The weather conditions were good, a cool morning and a blue sky announced a sunny day. It was not too hot. A lovely atmosphere at the start with many people in the center of Azay Le Rideau. They were encouraging the runners by their enthusiastic applause. Also along the route people were encouraging the runners. The route, though hilly, was nice and away from busy city life. It took us along the fields, the Loire River, villages and the castle of Ussé where a sad-looking but nicely-dressed-up princess was waiting to be kissed. Sorry, I didn't kiss her.

Nine drinking posts had everything you can imagine: 33cl bottles of water, dried raisins and apricots, sugared drinks, bananas... also towards the end, the people kept on encouraging the runners (a policeman did as well). At the arrival, a commentator with a microphone called out my name loudly, and there was a big applause. I was happy with this and even more when I stopped my watch, which showed that I made it in 3 hours 27 minutes, breaking my personal record by 3 minutes. Who knows if I will go back next year? It is a nice marathon, with a good atmosphere.