The Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous (Marathon for All) was incredible, and probably my best experience as a runner. 17,361 runners aged 20 to 85 finished this one-of-a-kind marathon. Here is my story of an adventure that began in 2019, when a mass-participation marathon held within the Olympic Games themselves was announced.
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The start of the Marathon Pour Tous adventure
Running the same course as the Olympic marathoners, during the final weekend of the Olympic Games: that was one of the flagship innovations of Paris 2024…
To qualify, you had to take part in physical events or online challenges. I joined the Club Paris 2024 as soon as it was created to maximise my chances. To give fate a little push, I took part in a team marathon at the Orange Night Run in June 2023, where I earned my place in the Marathon Pour Tous by finishing in the top 50 with my team. I would be running the Marathon Pour Tous on 10 August 2024!
This marathon is unique for its course (a long climb awaits from km 15 to km 20, then an even steeper one at km 29) and for its timing: the start is at 9 pm. In the August heat, running at night is a pretty good idea!
I scouted the course on the weekend of the Paris Marathon in April, to see the difficulties ahead. The first climb, nearly 5 kilometres long, looked very demanding! I even scouted it a second time the next day to make sure I’d properly measured how tough the course is.
So I knew I’d need to add elevation gain every week in training, especially on my easy runs.
As for my last marathons, I trained with the RunMotion Coach app, with a focus on strength and conditioning: one strength session a week and 6 running sessions.
A new factor for me: I became a dad in early May! Even if the baby’s arrival brings new motivation, there’s less time for sport, and less sleep too 😄
I really started my build-up in early June, over 2 months! Every week was between 60 and 80 km, with interval work on the track to reassure myself about my form. I find it easier to do short or long intervals on the track than on the road, which can be hilly.
In late June and early July I managed two weeks at 95-100 km, and I could see my form was good! So I could aim for 2:30 on marathon day. The course’s 450 m of elevation gain means adding about 5 minutes to my usual time, my best being 2:23. With the heat and the night, you also need to add 2 to 3 more minutes.
My biggest session was 34 km in the Risoux forest in the Jura mountains, on holiday, with 2 x 10 km at marathon pace on very hilly terrain, similar to what I’d face at the Marathon Pour Tous. I followed the start of the Olympics on TV, and the excitement kept growing!
Marathon Pour Tous race day
Saturday 10 August 2024: the big day!
I leave Chambéry at 10:21 and arrive at Paris Gare de Lyon at 13:14. I pick up my bib (number 62), then meet my brother Romain and his girlfriend at the flat we’ve rented for the weekend. Just getting there is a workout: 6th floor, no lift 😄
It’s very hot in the flat. I focus on hydration and try to cool off in the shopping centre next door. At 17:45 it’s time for some rice and an egg.
At 19:45 we set off for the start! 15 minutes later we meet a team of researchers working with the IOC, who fit us with biomechanical, temperature and sweat sensors to study the effect of heat on amateur runners. A topic that’s increasingly relevant, especially in summer. Once equipped, we jog for 2 minutes to the start pen.
At 20:15 we enter the start pen. The crowd is already packed, but I manage to squeeze my way to the very front and, by chance, run into Thierry, a very good runner and friend from Chambéry! Romain didn’t follow me, but I can see him a few metres away.
At 20:50 we move up into the start area. I finish the bottle of water I brought, plus a Baouw fruit purée.
I say hello to the mascot and a few influencers I know who made it right onto the start line, and I’m ready to go from the second row, just behind Amélie Mauresmo, Olympic tennis medallist and now a very good marathoner (3:14).
9 pm: we’re off! I concentrate on finding my way and running my own pace. With the adrenaline of the start, I don’t realise I’m now right at the front. The atmosphere is electric, with incredible fervour on both sides of the street!
People are ten rows deep on both sides of the road! Olympic fans and the families of the 20,024 marathoners entered have all come to see this first in Olympic history. It feels like the Tour de France on Alpe d’Huez, or Central Park at the New York City Marathon. Living that feeling is breathtaking!
I see that I’m pulling a few metres clear of the other runners on Rue de Rivoli, and I soak up every second. The golden sunset colours are stunning!
First kilometre: 3 minutes 5 seconds! Faster than that morning’s Olympic men’s marathon, who set off cautiously in 3 minutes 11 seconds.
I immediately slow down, because at this rate I’d never finish the marathon 😅 With the atmosphere, no warm-up and no reference points, I hadn’t noticed how fast I’d started. I’m quickly passed by 3 or 4 other runners, then I settle into my usual marathon rhythm: 3:20/km.
The tour of Paris continues, with the Vendôme Column at km 2. I think of that moment with Romain in 2019, when we ran at the front of the Paris Marathon, covering 2 and 4 kilometres with the elite runners.
The fervour is still incredible, with a constant roar of encouragement! Around km 4 we reach the Louvre. When we enter the Louvre roundabout, there’s not a single spectator: the contrast is striking! Phew, the atmosphere returns a few metres later as we leave the roundabout. Then we run along the Seine, again with big crowds!
The first 5 km is run at 3:20/km, then the second at 3:27/km. I’m in a group of 3 runners, in 5th, 6th and 7th place.
At km 15, the first climb begins! I shorten my stride and try to find a rhythm that suits me. The group of 3 splits up: a Colombian runner chooses to climb faster, and a French runner decides to finish the race more easily. The crowd is still there, but much sparser. That lets you focus fully on managing your effort. A few police officers cheer us on, and I hear “Allez RunMotion!”.
I catch the Colombian at the top of the climb around km 20 and lengthen my stride on the descent to drop him. At halfway I’m in 5th. Then at the Château de Versailles, at km 23, I pass a runner I’d chatted with in the start pen.
The gaps ahead look big, but now that I’m 4th, I’m going to try to catch the leading trio! There’s no official ranking in this marathon, but it’s still a motivating challenge!
The way back to Paris is getting tough, especially at km 29 with a climb that has sections over 10%. The light is fading, and we run through illuminated rings!
At the top of the climb it’s almost pitch dark: for 10 metres I can’t see where I’m putting my feet 😄 Luckily, some spectators have brought headlamps!
In the illuminated rings I spot a silhouette in the distance. What if it’s the third-placed runner? On the descent after the big climb I lengthen my stride. I averaged 4:24/km on that very steep kilometre, but the descent is faster: 3:12/km, then 3:14/km for the next one.
The effort finally pays off: at km 35 I catch the third runner, Duncan Perillat, a friend from Grenoble (2:12 marathoner)! We exchange a few words and he suggests we finish together. I accept without hesitation! As a symbol, finishing hand in hand at Les Invalides would be so beautiful!
We glimpse the Eiffel Tower to the side, then enter the last 5 kilometres. It’s hard, very hard! I take water at every station, as I have since the start, but I can feel the fatigue. I’d soaked up as much of the early fervour as I could, but these last kilometres are a bit of a blur. What little glycogen I have left goes to my muscles to reach the finish.
Two final bends, and in front of us, the finish arch! Duncan holds out his hand and we cross the line together, hand in hand! After 2 hours 30 minutes and 4 seconds of effort, our names appear on the finish line in 3rd place, behind an American runner (Jared Ward, 6th in the 2016 Olympic marathon) and a Polish marathoner.
Completely spent, I lie down on the blue carpet. We answer a few journalists at the finish, then I desperately look for a soda or sugary drink to get some strength back. There isn’t any! I’ll have to make do with tap water, which was available along the whole course. That’s actually a very good thing from an environmental point of view, rather than throwing away thousands of water bottles after a few sips.
I find Romain at the finish, who ran 2:59 with another runner from Chambéry! Then the research team from the scientific study. An hour after finishing, I’m still white as a sheet and end up being sick: the heat, and probably the lack of sugar, had really taken their toll.
A day after the marathon that was just as crazy!
Getting back to the flat was a bit complicated (I’ll spare you the details), but I finally get to sleep at 2 am 😄 My sleep is light, and at 5 am I’m surprised to find that the photo of Duncan and me hand in hand is going viral, shared by Tony Estanguet and the Paris 2024 accounts!
At 8 am I go to watch the start of the Olympic women’s marathon, the only Olympic event I’ll have attended. I enjoy the day with friends, then head to Gare de Lyon to take the TGV back to Chambéry.
Just before Chambéry there’s a tunnel a few kilometres long, the Tunnel de l’Épine. When the train comes out of the tunnel, I receive dozens of notifications. What could have happened?
Footage from the start of the Marathon Pour Tous was shown during the Olympic closing ceremony, watched by more than a billion viewers. As luck would have it, I appear in 2 clips taken during the first kilometre! A way to make this Olympic dream last a little longer!
What an adventure this Marathon Pour Tous was…
Thank you and well done to everyone who made this unique event happen: organisers, volunteers, police, first-aiders, supporters and runners!
