AUTUMN 2007 - Serpentine

RACE REPORT
SERPENTINE RUNNING CLUB
‘Weather’ to run the
Paris marathon?
by Hugh Torry
It has been a year of erratic and often frustrating weather
conditions, with a summer that most people would consider a nonstarter;
though, as someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, I’ve
been quite happy with it, a bias that may relate to the lack of pollen
in the air and the fact I don’t live on a flood plain! But think back
and you may recall a very warm start to the year, and a number of
sporadic hot days. So now, with almost every long race I have done
this year being muggy and in the high twenty degrees, I’ve been
looking forward to the winter for a while. So to Paris…
I arrived comfortably by Eurostar the day before the marathon, with
my travelling support team of brother, sister and mate Ed, and
headed straight for the Expo to pick up my race number and
T-shirt. The Expo itself was a fairly disappointing ramshackle affair,
with nothing to get excited about, so after a short time there, we
headed back into town for the afternoon, before meeting about 30
Serpies for a pasta dinner, and turning in for an early night.
“…never have I been so happy to
finish. Now where’s my beer!”
In stark contrast to the previous day’s Expo the start is impressive,
with the massive Arc de Triomphe behind, devoid for once of cars
in the massive and hair raising roundabout that it usually forms, and
the broad cobbled street of the Champs-Élysées stretching in front,
closed only three times a year, for Bastille day, the last stage of the
Tour de France and today. I’m not sure you could ask for better.
With the promise of the hot day ahead, the 8.45am start was
welcome. I bustled my way over to my pen, passed the efficient
wardens and found a spot to sit and try not to get to nervous.
Hugh… carb loading (photo: Ed Bozzard)
I soon saw one of my training partners, Alex Vero, in the pen in
front, the French equivalent of the Championship area. We had a
quick chat, and I felt more relaxed for seeing a friendly face. The
five minute whistle went and we were all herded forward, bunching
up, and I was soon less than 10 meters from the line… and we
were off, crossing the line in only a few seconds, with the broad
boulevard ahead I was soon in open space. I slowly brought my
pace in check from the mad dash of the start so easy to get caught
up in, and “sat back” and enjoyed the spectacle. I was soon joined
by Alex, and finding out were going around the same pace, we ran
together, passing the occasional snippet of conversation.
A few kilometers into the race and we were in full sunlight, with the
temperature rising noticeably. As the first feeding station came
round I picked up a bottle of water, avoiding the array of goodies
on offer: half bananas, orange quarters, packs of raisins, dates, and
sugar cubes. I didn’t see the cheese platter, but I’m sure it must have
been there. I drank about a third of the water, wary of my stitch
during the Amsterdam Marathon, using the rest to cool off and
wash away the salty sweat, already appearing on my face.
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