Paris Marathon –

After 25+ years of running mostly fell, trail, and XC races, this was my first crack at a marathon. I was meant to run Paris last year with my son Sam, but injury took me out a week before. This year we swapped roles — I ran, he couldn’t start. Hopefully we’ll get one done together soon, so if anyone has recommendations for a scenic, well-supported city marathon, let me know!

Entry and cost:

Entry for Paris is simple through their website — no ballot, just first-come, first-served. I signed up about 8 months out and paid around €120. It gets pricier the closer you get to race day.

Pre-race:

I picked up my bib at the Expo on Friday — really well organised, no stress. Then basically spent 30 hours eating everything in sight (top-tier carb loading city!).

Race day:

The start is on the Champs Élysées — an amazing place to line up, even under grey skies. The start pens aren’t tightly marshalled, so expect a bit of a free-for-all. It took about 25 minutes for me to cross the start line from the 3:45 wave.

The course is brilliant — past most of Paris’ major sights, through two big parks, and along the Seine. It’s not flat (around 270m elevation) but it’s rolling rather than brutal.

Biggest downside? After 30km, some of the riverside sections get really narrow — about 4m wide at points — and it can feel a bit chaotic with major variations in pace. I even saw a few runners go down when a cyclist tried to cross the course.

How it went:

I set out cautiously, aiming for a negative split if my dodgy Achilles held up. It did! I ticked along at 5:25/km early on, then started picking it up after 10km. Sticking to a gel every 20 minutes really helped too. Apart from the bottlenecks along the Seine, I felt strong all the way through, finishing in 3:44:57 — absolutely buzzing with that for my first marathon.

Would I recommend it?

Definitely — Paris is a brilliant city to run in, and the race is well organised and good fun. Just be aware of those busy narrow sections, and don’t expect a pancake-flat PB course (unless it’s your first marathon!).

Strider result