Despite that small moral defeat, the race was a success. Having "carbo-loaded" with some friends in the 20th arrondissment on Saturday evening, Kelly and I went back to my apartment and prepared for the big day.
Since my "goal race" is actually the Paris marathon on April 10, my training schedule indicated that I actually needed to run 20 miles, 7 miles longer than the race distance. So, with Kelly still in bed, I went out for a slow 35 min warmup run. In addition to helping add to the day's mileage, the early morning jog also gave me a chance to gage the weather and figure out the appropriate race attire. My anticipation of the race also grew with all the buzzing in the streets while volunteers worked on final preparations before the 10am start. (My apartment is just down the street from the start and finish lines.)
After returning to the apartment and consuming my standard pre-race peanut butter and banana bread, Kel and I headed out to the starting area in search of some method of affixing our numbers to our t-shirts.
Since the race committee hadn't put safety pins for the bib numbers in the runner's packets, we were left to fend for ourselves. I'm not sure if they were handing them out at the runner's expo and we just missed it, or if the organizers realized after the Friday pickup that they should provide them during the Saturday packet pickup, but clearly many people had their safety pins. We worked our way through the crowds to inquire about where we might acquire these "épingles". The first groups of people just gave us a pitying look and said they had brought them from home. Finally, we stumbled across a group who said they didn't have any more pins, but that we could borrow their sewing kit. And sew we did. Rather than use the typical holes in each corner designated for the pins, Kelly and I affixed the bibs to each other's outerwear with one stitch on the top and one on the bottom. We must have looked pretty pathetic and desperate because a lady walked by and offered us an extra safety pin. We even snagged an extra one off the ground while we were waiting in our start corral ("le sas") for the race to begin.
After the gun went off, Kelly and I were close enough to the front that it only took about 2-3 minutes to make it from our corral to the starting line. Despite being in one of the faster starting groups, the roads were packed! It's a good thing that only about 23000 to 24000 actually started the race even though, in theory, 30000 people were signed up. I think we might have had to hold hands with the runners next to us in order to keep from falling or triping over each other. Although the crowd did loosen up a little, relative to the big American races in which I have competed, the pack of runners really stayed pretty solid for all 21 kilometers. Because of all of the people, I didn't notice the spectators too much. There were definitly a lot of people watching in certain places, especially around the Place de la Bastille. However, it was very cool to be running through the streets of Paris with no cars! I was definitely more focused on the run and the people around me than the sites, but I do remember having a view of Notre Dame for a little while, running past the large pillar in the middle of Bastille and the fountain as we approached the Porte Dorée. All in all, it was a very enjoyable race!
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| Post-race (still in sweaty clothes) in my apartment |
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| Post-race bustle at the Château de Vincennes (dry, warm clothes for cool down run) |
As a side note, my friend Kelly is a superstar! She finished about 3 minutes before me for a time 1:38 and change. At about 10k, I realized that if I was to stay on track, I should not try and keep up with her. By some miracle, we managed to find each other around our pre-determined meeting place very shortly after having made it through the finishing chute. Timing chips returned, some fluids replenished and medals in hand, we headed back to my apartment to take a few pics, put on some dry clothes and go out for about a 20 min cool down jog (also to add to my day's mileage).
The Semi-marathon de Paris actually turned out to be a great preview of what I should expect for the marathon. First of all, I won't be surprised to find myself bumping into the people next to me for a good portion of the race. Although I suspect that 42km will give people a little more time to distinguish themselves from others at slightly different paces. Secondly, I will purchase safety pins so as not to have to repeat the pre-race sewing session, especially since I will be on my own this time, i.e. without Kelly :(
Thirdly, I will need to wear my camelbak water backpack. I checked the marathon site this morning, and, like the half, there will only be water stations every 5k. Absolutely insane! Maybe if the race were handing out small cups of water instead of full plastic bottles of Vittel from which people are only taking a few sips, they would have the resources to set up more water stations. I was also a little skeptical of the guarana-caffeine gel packets they were handing out, so I'll definitely have my own food and water. Not ideal, but it will be better than experiencing the same near-dehydration that I felt yesterday. Finally, half of the race is the exact same course as the half-marathon, so I will at least know what to look for in terms of elevation changes (and scenery!).
Here a summary of my splits and finishing time. I was actually pretty proud of how I maintained virutally the same pace throughout.
191 129 4144 JONES, Julia Gayle (UNITED STATES) 5K:00:25:23//10K 00:48:49//15K 01:12:27//21K 01:41:54
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