included and you could grab a bit of cheese, salami and baguettes to get you through lunch as well…pretty cool! It was about a 10 minute walk to the Arch De Triumphe which is around where you wait till you walk down about 400m to the start on the Champs Élysées. Loved the area because it was close to the race and great food, the Italian is amazing, but really central for tourist spots with the Metro. It also gave you more time on the Champs Élysées at the end of a day for cool stuff for family and kids back home.
On race day they give out wind breaker ponchos that keep you a bit warm but not bad to rug up, was about 12 degrees that morning but could have been colder. The wind was freezing!
The elites started at 8.45am which is late but dawn is around 7am! Waves go off every 10 minutes or so until about 10.30am. Just a short jog with sixty nine thousand of your closest friends!! From a support perspective it’s pretty easy to get to different parts of the course on the metro. Your crew can see you start then head to Porte Dore’e stop which is around the 10k mark, just before you head into the park area, ‘Bois De Vincenne’. Then your cheer squad can get back on the metro, to the Eiffel Tower and walk across the Bridge to catch you around 30k before the final push into the park, ‘Bois De Bologne’. From there they can get on the metro that side of the river and head to see you finish on ‘Rue de Foch’, aptly named street for the finish of a marathon!!
Checked it out for support of larger teams and there is a grass area behind the barriers where you could meet after the race for post catch up and recovery stuff. If anyone is keen to get a group together let us know. Any excuse to come back!!
Anyway guys. Just wanted to give you the run down. Have done a video series on running technique in Paris which we will get to you over the next couple of weeks. I will give you another overview of Boston as well. Any questions send them through to RIFREV.com. Would love to do specific videos for you while we’re here!
Enjoy your runs this week everyone!
Paul Trevethan
Running Physio
Bodyleadership.com.au
RIFREV.com
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