Paris Marathon 2012, Kilometer 1, with Sarah
Sarah – Place du Canada 6:56 AM – Sarah from Canada, who works and lives with her family in the Bahamas, has already run several marathons. We went to visit Paris by running on a circuit of a dozen kilometers. Several times, our road crossed the path of the very next marathon of Paris (April 15th), which allowed us to share our experiences of marathon runners. Sarah evoked the magnificent marathon of Nassau, Bahamas, along the sea. Going up to the Chaillot hill, we crossed the Palais de Tokyo, contemporary art museum. Above the entrance is a huge countdown. But what does it count? The artist, Gianni Motti, the creator of this digital clock, appropriates one of the biggest future natural disasters: his “Big Crunch Clock” is the detonator activated “to provoke” the explosion of the sun (planned in 5 billion years by the scientists). This clock deducts the time by tenth of seconds to trigger the 5 billion years “scheduled to trigger the explosion.” Entrance of the “Palais de Tokyo” – Contemporary Art Museum – “Big Crunch Clock” Gianni Motti But let us return to the marathon. By way of the Champs Elysées, we noticed that the kilometric marks on the ground were already there, for example, the kilometer 1 at the bottom of the magnificent avenue, little before reaching the place de la Concorde: Paris Marathon 2012- Kilometer 1 – Champs-Elysées The number which provokes so many feelings to the marathon runners is doubtless “42”. The kilometer 42 is also already indicated, as well as the arrival, a little less than 200 meters farther, in front of the Arc de Triomphe: Paris Marathon 2012 – Kilometer 42 – Avenue Foch (and Mile 26 a little before) Miles are indicated on the route as well such as the mile “26” which is for our English-speaking marathonian friends the “mythical” number (Marathon = 42.195 km or 26 miles and 386 yards). Discover the marathon route here. We wish you a beautiful Paris Marathon! Merci Sarah ! The route of the tour :
Happy New Year to the runners! A competition, competitions in Paris in 2012?
A wonderful year to you all! 2012 will be an excellent vintage for the running in Paris! In 2011, the infatuation for the running competitions still confirmed, with more and more subscribers, competitions which post “full” very quickly, a public more and more numerous… We propose you the list of almost all the competitions of running in inner Paris with one or several associated Web sites, photos, movies, routes and our comments. In Paris Running Tours, we make all these races for a long time and we shall continue even this year. By hoping to see you participating with us. Some explanations: “prt” means that the race is a part of the 10 km challenge of Paris (the challenge Paris Running Tour which carries the same name as our company of sightjogging!). Photos, movies and routes date generally 2011 even of 2010 or before (on certain photos, you can recognize our Paris Running Tour runners). Certain routes result from our GPS watches (less precise in the less wide streets) Nice runs in 2012 ! January 22/1/2012 – Les 10 km du 14è prt 10 km – A race dedicated to the performance, relatively flat, next to Montparnasse. First race of the year in Paris. 1,347 finishers. (14è means “14th arrondissement”=”14th district of Paris”) 29/1/2012 – Les 10 km du 8è prt 10 km – A little bit hilly race near the “Place de l’Etoile” and the Monceau Park, organized with the nice club of the “Etoiles du 8è”. 1,058 finishers in 2011. February 11/02/2012 – La Course de la Saint Valentin prt 10 km – A very hilly race. 5 loops in the magnificent park of the Buttes Chaumont. Very nice race dedicated to variety, tolerance and conviviality. 320 finishers in 2011. March 4/03/2012 – Le Semi-Marathon de Paris 21.09 km – A beautiful international races in Paris. >23,000 finishers in 2011. 24/03/2012 – Les Foulées du Tertre prt 10 km – A very very hilly race on the Mound Montmartre, departure next to the “Place des Tertres” in the middle of the tourists ! 504 finishers in 2011. April 15/04/2012 – Le Marathon de Paris 42.195 km – One of the most beautiful Marathons of the world! Arc de Triomphe behind you at the start and in front of at the finish line! More than 31,000 finishers in 2011. 29/04/2012 – Les 10 km de Boulogne (formerly 10 km Planet Jogging) prt 10 km – A pleasant 10 km at the beginning of the spring in the “Bois de Boulogne” with a finish at the Auteuil Hippodrome. 2,748 finishers in 2011. May 13/05/2012 – Les 10 km Courir Ensemble – Handicap International prt 10 km – Beautiful 10 km in the Bois de Boulogne among the races organized by Handicap International gathering valid and handicapped runners to be all together. 1,273 finishers for the 10K. 27/05/2012 – Les 10 km du 19è prt 10 km – A beautiful race with hilly passages in the park of the Buttes Chaumont. A competitive race however. 962 finisher in 2011. June 3/06/2012 – La Course du Château de Vincennes prt 10 km – A race in the “Bois de Vincennes” convenient to the performance (if it is not too much warm). Magnificent arrival in the castle and on red carpet! 3,268 finishers in 2011. 10/06/2012 – Les 10 km du 10è prt 10 km – A not so flat 10 km around the nice Canal Saint-Martin(with a small ascent and descent on the bridge to be 3 times crossed). 432 finishers in 2011. 17/06/2012 – Les Foulées du 12è prt 10 km – Flat 10 km in the “Bois de Vincennes” finishing on the velodrome of Cipale which was of use to Olympics 1900 and 1924 as well as to the Tour de France from 1967 till 1974. 738 finishers in 2011. 24/06/2012 – 10 km de Paris / 10 km de l’Equipe 10 km – A race organized by the sports newspaper “L’équipe”. First edition in 2011. July 1/07/2012 – Les Foulées de la France des Iles prt 10 km – Estival 10 km in the “Bois de Vincennes” with the festive atmosphere of the French west indies. 898 finishers in 2011. September 9/09/2012 – La Parisienne 6 km – An nice feast. Race reserved for the ladies around the Eiffel Tower. 21 682 finishers in 2011. October 7/10/2012 – Les 10 km Paris Centre prt 10 km – One of the most touristic Paris races, starting avenue of the Opera, finishing in front of the Louvre. 4,678 finishers in 2011. 14/10/2012 – Les 20 km de Paris 20 km – Another big international race leaving and finishing at the Eiffel Tower, passing by the “Bois de Boulogne” and the banks of the Seine. About 21 000 finishers… 21/10/2012 – La corrida du 15è prt 10 km – A beautiful competition in the 15è district, flat, ideal 10 km for the performance. Organized with the nice 15è Athletic Club. 855 finishers in 2011. November 18/11/2012 – Les 10 km du 9è prt 10 km – Beautiful hilly 10 km near the Paris Department stores. 702 finishers in 2011. 25/11/2012 – Les boucles du 17è prt 10 km – Attractive, little bit hilly but competitive 10 km. 1,276 finishers in 2011. If you want to make a competition in Paris and if you reserve a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the race (the Paris Marathon, for example). An advice for these races? Ask us! Of course, if you do not want to participate in a competition and want to enjoy completely the tourist jogging, we are there. We like the competition and running but we like Paris just as much!
On the “île aux cygnes” with Sarah
Sarah – Ile aux cygnes 7:41 AM – With Sarah who lives near Chicago (USA), we left the Beaugrenelle district, in the West of Paris, to join the center up to the Louvre, to discover the city, always full of surprises. Do you know that besides the islands “Ile de la Cité” and “Ile Saint Louis”, in Paris, the Seine also accommodates the “Ile aux cygnes” (cygne=swan), artificial island of about one kilometer, an ideal straight line for runners? While passing by the “Champs-Elysées”, we noticed that the preparations for the National Day were quite advanced. The terraces of the presidencial stand, which will welcome the government, at the “Place de la Concorde”, on July 14th, are already installed as we can see on the picture below. Sarah – Place de la Concorde If you come to run at present near the place, very early in the morning, you should see the soldiers repeating the military parade (the marks of alignment are already drawn on the ground on the “Champs-Elysées” and on the place). Seats, barriers, installed in the “Champs-Elysées”, will also serve again for the last stage of the “Tour de France”, on July 24th. The “Champs-Elysées” for the military parade, the “Champs-Elysées” for the “Tour de France”, yes, but what we, Paris Running Tour, like above all, is the start of the Paris marathon! Merci Sarah ! The route of the tour :
Paris Competitions News: Paris Marathon!
Marathon de Paris – Start Sunday, April,10th. 8h45. 35th Paris Marathon*. A very pleasant day of April with a big sun and, no doubt, a too warm weather for the 32 000 marathon runners left for this big crossing of Paris. But also, a big enjoyment for the photographers who took advantage of the beautiful light which flooded Paris this morning. To be able to relive the race (quietly), here are some photo albums of the event: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 and also some videos: v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7 v8 v9 v10 v11 v12 v13 v14 v15 v16 * If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us!We can also help you to register. The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask).Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!
Paris Competitions News: Les foulées du Tertre – Climbing to Montmartre
Saturday, 26th of March. We ran the Foulées du Tertre. This 10 km is a very original race in Paris, quite unusual, starting in the afternoon, a Saturday, but above all, taking place in Montmartre, in the middle of the numerous tourists. Montmartre is a 130 meters high hill, in the north of Paris, a very well-known charming “village”, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Hilly place? Yes, this day, the runners experienced it running three sloping loops, running on the pavement de “la butte Montmartre” (butte=mound)… Hard but very pleasant race, notably by this very typical atmosphere. Michael from the US, who, with his wife, took a Paris running tour with us during the week, enjoyed to compete with us on this very local race*. Besides, the organizers of the race welcomed and exposed the work of a friend, a painter who has an original vision of running. You like art, you like running, see the art of Vincent Dogna. Vincent is an artist but also a runner. If you already ran a competition, seeing his paintings, you will feel again those particular feelings we get when we compete. * If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and help you to prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us! We can also help you to register. The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask). Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!
Paris Competitions News: A new year of competitions. Happy new year!
Happy new year to you all! A new year to compete in Paris! Here is below the list of nearly all the running races inside Paris with the web site(s) links, photos, routes and our comments. In Paris Running Tours, we have been running them all since a long time (and will continue this year). Hope we will see you with us. Some explanations: * means that the race is one of the annual 10K challenge of Paris (guess what, the 10K Paris challenge is also called Paris Running Tour challenge, like us but without “s”!). The web sites are often in French (but we can help you if you ask). The photos and the routes are mainly from 2010 (on some of the photos, you can recognize some of our coaches). Sometimes the routes have been captured by the GPS watch of our runners (not so accurate in narrow streets…) January 23/1/2011 – 10 km du 14eme* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos 1 Photos 2 – Route A 10 km dedicated to performance, relatively flat, near Montparnasse. The first race of the year in Paris. About 1300 runners. (14eme means 14th arrondissement -district- of Paris) 30/1/2011 – Foulees du 8eme* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A not so flat 10 km in a chic district, the route includes the Parc Monceau. More than 800 runners. February 12/2/2011 – La course de la Saint-Valentin* (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A very hilly race, 5 loops into the beautiful Buttes Chaumont Park (Butte means hill!). Funny race dedicated to diversity. About 200 runners. March 6/3/2011 – Semi-Marathon de Paris (21.09Km/13.11mi) – Site – Photos – Route The Half-Marathon of Paris! Very well known. Route in Bois de Vincennes and East of Paris. About 20000 runners. 26/3/2011 – Foulées du Tertre * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another very hilly race. In the heart of the Butte Montmartre, starting just behind the Sacré Cœur and near the Place du Tertre. Start in the middle of the tourists! More than 400 runners. April 10/4/2011 – Marathon de Paris (42.195Km/26.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route The Marathon of Paris! One of the best and nicest. Crosses many of the famous places of Paris. Start at the Champs Elysées! About 30000 runners. May 1/5/2011 – 10 km Planet Jogging * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Boulogne (to rediscover your legs after the Paris Marathon!). About 2000 runners. 15/5/2011 – Courir Ensemble – Handicap International * (10Km/6.22mi) Site – Route Another nice race in the Bois de Boulogne, organised by Handicap International, regrouping valid and handicaped runners running all together. About 900 runners on the 10K. 22/5/2011 – 10 km du 19ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another hilly race, 2 loops including the Buttes Chaumont Park in the route. A very competitive race although. About 800 runners. June 12/6/2011 – La Course du Château de Vincennes * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes finishing inside the Castle of Vincennes with a red carpet! About 3200 runners. 19/6/2011 – 10 km du 12ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Photos – Route Another flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes finishing on a bicycle track. About 600 runners. 26/6/2011 – 10 km du 10ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A not so flat 10 km around the Canal Saint-Martin (you have to cross a pedestrian bridge two times). More than 800 runners. July 3/7/2011 – La France des Iles * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Other link (2010) – Photos – Route A flat and green 10 km in the Bois de Vincennes in the festive mood of the french caribean islands. More than 800 runners. September 11/9/2011 – La Parisienne (6Km/3.73mi) – Site – Photos – Route (click on “Parcours”) An exclusively feminin race around the Eiffel tower. About 18000 runners for a 6 km race. A big fête! 25/9/2011 – Paris-Versailles (16Km/9.94mi) – Site – Video – Route One of the most famous races in France starting at the Eiffel tower and finishing at the Château de Versailles (with some slopes in the route…) About 19000 runners. October 2/10/2011 – 10 km Paris Centre * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site – Other link (in this blog) – Photos – Route The most touristic 10 km race in Paris, starting with the Opera in front of you, finishing at the Louvre. About 2500 runners. 9/10/2011 – 20 km de Paris (20Km/12.43mi) – Site – Other link (in this blog) – Photos – Route Another very famous race in France starting and finishing at the Eiffel tower. About 22000 runners. 23/10/2011 – Corrida du 15ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Route A nice little competition in the 15ème arrondissement, very flat, good for performance. About 700 runners. November 13/11/2011 – 10 km du 9ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A somehow hilly 10 km in the district of the Grands Magasins. About 500 runners. 20/11/2011 – 10 km du 17ème * (10Km/6.22mi) – Site (2010) – Photos – Route A not so flat but competitive 10 km in the 17ème arrondissement. More than 1100 runners. If you want to compete in Paris and if you book a tour with us, tell us and we can show you the route and prepare the competition (the Paris marathon, for example). An advice on these races? Ask us! Of course, if you do not want to compete in Paris and want to fully enjoy sight jogging, we are there for you. We love competition, running, but above all Paris!
Paris Competitions News: 10/10/10 10h => 20 km de Paris
20 km de Paris – Start This Sunday will see another release of the 20 km of Paris. We will be there. Recently, Debbie told us Melbourne will have its marathon. Chicago, Bruxelles, Munich, Bueno Aires, Ottawa, Poznan, Eindhoven also will welcome their marathon… Probably many other competitions this Sunday too… 10/10/10, a good day for running all over the world!
Paris Competitions News: A sunny October Sunday for competitions…
This Sunday, October 3rd, was a sunny day in Paris. A good day to compete… Three 10K races in Paris or near, one in Neuilly (a rich city in the west of Paris), one in the Bois de Vincennes (the forest in the east of Paris) and one in the center of Paris called “les 10K Paris Centre”. This one is a very nice competition to run on the middle of the most beautiful streets of Paris. More than 2000 runners. Start: Avenue de l’Opera, End: Place du Palais Royal – The Louvre. The route Two of our coaches were there (as fans of Paris and running, they had to be there): one on the podium (veteran), the other one, just behind. Next time: October 2011. Be there! (Photos of the competition here.)