23rd – 24th – Post race and return home

In the evening the travel group met up in the hotel’s bar where we had a few drinks before heading into the hotel’s restaurant. It was a mixed experience; ordering the food was easy and it (and the drinks) arrived very fast, but despite ordering individually (we were sitting spread out and not at one single large table) they had completely forgotten who had ordered what, and it didn’t help that people were often engrossed in discussions and didn’t notice a waiter looking for an owner of a plate of food. Or that some people seemed confused about what had been ordered. 

Having a late flight out the next day I left my bag at the hotel before having one last walk in the city. I could still feel the soreness from yesterday but it wasn’t too bad. I definitely also saw people walking who were struggling significantly more than me getting around. The weather on the list day was generally ok – better than the previous – so that was pleasant. 

One last look at the parakeets.

Getting to the airport was as easy as arrival, and I was soon seated in a lounge with a view of the planes. Too bad it turned out that it was probably the lounge I could have chosen that was the furthest away from my gate. That wasn’t part of the plan, and because they didn’t reveal the gate number until less than half an hour before boarding I had to do a brisk almost 20 minute walk to my gate. While I didn’t have major issues with my leg from yesterday throughout the day, I could definitely feel that walk. But with an uneventful flight and a train departure on arrival that didn’t fit at all with when I showed up on the platform, I was soon home resting my legs and feeling happy about another trip done. 

Full album can be seen here.

23rd – London marathon

The forecast for the day had been including rain throughout the entire day, but last night it had changed to looking positive with 10-13°C and slightly clouded with no rain. So it was a bit disappointing standing in the waiting area a few minutes before start and seeing – and feeling – it starting raining. The temperature dropped quite a bit with the rain coming down and I was just looking forward to getting started hoping to build up some warmth. While it didn’t rain for the entire run, we did experience the occasional drizzle throughout the entire thing.

A start in classic English conditions.

Photo taken by Sportograf.

In spite of the weather the support along the course was absolutely amazing. As an English runner pointed out this was completely normal English weather so there was no reason why this should keep people away. And rightly so; there was maybe 500m in total for the entire course where there weren’t anyone cheering you on, otherwise the support was immense: eager, loud and very engaged. There were layers of people on multiple stretches trying to get close to us – but as opposed to the Paris marathon this course had been fenced off so we were able to run uninterrupted. So much energy.

Circling Cutty Sark (just seen to the right of the frame).

Photo taken by Sportograf.

We started off in Greenwich and started off towards east to Woolwich where turned around and ran to and circled Cutty Sark, continued through Rotherhithe before reaching Tower Bridge. Crossing that we went east again, crisscrossed Canary Wharf before the almost same way back past the Tower Bridge, continuing west along the Themes until reaching Westminster where we turned up towards Buckingham palace which we briefly passed before turning down The Mall and crossing the finish line. To be completely honest the course wasn’t terribly interesting apart from maybe the last 5-10km but the support made up for it in spades. Running on the many streets there were often buildings on both sides, keeping the noise from the spectators concentrated, increasing the volume. But impressively, the loudest part on the course was actually on Tower Bridge despite it being completely open; the sidewalks were absolutely stuffed with people screaming. That was quite the experience.

Crossing Tower Bridge.

Photo taken by Sportograf.

At around 25-30km I realized I was starting to slow down – my estimated finish time was suddenly down to around 04:30, and regardless of how much I tried to run faster I seemed to be stuck in the slower pace. Then I tried focusing on passing other runners instead of just running faster, and suddenly I was back to an estimated finish time of 3:58, so things were back to how they were supposed to be. Reaching the last 5-7km my estimated finish time was swinging between 3:58 and 4:01 so things were getting a bit stressful towards the end. 

Nearing the end.

Photo taken by Sportograf.

Pushing through on the last few kilometers I managed to finish in 3:58:42, which I was very happy with. That put me as 17715 out of 48743 in total (top 36,34%), 12993 out of 28397 men (top 45,75%) and 2314 out of 4615 M4044 (top 50,14%). So compared to my other runs this was actually quite a good result in the end despite my struggles along the way, and a result I am now very happy with.

Going through the roundabout in front of Buckingham Palace.

Photo taken by Sportograf.

20th – 22nd of April – London pre-race

With my booked flight in the afternoon I had hoped to be able to still have time to check in at the hotel and then go to the runners’ expo before they closed to get the entire pickup over with before the crowds would arrive on the last days before the run.

My flight was at 1500 with an arrival time of 1600 2 hours later. Despite being almost half an hour late taking off we still made the landing on time. A short taxi to the gate and reaching immigration, apart from staff, only me and two others from the flight was present, so that was the fastest automatic immigration process ever! Following a long walk to the Heathrow Express I had an uneventful ride to Paddington where I changed to a local train. The train here was halted as another further ahead had stalled at a station and they were waiting for a crew to sort it out before we could continue. At home that could easily take 10-20 minutes, and I was prepared to wait for that, but only a few minutes later they had solved the issue and we were off. Reaching my destination there was a 5 minutes’ walk from the train to the hotel and I was checked in and in my room at 1710.

I thought that was pretty impressive considering the size of the airport and the chaos that sometimes ensues. I grabbed the necessary stuff and returned to the train that I then took out to the expo where I spent an hour or so wandering around looking at the booths after getting my bib and pack.

I took the train back but got off a few stations before the one at my hotel to have a walk and see the darkening city. I ended up walking along the Themes taking in the London Skyline, especially with Tower Bridge and London Tower (naturally). A few hours later I was back at the hotel after a surprising chilly walk.

Tower Bridge with Tower of London to the left.

Looking down the Themes from Tower Bridge (The Shard to the left).

The following day I took a slow morning and grabbed breakfast at the hotel. I have always considered it an unwritten rule that if you leave your keycard at the table it indicates you haven’t left but just up and grabbing more food. Not here, apparently; returning from the buffet with some bread rolls my table was cleared including my card. I grabbed hold of the waiter and pointed at the table but before I got to say anything he reassured me it was unoccupied. I pointed out that it had been occupied by me, leaving my card to signal that, and now it was all gone. He huffed, almost rolled his eyes (from me being a difficult guest or from an overeager colleague I can’t say), ruffled through the table with dirty dishes and returned my card when I came back with more drinks to replace my lost glasses. I might bring a jacket tomorrow so I don’t get the same treatment. Then again; they might just think someone have forgotten it and remove that, too.

After this a bit too interesting breakfast I returned to my room, grabbed my stuff and went out to have a walk without any set purpose. I got all the way to outside the hotel doors until I had my first break: it was absolutely pouring down so I felt it was best to wait until it dried up a bit more – just like everyone else standing around, waiting. Only a few moments later I was able to get on with my day.

Passing through – well, around as they were doing renovations – Trafalgar Square I continued on towards Buckingham Palace which required a small detour as they were already preparing for the marathon and the Mall – the main street going up to the palace – is the finishing area for the run. Going through the park there were pigeons, geese, squirrels and ducks as you’d expect from a city park, but to my surprise there were also parakeets which were being fed by passerbys. I did not expect to see them here, I would have thought that parakeets preferred better (warmer, dryer) weather than what you’d get in London, but apparently not. 

From there I circled west through more parks until I reached the Themes across from the Battersea Power Station, probably best know for being on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album Animals. From there I trotted along the river until reaching Parliament and Big Ben, an area which was hard to get through as Extinction Rebellion and other similar groups were protesting with stages, booths and what have you. Managing to get through I continued, ending up away from the river, getting a late lunch consisting of fish & chips. One of the advantages of travelling alone is when you are in a queue waiting for a table, and they suddenly have a small table available you get to skip numerous larger groups in front of you. 

Red tree next to Buckingham Palace.

After lunch I trotted a bit around before returning to the hotel for a break before leaving again in the evening for dinner. I ended up at a nice Italian place with quick service and good food – and it turned out it was only 10 minutes from the hotel, something I hadn’t realized when arriving due to the random walking and zigzagging getting me there.

Found this very alive statue in a small green spot on my walk.

Saturday morning the travel group met up at 0700 to go for a short morning run. We ran to the starting area 2-ish km away and back again. As it was just us the way there wasn’t blocked off so we had to adhere to the traffic lights on the way, and combined with a couple of stops where we were briefed on tomorrow it ended up being a very relaxing almost 1-hour 5km run.

World's smallest hotel room?

Following a shower and breakfast I left on a short walk to not to be holed up in the small hotel room all day. Ending up being almost 3 hours I ended up walking east past Spitalfields market, St. Katherine Docks Marina, Tower Bridge and London Tower before heading back.

For dinner there was a pasta buffet at the hotel. With a major part of the travel group having signed up we got our own section of the restaurant for ourselves. Unfortunately, despite not being able to hear the other groups in the restaurant, the acoustics of the room was absolutely horrendous so as soon as someone started talking, you could barely hear what the person next to you was saying. But the pasta – and desserts – were good.

2nd – 3rd – Post run and return home

Waddling back to the hotel (long live subway stations close to the finish line and hotel!) I had a much needed shower before crashing on the bed and promised not to move for the rest of the day. That lasted until around dinner time where I met up with my parents to go out for dinner. They had the excellent idea of going for dinner at a café just across the street from my hotel.

After a mediocre steak and delicious dessert we parted ways; my parents wandered back to their hotel and I waddled back to mine. After a good night’s sleep and a late hearty breakfast I got my stuff together, checked out and left for the airport. Here I did my best to get my money’s worth of food in the lounge before getting my flight home with no unexpected episodes along the way.

Overall this ended up being an ok trip. I signed up for the run mostly on a whim, Paris in and of itself isn’t a city that has a special attraction to me, it was solely because of the run and the size of it. Would I still have signed up for it had I known about the frustrations I encountered along the way? I don’t know, honestly, but it is definitely not a run I plan on signing up for again. No need to go through that again.

Full album can be seen here.

2nd of April – Paris marathon

Every time I checked the weather forecast it seemed like the prediction was to be just a bit colder and windier than last time. When leaving the hotel I had planned on running with a long-sleeve with an inner t-shirt, but when standing around in the standing area I realized that while it was chilly and the wind didn’t help, the course was placed in such a way that we would be protected from the worst wind for most of the run (the wind was from north and the course was west/east) so I ended up taking up the inner shirt and shoved it into my bag together with my jacket, handed it to the bag check before heading to my starting corral. 

In the beginning the start seemed enormously confusing to me, but I realized they were being quite clever about avoiding the usual chaos you often experience when sending off an entire wave at a time. Champs-Élysées where we started is split down the middle, and when the wave was set off they took maybe 20 meters of runners alternately left and right with a few minutes between every group. It took longer to send off the wave, but there was so much room to move around on the course meaning in the end, despite the extra waiting, it was a much more comfortable start. 

One thing is reading about the course and looking forward to it, it’s something else actually experiencing it in person and realizing that it is a quite nice course. I got to see a lot of sights along the way I hadn’t seen on my walks though the weather could have been a bit more scenic; it started around 8-ish degrees but felt half that due to the wind, and for maybe only 5km of the entire course we were directly affected by the wind. 

Running along the Seine.

Photo taken by Marathon Photos.

The water stations were set up at every 5km and had water bottles, fruits (bananas, raisins and coconut pieces) and sponge cakes! I grabbed a piece of cake at the first station and realized that while they were good they dried out your mouth especially if you were already lacking fluids, so I ended up mostly staying away from them. They also had them past the finish line so I stacked up on them there instead. The following 100-200m after the stations there were lots of containers for all the bottles which meant there were surprisingly few bottles lying around on the street and sidewalk like you’d normally see when people get rid of them. Kudos for that arrangement!

With that said…

People wanting to cross the course often just did and seemed to expect the runners to yield. Saw a couple yell at a runner who bumped into them because he didn’t have time to avoid them when they stepped out in front of him. I ended up yelling at two crossers; I am sure they didn’t understand my colorful Danish words, but like dogs that hear how you say things and not the words themselves, I am sure they knew exactly what I meant. 

So many runners had brought their phones and were making calls, video calls, taking photos and selfies and were on social media. And of course, tending to all that was more important than not being a nuisance on the run. Onlookers would jump into the course and film a family member or friend for a bit (or just generally) before jumping back out. Absolutely no problem at all with non-runners getting in the way because their filming is more important.

Passing a walker at the Eiffel Tower.

Photo taken by Marathon Photos.

There were so many runners that ended up walking along the way for parts of the distance, and some of them quite early, too, relatively speaking. I am used to seeing runners walking for bits during a half- or full marathon, especially during hills, but here it was far beyond anything I had previously seen. Added on top of that the course got narrower towards the end which made it harder to keep running at my own pace, especially when people who were together were walking and insisted on walking next to each other taking up valuable space. That became a fairly large problem for the last 10-15 km of the run which felt quite significant which forced me to zigzag a lot and not just go at my own pace.

Photo taken by Marathon Photos.

If you’ve seen the Tour de France you know that towards the end of a stage the spectators get really close to the participants and leaving almost no room for them to navigate. Same goes for the Paris marathon. But as opposed to the TdF where alle the cyclists generally go at the same speed the runners here move at wildly varying speeds – slow and fast runners and all the walkers – which meant that parts got very congested and it felt like you could barely get anywhere at times. Some of the already narrow streets had maybe 5-6m available, but you lost 1-2m due to the spectators who wanted to get close. For a run at this scale with 50.000+ runners it felt borderline ridiculous and highly frustrating. I have never bumped into as many as I did during this run. The worst parts when going through a couple of roundabouts where would have had beautiful 5+m to run on, but there was maybe 2m left for us after the spectators had gotten their share. I had a very close call at one point; running on the right side I saw ahead a small group as part of the horde along the course talking, one of them a boy as tall as up to my chest. Everything is fine until I am maybe 3 steps away he steps right out in front of me, showing off his complete lack of situational awareness. His mom (I assume) sees what is about to happen so she grabs hold of him but can’t do anything before I reach them. I have nowhere to go – with the congestions I can only go one way: forward. Coming up to him I’m reaching out in front of me and when he’s within reach I basically push/toss the little crotch goblin aside while twisting around him and continuing my run, trying to ignore the absolute idiocy of some people. 

Before reaching the 30km mark I could se realistic chance of beating my PR, but not far past 30km things started getting a bit sore. I was actually feeling quite good throughout the entire thing, relatively speaking. While the beginning soreness was a potential issue, it was not nearly as big a risk compared to the previously mentioned congestions on the course. While the soreness in my legs maybe could have killed my chances of a new PR, the constant zigzagging and slowing down and speeding up definitely didn’t help. 

Only a few meters from the finish line.

Photo taken by Marathon Photos.

I ended up not beating my PR, but I did end up below the goal of 4 hours – but only just: my finishing result was 3:59:28. I was 24655 out of 50782 total (top 48,55%), 21040 out of 37698 men (top 55,81%) and 3093 out of 5294 in the M1H group (men born 1979-1983, top 58,42%). I was actually a bit surprised by the relative result – I had assumed I would have placed a bit better – but clearly all the faster ones managed to stay ahead of the walkers, or were French and had learnt to navigate the obstacles along the way effectively.