A legendary event, the most important in France, which has become very popular with runners from all over the world, the Paris marathon continues to attract more and more runners, with a well-oiled organization (for the race as well as for the Run Experience where we withdraw bibs the days preceding the race) and now an integral part of major events on the international calendar.
Anyone who is a little "crazy" would do the Rome marathon on March 27, then the Paris marathon on the following Sunday. However, this is what many foreign runners from Asia or America do who will try the combo, to simply be amazed and will leave with their legendary bib!
Let's analyze the course of the Schneider electric a little since the naming also affected this race. For those who can, take a spotting bike ride the previous weekend, or even the Saturday before the event, this allows you to memorize the route and the key moments, because yes, the Paris marathon is not the most difficult, many have their record there, but it is also much more complex than many national and international courses (Berlin, London, Seville, Dubai, etc.), let's go into a little detail.
The famous Right Bank/Left Bank distinction exists on this race! The 42.195km of the route are thus located only on the right bank of the Parisian capital. Let's start with some feedback, don't panic if at the end of the Bois de Vincennes, you are told that the 1st runner (generally from Kenya) has just arrived, there will be a lot of people in front of you anyway, and a lot of people…behind you!
Remember 30 minutes before departure to take Stimium® PreWorkOut Max for maximum strength and energy and a stick of Stimium® Mc3 .
KM1- KM7: THE DEPARTURE
Let's start at the beginning, the departure is a spectacular sight on the Champs Elysées, even if given the early morning schedule, the crowd is not yet there. As always, don't get carried away by the departure, the crowd, even if you have chosen the 3:30 a.m. departure airlock, you will see around you "planes" leaving on 3 hour bases, especially since we are leaving in “common sense”, that is to say towards the east, downhill on the Champs Elysées, and very often, with the wind at your back! As long as you have trained well before (see here ), you will also have the impression of flying over these first kilometers after having slowed down the pace of training over the last 10 days. Afterwards, it was a little cold at the start, we waited in the airlock, we have been waiting for this moment for weeks, it is normal for the wild animals in the cage to stretch their legs a little, but we will quickly have to return to our rhythm of cruise, in any case, with the crowd, there is no question of taking risks, of slaloming, you will inevitably lose around 30 seconds in traffic, but what is 30 seconds compared to what awaits you! At the Grand Palais on the right, you must have already resumed your standard stride which will take you to the end!
Place de la Concorde, turn left! In fact this first part of the race, from kilometer 2 to kilometer 6, is honestly easy, rolling and above all magnificent with Place Vendôme, or the Opéra Garnier, rue de Rivoli with the new BHV building or the Town Hall from Paris (which corresponds to KM5 where you can take a first Stimium® Pro-Nrj rubber), for example. On this “easy” portion where we increase the cardio, one parameter to take into account is the surface, be careful because many cobblestones remain and the ground is not completely straight, so be careful of the risk of sprain and/or or not trip.
KM7 - KM9: L’Avant Bois de Vincennes – First difficulties.
After Rue de Rivoli, the first easy part is over with shopping. After passing through rue du Faubourg St-Antoine, there is a turn to the right which introduces the first difficulty of this route, the slope of rue de Reuilly, which honestly on foot, by bike or by bus, is not not insurmountable, but which will already do a little damage after 30 to 40 minutes of racing. The hill is a little less than 1.5km long and the percentage increases towards the end of the climb, so we recommend going there gradually (there are fewer things to see here so you have to concentrate on your breathing, especially that the advantage of this street is that we are generally sheltered from the wind. We can then recover a little on avenue Daumesnil which is not difficult, slightly downhill, and pleasant with these trees and its surface without cobblestones. .
KM9 - KM19: The Bois de Vincennes
We are going to leave the Bois de Vincennes, seeing it differently from previous hiking or cycling tours! You enter it quite easily, following Avenue Daumesnil which goes down, but in reality, you will quickly realize that the route on the Bois de Vincennes is never flat, and in reality constitutes a succession of false flats. , to go up and down. At Km10 and KM15, don't hesitate to take a 2nd Stimium® Pro-Nrj rubber. These are long straight lines so you can see the small positive or negative difference in altitude quite easily from afar. The advantage of this part is that you can hear the birds, there is often air, in March the leaves reappear on the trees, providing a very pleasant sensation. A possible difficulty to take into account will be the wind, once you turn due west at the Vincennes racecourse. Once again, the wind is very often from the west in March, which can mean that this 2nd part of the race (from km 15) can be done against the wind. If all goes well, if your training has been good, you should still be in good shape when you come out of the woods, you must not have burned all your cartridges, it is now that we will enter the hardest part of the race.
KM20 - KM24: Return to Paris via the Porte de Charenton
After the Bois de Vincennes, return to inner Paris via the Porte de Charenton. In all transparency, it is not the most pleasant part, nothing visually exceptional in terms of monuments, however, one of the places with the most atmosphere, often, with many musical entertainments, and not bad public. It is here around KM20 that we will recommend a stick of Stimium® Mc3 if you have been able to take 1, to avoid cramps which may already start to appear. We are reaching the equivalent of a half-marathon at this stage, so we have a good idea of our form, but above all of the performance we will be able to achieve today! We will then dive from the Place de la Bastille towards the quays, the Jardin des Plantes is just opposite the Seine.
KM24 - KM32: The magnificent Quais de Seine to admire the left bank.
It’s a real pivotal moment in the race. Once on the banks of the Seine, we already feel the stable, we know that we are on our way back, and that only the Bois de Boulogne will remain. We therefore often have a surplus of energy when arriving at the platforms, especially since the road is flat, we often see runners regaining color and accelerating at this point. We would advise against it, because the quays are long, 8km, possibly facing the wind, it's not that simple! At KM25 and KM30, we recommend taking our Stimium® Boost Erasers. And then comes another difficulty, which we rarely encounter in the race, the tunnels! The first is the Tuileries tunnel which is a little over 1km long, with a big descent not easy to manage for the joints and thighs, for those who are a little claustrophobic, get used to it in 4/5/6 minutes running in a firm and dark environment will not be so easy, especially after having admired Notre Dame de Paris a few meters before. pass. Going down already hurts, the descent is not really progressive, and by definition if you have gone down, you have to come out 1km further, and the climb will not be any more pleasant! Once you have passed the 1st tunnel, you will have 3 others to follow, always with descent and ascent before each of these black and dark interludes. But this is compensated by the extraordinary view of the left bank of Paris (the Pont Neuf, the Monnaie de Paris, the Musée d'Orsay, the view of the Eiffel Tower, etc.). At Invalides, we are at the 30th kilometer, we are going along the quays towards the south, it is sometimes a little moment of respite, especially with a north wind which can help and push us a little, and above all, in preparation for this who will follow!
KM32 - KM35: L’Avant Bois de Boulogne – The main difficulty with Boulevard Suchet
Opposite the André Citroën quay (which we will not see), at km32, we turn right towards Boulevard Exelmans, with a short climb of around 300m Boulevard Exelmans, not difficult but a little tiring in the legs at the 33rd kilometer. Then comes the main difficulty of the route, with Boulevard Suchet which is a hill of more than 500 m with passages of more than 5% in altitude, considering that we are now at the 34th kilometer. The advice will obviously be to reduce the pace, not to get into the red, and to keep energy and strength, because there are still more than 8 km to go before the finish on Avenue Foch. Before or after the climb on Boulevard Suchet, we recommend a new Stimium® Boost Eraser.
KM35 - KM39: The Bois de Boulogne – the recovery period
Once the hell (the word is not too strong, you'll see!) of the Boulevard Suchet hill has passed, we switch to a really pleasant 4km in the Bois de Boulogne (obviously pleasant if we have conserved energy) . This can be a good time to restart your pace if you feel that your body is responding correctly; it is not uncommon to see runners accelerate here to recover the time lost on the previous difficulty. We go around the lake, we pass the Louis Vuitton Foundation, where a last Stimium® Boost gum will allow us to finish with the necessary energy, it's calm, relaxing, and we know that we are nearing the goal!
KM40 - KM42: The finish – the last 3 kilometers not so simple
Leaving Bois de Boulogne, you can better see the Arc de Triomphe, which you can already see previously in the Bois depending on the location. But if we see this beautiful monument, we also see the relief, which is in fact just a long false flat over these last 3 kilometers! Even if it's hard, we see few runners walking even though this long false flat is really not pleasant, but when we see terminal 42 at Porte Dauphine, we feel like we're flying, there are a lot of spectators, friends, family, runners who have already arrived, we also see strangers launching into a little sprint to finish with a bang on the finish line, on avenue Foch, with these beautiful mansions that we admire... not at all, we look so much at the Arc de Triomphe and especially at the looming finish.
After these 3/4 hours of running on this incredible course, it will obviously be advisable to take Stimium® Mc3 or Stimium® Mc3 powder to reduce the risk of cramps, and to combat muscle fatigue, linked to running, but also to the stress of the competition. But also Stimium® Rgn3 Reload or Stimium® Rgn3 Clean-Up to restock vitamins and minerals after this immense effort. Finally, many athletes are now taking our Stimium® Iso Carb Mix , to replenish these glycogen and protein sources.
You will have understood, we love the Paris marathon. Like that of Rome, or Prague, it is a mixture of races and stories. We are obviously all the time focused on our race, our cardio, not missing the refreshment points, but we always find a monument, close or further away, which can give us a point of reference to always move forward towards the end . It is also a very well organized race, not necessarily as festive as what we can find among the Anglo-Saxons for example, but it is probably the most emblematic French race. You have to do it once in your life to be able to say, I made this year's edition! We see as many men as women, we speak as much French as English, we know that we will not beat the record for the event and that we will perhaps follow Morhad Amdouni for only 1km, but that's it. It's really great to be able to run in this beautiful city, without the stress of traffic, just the sound of sneakers clicking on the asphalt, combined with the breathing of all the runners.
