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Paris Int'l Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Paris Int'l Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 191 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
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P. B. from Nederland
(4/18/2015)
 "Paris beautiful city" (about: 2015)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What else do you want than running in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? I don't agree with earlier comments saying that the organization is not so good. In fact it is really good even for a 40000+ participants race. There are quite some spectators (all of them really supportive) but not as much as other races I did (Rotterdam, Koln). The course is fantastic despite some less interesting parts like the Tuileries tunnels and the last part going through the park. Passing the Eifel tower is a blast. The course is not really flat. The finisher medal and t-shirt were great. Unfortunately, I had a cold but still managed to run a PB by more then 6 minutes (3.06 hour). Next time hopefully below 3 hours. | |
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M. R. from USA
(4/16/2015)
 "Great race, wonderful sights , well organized." (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is my 2nd Paris marathon. It's big, 54,000 signed up this year. Starts in corrals based on aspirational finish times. The start is in waves taking well over an hour. It was hot this year, water stops every 5k, water bottles and orange/banana slices every stop. Only one stop had sport beverages The course is good you see some iconic sites. As opposed to some races, you don't actually run right in the sites (like not inside the Louvre entrance courtyard, and not around the base of the Eiffel Tower) you do see these sites as you run by through, the race for the most part is on larger streets and on the lower level road next to the Seine River. The expo was world class, the organization was great. Crowd support still not massive like New York or Chicago All-in-all a fine race and it's well worth the trip | |
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B. C. from Australia
(4/16/2015)
 "Fun race, great city" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Course: It's hard to complain when you start on the Champs Elysees, run by the Louvre, Bastille, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and finish near the Arc de Triomphe. Great course overall, although narrow and crowded in parts, and some cobblestones which makes for tough running. In some parts, the spectators encroach onto the road creating a bottleneck that you have to run through (like you see at the Tour de France) - kind of fun. Organization: generally excellent. Lots of information provided, good expo easily reached via public transport, race day organization very smooth, bag drop and pickup easy, start/end area easily reached by public transport as well. The start was relatively smooth given the size of the field (50,000 people), with the seeding system working quite well. My main complaint was the aid stations on course - I only saw one sports drink station at about 30km, which was surprising as it was a very warm day. Stations were on one side of the road only which was inadequate given the crowds, and were spaced 5km apart, which again is not enough for a warm day (in the NYC marathon for example aid stations are every 1-2 miles). Spectators: Lots of support and good crowds. Overall: A fun race. Perhaps not the best race to do a PB given the crowds, narrow course, and aid station issues. However, a great big city race. | |
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Richard Ervais from San Francisco
(4/12/2015)
"Much improved!" (about: 2015)
50+ previous marathons
| 4-5 Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I've posted twice before about the 2003 and 2009 Paris Marathons. Both times I complained about the lack of port-a-potties, the disorganization at the start and on the course, the backups at the Bastille and at the finish. I just ran my fourth Paris and, well, pretty much all of these issues have been solved. The runners used to start all at once. Now they space out waves every few minutes which seems to have eliminated the backups along the course, particularly at the Bastille. Now they have port-a-potties everywhere. The only backup that continues is at the finish line but at least the backup did not bubble out past the finish line mat as it did in one previous race. And more diverse food choices at the finish other than oranges and bananas would be great. But the race is definitely getting better. | |
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T. S. from waterloo ON
(8/13/2014)
 "Wonderful race" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I loved this race. I thought that the organization was incredible, the fans were great, everything was great. That said, it is a HUGE race with 50,000+ runners and crowds that creep in on the racers as they go by (think of the Tour de France when the crowds move in on the bikers) which creates a very narrow bottle neck at points and slows racers to an almost walking pace. Also, I really didn't like running through the underground tunnels. It was hot and my GPS lost it's signal. Sure the walk out is a bit long and chaotic, but you're in Paris. Just figure out a meeting point with your people the day before. Despite all of that I PB'd by 14 minutes, bobbing and weaving through the crowd. | |
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L. G. from Philadelphia, PA
(6/6/2014)
"Amazing experience" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran the Paris Marathon at the end of a ten-day vacation in France. It felt good to move after all that delicious bread, cheese, and wine! I stayed at the Hotel Elysees Bassano, which was a five-minute walk from my starting corral, reasonably priced, and very nice. I have no complaints at all about the course or the organization. Water was plentiful (great during the warm, humid first couple hours of the race) and the fans were energetic. Lots of bands lined the course, although more than half of them were more along the lines of inept drum circles. My favorite part of the course was actually the underground tunnel, which they outfitted with club lights and disco music. I may have hallucinated a bit. So much fun! | |
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J. R. from California
(4/29/2014)
"Beautiful course, fabulous experience and a big PR" (about: 2014)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This race greatly exceeded my expectations on most fronts. The course itself is beautiful and very flat. The use of water bottles instead of cups at stations was great. Crowds were excellent as were bands and entertainment. Organization was good, but a good bit of a walk to get to starting corrals. Medal and shirts were nice too. Expo was fine, but quite remote from the center of the city. | |
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N. R. from Maryland, USA
(4/14/2014)
"Well organized marathon" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Paris Marathon with more than 50000 runners were nicely organized. Every 5km, they provided water bottle, orange and banana. Powerrade was in one place only; it did not bother me though. Too many good things to say. Now some observations for future improvement; (1) provide quality food at the finish line, (2) better direction at finish line for family/friends reunion. I also did not like long run through dark tunnel. | |
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C. C. from USA
(4/13/2014)
"Great race and organization" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I loved the scenic course! Could not stop taking selfies and pictures along the route. Even with taking about 100 pictures during the race, I managed to PR by 11 minutes. The expo, the start area, the finish was very well organized and very easy to get to and meet your friends afterwards. I ran Philly, New York and Marine Corps, this was by far the best race. The race exceeded all of my expectations. I highly recommend it and would run it every year if I could. | |
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George Bryan from North Carolina,USA
(4/8/2014)
 "Don't run paris if your estimated time is greater" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Due to an injury my time exceeded the official cut off time and I ran without water, sports drink, traffic control, fruit, gels, and at times was unsure of the directions, save the discarded water bottles,etc. running on the sidewalk is one thing but running down major roads, through a long tunnel without a sidewalk. The famous blue line was eradicated at many of the larger intersections. DO YOU GET THE IDEA? The bottom line: don't run if your anticipated time far exceeds the official cutoff time. There are too many good marathons that treat slower runners with respect. Incidentally, that was my 39th marathon and I finished. |
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