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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 51 to 61]
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L. V. from Dublin, Ireland
(4/13/2011)
 "Much improved race organization" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I first ran Paris in 2009 and feel that the race organization is much improved since then. The bag drop was very organized with a one way pedestrian system in and out of the area. There were many more toilets near the bag drop than what I recall from two years ago. I also was very surprised at the quantity of food offered at every water station; there were always loads of oranges, bananas and other items to choose from. The course is amazing. Make sure you take time to look around and see the beautiful and historical Paris sights. I feel it is truly a "Paris" marathon - not just beginning and ending in the city but taking in the most significant sights throughout a vast area. The Eiffel Tower at mile 18 provides good motivation as it is in view from mile 15 onwards to keep you going. I also find the out-and-back course psychologically easier. There are a good number of spectators along the majority of the route, and many shout out your name as it is printed on all bib numbers. The biggest negative is the crowd of runners. I don't recall it being so bad last time I ran the race. It never thinned out the entire route. The majority of people around me were running the same pace as I was but I still had to spend a lot of effort getting around slower runners in my way. By the end of the marathon, this had caused me to run an additional half mile in distance and almost prevented me from obtaining a sub-4 hour finish. The finish was also very well organized. One of the nicest marathon t-shirts I have received, and the medal is very pretty. | |
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R. M. from Pasadena, CA, USA
(4/10/2011)
"I Love Paris In The Springtime..." (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 My wife and I signed up for Paris for the opportunity to run the Paris and London marathons on back to back weekends. Consistently voted as two of the world's top marathons, this combo was too tempting to ignore. In the weeks leading up to the marathon, I was concerned it would be kind of cold for this race, but, instead, the race start temp was about 60 degrees and sunny, and would reach about 75 degrees. It was a stunningly beautiful course, by default, of being in one of the most gorgeous cities in the world. The course and the spectators were 5 stars all the way. But, the race would be improved, in my opinion, if registration was capped at about 25,000 runners as it was congested the entire way... so congested that I couldn't help but wonder if being shoulder to shoulder with other runners for half the race did not add enough body heat to make it feel even a couple degrees warmer. One thing that I cannot understand about the race is that electrolyte drink is not given out until about the 30K mark, while prior to then, it is only water/oranges/bananas every 5K. I was aware of this going in, but it doesn't make it excusable for a marathon this size run on a reasonably warm day. Other organizational issues for this race, though, were without a glitch, but it would be nice if the expo was held more in the central part of Paris than a bit away (took about 25 minutes by Metro from my hotel, which was just 2 blocks from the start line). One other minor complaint was that it seemed like it was over a kilometer-long walk from the finish line to where runners actually exited. Who wants to walk another kilometer after running 42+, already? This was the longest road marathon I recall doing, at 26.55 miles, but I am sure a lot of that can be explained with all the weaving in and out of the heavily congested course. All in all, it was a great way to ring in my 40th birthday, run my 50th marathon, and pace my DW to a sub-5 marathon. However, it is not a race that I would put at the top of my list for repeating, although few far away races make that list for me. | |
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Cristiano Andrade from Sao Paulo, Brazil
(5/15/2010)
"Truly Paris!" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Paris is Paris! The course and crowd made the Paris Marathon just perfect for my first-marathon experience! The course goes through most of the touristy areas, like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, and Bastile, starting and finishing at the Arc de Triomphe! The experience of running with 35,000 people is unique, and the crowd in the streets supporting the runners is something else. The course is almost flat, and the weather is perfectly cold for a marathon (42 F). The only negative point is about the water stations, which are placed every 5K. They should be placed at almost every 3K. One other negative atribute is that the medal looks quite simple for this outstanding marathon. | |
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R. M. from New York, NY
(4/25/2010)
"Loved Every Minute" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the 2010 edition and loved every minute of it. I would recommend the Paris Marathon to anyone without hesitation. The course is fantastic. It is really hard to think of a better running experience than running down the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe with 40,000 other people. The fan support was great. Your name is printed on your bib and the French spectators often shout out, "Allez (your name)" as you run by, which was greatly appreciated by the runners. I would recommend getting there early if you are expecting to finish in under 4 hours because they try to group the runners by predicted finishing time. I expected to finish in around 4 hours, but I got there late and the crowd was already so massive and condensed that I had no choice but to go to the back of the crowd with the 5-hour runners. There was just no way I could work my way through thousands of runners to get up to the 4-hour group. It was no big deal other than that I finished with a slower time due to running behind slower runners for the first few miles. The finishing area was well organized. The expo was fantastic, but everything was way overpriced. The medal was gorgeous too. Everyone should experience the Paris Marathon at least once and then enjoy the amazing city. I hope to run it again ASAP. | |
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M. R. from USA
(4/13/2010)
"Paris - gotta love it!!!" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I ran this race for the first time, and it was a lot better organized than I expected from previous years' comments. The course is awesome; there was one stretch along the Seine that was in a long tunnel, which is the only negative. It was open as can be for 40,000 runners. I never had to walk or weave in and out to pass people due to runners bunching up. There are some quirks with this race - water stops only every 5K, and for the first 2/3 or so of the race, they only served water (no sport drink). They did have banana pieces and orange slices at every stop, which worked well - other than the obstacle of running over the peels. The porta-let situation was better than I expected. But they could easily triple the number available. A friend reported he was in one at the start that was, yuck, full up to the seat. There are also open-air 3-way men's urinals (only in Europe I guess...). Crowd support was great, with bands and percussion groups everywhere. It got a little sparse towards the end perhaps. The expo was fine, and the gear check was a bit of a hike before the start. They didn't run out of anything I needed and I am slow. The water stops provided small bottles, so if you wanted, you could carry it with you to the next stop. I would definitely run here again - it's a fine race. | |
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C. M. from London, England
(4/13/2010)
 "Great course and crowds; terrible organization" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I do want to say that I had an absolutely amazing time running this (my second) marathon. The course is fantastic, and the crowds were brilliant - really enthusiastic and supportive. The runners themselves were great; I loved the yelling and call-backs whilst we ran through a couple of tunnels. Downsides to the course are the parts through the Bois de Vincennes and Bois de Boulougne - no spectators there at all. But that was easily counteracted by the rest of the course, which, as everyone has said, is a wonderful sightseeing tour of the city. Organization was appalling. There appeared to be NO one working the event. I was an idiot and forgot my chip, and we couldn't find ANYONE willing or able to help us (though finally the welcome stand did have a chip I could use). Finding the friends/family reuniting points was equally impossible. It took me half an hour of wandering back and forth to find the tiny and cramped letters. | |
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M. Y. from England
(4/12/2010)
 "Great course; poor start/finish organization" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Paris is a tremendous course for sightseeing, running through the heart of things. However, I ran it once before and there weren't any medals left for the last 700 runners. This time when you went to drop your bag off, you had to walk a few hundred yards past the bag drop and then double back to it. It's crazy. At the finish there is a meeting place with letters so you can meet your friends, but the area is way too small. My girl was scared of getting crushed because it was so crowded. This year they didn't have enough of the sweetened juice at the 35K (?) mark and ran out of small and medium t-shirts at the finish. I give it a 10 out of 10 for the course, but they've got to do better with the organization. | |
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G. P. from San Diego, California
(4/12/2010)
 "Spectacular 2010 Marathon!" (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I just ran this marathon and loved it!!! The course was great, the water/aid stations were great (I really enjoyed the oranges and raisins), and this year the weather was very nice. I particularly enjoyed the station that offered massages, as my calf was hurting; after the massage, I felt much better. It was a bit crowded, but I expected that from the reviews. So, I stayed close to a pacer to help me navigate the crowds. (The three euro pasta party was fun!) I really enjoyed the whole experience and being able to see Paris as I ran. I would totally recommend this marathon. | |
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M. T. from Mamaroneck, New York
(4/1/2010)
"Time of my life" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran this in 2009. It was my first marathon in a foreign county (I'm from New York). I enjoyed the expo; everything went smoothly. The race itself was fantastic. A bit crowded at the start - my first 5 kilometers were slightly slower than my target pace - but maybe that helped. I ended up by breaking my PR by 16 seconds. I'll never forget the experience of standing at the start with the Arc D'Triomphe behind me. The Paris Marathon was not just the high point of my running career; it was also a high point of my life. | |
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J. R. from New York, New York, USA
(11/27/2009)
 "Great city, OK course, terrible organization" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I ran this in 2007. I was not in the best shape at the time but was still capable of finishing in the five-hour range. I speak French and admire their culture, so I decided to run this one with a college friend. I thoroughly enjoyed touring around the city in the days before the race. The expo itself was fine and was quite close to the metro, so we had no trouble getting there and back to the hotel. My problem was the race itself. The course is ok and goes through many of the city's famous areas. But I was not impressed with the organization. The starting area had just a one or two urinals for each corral - if you needed to go "number two," you were out of luck. It was a hot day, and the water stops were about three miles (5K or so) apart from each other. I saw several runners collapse from the heat. At one point I had to stop with some other runners to assist a fallen runner. For slower runners like me, there was no water left at many of the stations! This is just inexcusable. They did have oranges though, which was nice. Fortunately I had stuffed a few euros in my pocket so I was able to buy some water at a bodega en route, but I've never had to do this on any other race. The start and finish, which are near the Arc De Triomphe, are nice and are close to the trains. I've run three of the five "majors" (NYC, Chicago and Berlin). Part of what makes those races "major" is the organization. I was a volunteer at the NYC Marathon this year and was very impressed with skill and efficiency of it all. I can say the same thing about Berlin and Chicago. Whoever organizes The Paris Marathon needs to learn from them. One nice touch was a 5K the morning before called "Course de Petite Dejeune" (the breakfast run), which went past the Eiffel Tower and down some of the most beautiful streets of the seventh and eighth districts. It was free and open to all, and was great fun with lots of spectators and music along the way. |
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