This weekend 16 of us boarded a train bound for Paris. For some it was to add another marathon to their growing list of achievements, for one it was to run her first (well done Debbie) and for the rest of us it was to to cheer as loud as we could when we saw a Leighton Fun Runner come past during the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon.
We were all booked into the same hotel but as we all arrived at different times decided to meet up at the Expo where team LFR collected their snazzy green bags and race numbers before heading off for a bite to eat, a few beers and a trip up a few step to the Sacré-Cœur before calling it a night.
The following day was spent mooching around Paris with a bit of sightseeing. What was meant to be a lazy day turned into almost 8 miles of walking so even us spectators earned the massive carb-load fest and a few bottles of wine that night.
Sunday greeted us with a bright sunny morning which for us spectators was perfect but for the poor runners meant shorts and vest tops and by the end of it a bit of sun burn. With the Lads, Chair Claire and Katy all setting off for their early start time the rest of us headed down to the Arc de Triomphe to see off the rest of the girls. Paris has got to be one of the easiest marathons to spectate at. There are very few barriers and no real marshals along the majority of the route and we found ourselves walking alongside the runners as we headed to the 2k mark to see the girls pass through. After a few shouts of encouragement we then head over to a park for some breakfast before finding a great spot sat on a bridge where we got to see the earlier group come past at about 27k. As always we were overly ambitious in our hope to catch the girls again on route so spent a few miles walking about to find a well needed pint before heading over to the finish. We found a great spot just before 42k were we got to see all the girls finish what was a very hot marathon. We had an amazing day and got a real buzz seeing our team achieve so much. I think we may have enjoyed it even more than the runners and even had our own blisters to show from the 10 miles we managed to clock up around the course.
Do I want to run a Marathon myself now? Definitely not but I'm more than happy having a day or weekend away to support the club members who are mad enough. Supporting can be great fun so why not sign up to join in with our Leighton 20 next Sunday or the LFR Mile at the MK Marathon in May?
