Through observations, winks and anecdotes, the Carnets de Paris immerse you in the heart of the Olympic Games.
At every Olympics, spectators like to compare themselves to the best athletes on the planet, wondering what it would take to be in their shoes. This time, they literally can be.
On Saturday night in Paris, 40,048 runners will take part in the Marathon for All, an event held on the same course that professional athletes will take on Sunday morning. This is a first in the history of the Olympic Games. Participants will be able to run 42.2 km or take part in the 10 km race. Runners come from 110 countries around the world and are aged between 16 and 94.
From Paris to Versailles, in a parity race like the Olympic Games, amateur athletes will have the chance “to experience an exceptional moment in the wake of the Olympic athletes, on a course that will also be the scene of the exploits of the male and female athletes who will compete for the Olympic marathon title”, explains the Paris 2024 organizing committee in a press release.
More than a quarter of the amateur participants will be taking part in their very first marathon. They will have the chance to admire the Louvre pyramid, the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, among others, along the way. “On the finish line, the runners will be greeted by the Esplanade des Invalides, transformed by a sound and light show.”
That said, the course will be very difficult. In some places, participants will have to climb 16% slopes. “The first 15 kilometers are relatively flat. […] But then, everything gets complicated from the moment you get to the Pont de Sèvres: ten kilometres of constant climbs and descents towards Ville-d’Avray and Versailles,” says coach Jean-Claude Vollmer, who analysed the course. The runners will then enter the cobblestones. “It’s a wall, really, at an average of 12%, with sections at 16%, where it will be almost impossible to run, even for those who have trained on hills,” he continues.
The race would not be French if it did not follow in the footsteps of a historical event. The marathon course is therefore inspired by the women’s march that took place during the French Revolution. It took place from October 5 to 6, 1789, and it is estimated that between 6,000 and 7,000 Parisian women crossed Paris to go to Versailles to demand bread and force Louis XVI to leave the palace. Which he did while also ratifying the Universal Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights.
More than 400,000 participants in the Marathon pour tous registered for a bib, and only a tenth of them were selected. For four years, runners could participate in around a hundred events in the hope of obtaining a bib for this marathon, both in Paris and in the French regions. The Marathon pour tous application also awarded 6,000 bibs to the 202,000 candidates registered on the application. Each week, challenges were proposed to encourage people to move and perhaps win their place. They did not have to be the best in their category, as most of the bibs were drawn at random or allocated according to the assiduity of the participants. “The objective is to be open to all profiles and all sporting objectives,” can be read in the explanatory brochure of the event.
More than 300 athletes and public figures will also take part in the race to accompany the runners throughout the course. Some will act as “pace bunnies” and help the amateur athletes achieve their goal.
The Marathon for All promises to be a historic event that will continue into the early hours of the morning, just before the official start for female athletes at 8 a.m. Paris time on Sunday.
This report was financed with the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund-The Duty.