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Paris Int'l Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Paris Int'l Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 4.6 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 3.6 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 3.9 
 
 
Number of comments: 191 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 11 12 13 14 15 .. 20 > ]

 

B. Q. from Ottawa, Canada (4/28/2006)
"42 K and NO MEDAL!!" (about: 2006)

1 previous marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 3


I was very upset not to receive a medal. I have sent an e-mail and received no reply. I finished it just like everyone else. I want my medal!

 

a. a. from USA (4/19/2006)
"good scenery, good bands, terrible organization" (about: 2006)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 2


No medals for all runners? Barbaric. Banana peels on the road? Barbaric. Minimum of restroom stalls for thousands of runners? Barbaric. No assistance whatsoever for the slower runners within the last 4 miles of the race? Barbaric. Are you sure this marathon takes place in the capital of a first-world country?

 

J. S. from Chicago, Illinois (4/15/2006)
"Not a race for slower runners." (about: 2006)

11-50 previous marathons | 6+ Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 2


This is a fast race compared to the typical large U.S. race. There is little regard for the back-of-the-backer. They ran out of medals despite widely publicizing the fact beforehand that there were going to be 36,000 runners. Talk about poor planning.

 

M. S. from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (4/15/2006)
"Great!" (about: 2006)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 3


This was a great race. There is nothing like running down the Champs Elysee with 30,000 others. The course can't be beat. Organization was good. Aid stations were well stocked. And my hotel was a quick Metro ride from the finish. If I can do it again, I will. You should too.

 

T. S. from Ramstein, Germany (4/15/2006)
"Great marathon but limited spectators" (about: 2006)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 2


Marathon number 9. Overall excellent marathon, but I did not see the spectators you would expect from a large marathon of 35K. Water bottles were a plus but running past the water stations did pose some problems due to runnners kicking bottles. Expo was well organized, but the lines were longer than expected. Yes, planning to run next year.

 

Silk Tork from Rochester, England (4/13/2006)
"Stunning" (about: 2006)

1 previous marathon | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 2


Paris is a stunningly beautiful and relaxed backdrop to any marathon. The course was flat and easy, though the lack of support did make the last 6 miles quite tough. The long run into the Bois de Boulogne along dreary streets was heartbreaking, but all the beer, cider, wine and oysters made up for that. In fact at times it didn't seem so much a marathon as the longest buffet in the world! It was a shame that despite decent security at the finish several thousand medals got stolen by both non-runners and runners (going back to "collect one for my girlfriend"). The race organizers have apologized and promised to tighten security even more next year. In the meantime they have ordered more and will post them out to those who didn't get one. Email: infos@parismarathon.com. It should be pointed out to those runners who did go back for a second medal that I saw some very distressed men and women runners who had to go home without anything to show their friends and family.

 

M. L. from Stockholm, Sweden (4/13/2006)
"Great route, but problems in organization" (about: 2006)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 3


My 9th marathon, first in Paris. I was not able to visit the marathon expo before Saturday - there were huge queues but it worked fairly well. I don't speak French and information in English or German was not too readily available. On race-day, I went to the correct start block (4:00), but although I ran a little bit slower than my planned speed, I had to pass a lot of people during the first kilometers. It took more than 15 minutes to get to the start line. The route was very scenic. I have had problems with my knees and the several long legs on cobblestones were a big problem for my knees and ankles. If you have problems in running on cobblestones, avoid this marathon. At the finish they ran out of medals - this was really a shame. I heard that one of the officials explained that instructions for how to order the missing medals would be posted immediately to the website. I just checked - nothing there almost one week after the race. In my dinner party after the race two people were lacking the medals while others were wearing them - really embarrassing.

As a summary: I will not run the Paris Marathon again. It did not have the same standard as for example Berlin, but the route was a great experience and I will have nice memories of the race, in spite of the bad organization.

 

M. B. from Brussels, Belgium (4/12/2006)
"Top notch" (about: 2006)

11-50 previous marathons | 6+ Paris Int'l Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


Excellent organization, from bib pick up to the finish.
35000 at the start, so be prepared for some bottlenecks, but Paris is beautiful and nothing could beat a start on the Champs Elysées. It is also very nice to have parts of the race in the city, with huge crowds yelling at you (place de la Bastille for instance) and then quiet stretches in the woods (Vincennes, Boulogne)...
The only points that could be changed in a better way : more toilets at the start and nicer T-Shirt.

 

J. M. from Dublin, Ireland (4/11/2006)
"One of the best!" (about: 2006)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


I cannot fault this marathon. I had read the start was messy in previous forums but I think this year was organized very well, the different time chorals were a big help and they were strictly controlled, your bib color had to match the choral color. The course is relatively flat aside from a few small dips and rises from 25 to 30 km. The feeding stations were the best I seen, with bottles of water, sports drinks in sports bottles fruit and sweets no excuses on not consuming enough liquids or sugars. The spectators were there and gave good encouragement. The course was the best way to see this lovely city, and to top it off it's a good course for a P.B. I highly recommend this marathon.

 

C. V. from Texas, USA (4/11/2006)
"Pas de Medaille!!" (about: 2006)

3 previous marathons | 1 Paris Int'l Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 3


That's right, 'pas de medaille'. They ran out of medals at some point. Good grief! Other complaint - same as what I read in other postings - there were not enough portajohns. More water stops were also needed. The course, however, is beautiful. But again...all that hard work and they ran out of medals!!

 

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