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Doug Kirkby (a friend from work) and I had been doing long weekend runs together during the month of October - I planned far in advance to do the Orleans race, and was successful in convincing Doug that he was also ready. Doug had run two previous marathons, but none in recent years. Doug had spent the last few years in Alaska as a Schlumberger field engineer, which is not the most conducive lifestyle for running. After arriving to a more "normal" job in Paris in May, he had started running and biking again on a regular basis. Doug was well-disciplined on the long preparation runs, and had always made sure to push the three-hour limit. I usually am satisfied around 2:30 during my long runs (which is my own weakness), so it was really helpful for Doug to push me beyond my normal stopping point.
While having a few pints at the local Irish pub on Friday night before the race, I was also successful in talking another friend from work, Richard Leech, into running the marathon. Surprisingly, it did not take much convincing! It was Richard's first marathon. He had not done too much formal training, but has several 2-3 hour runs under his belt in the last few months. It was too late for Richard to officially register, but we were sure that no one would mind if he ran without a number.
We rented a car on Saturday night, and picked it up at Montparnasse at 6:30am on Sunday morning. Orleans is about a 90 minute drive southwest of Paris. Cecilia also joined us for the trip - she planned to follow along and support everyone on her mountain bike. The weather forecast included a 30% chance of rain - the skies were gray as we left Paris, but there was no rain as we left the city. Unfortunately, the rain started the last 15 minutes of the drive, and continued as we stretched and warmed up in the covered parking garage in the center of Orleans. The race start and finish was in front of the Orleans cathedral, which was as impressive to me as Notre Dame. The drizzle stopped just before the start of the race at 9am, and I thought that we would be OK for the day. But, the rain started again before we reached the second kilometer, and came down even harder than before. The temperature was below 10C, but above freezing. I wore shorts and a long-sleeved thermal, but was pretty cold with all of the wetness.
Doug's strategy was to run extra-slow during the first half of the race, and Richard's strategy was to follow Doug (for at least the beginning). I started a bit faster, and felt pretty good for the first 10km. But, as the rain continued to fall I got colder and stiffer, and started to feel unexpectedly bad by 15km. My stomach was also not feeling well, and I was having a bit of cramping. I stopped two times in the next 5km to go to the bathroom, which really hurt my pace. After the second stop I thought that I would have to quit, since I was really starting to feel shivery. The rain had stopped, but I was still soaked. My pace declined progressively until I saw Cecilia around the 26km mark. I gave her my soaked shirt, and took a heavier and dry thermal top. I also chugged a full bottle of water. I think that this exchange saved my entire race - I started to feel better around the 30km mark, and had even picked up the pace to my original target. I progressed in similar fashion until the 40km mark, when I slowed a bit due mainly to fatigue. But, I finished strong in 3:24:46 - my second best time ever. At the 30km mark I knew that I might be able to break by previous second best time of 3:26, and I had kept that in my mind for the last hour of the race.
Meanwhile, Doug had put his body into turbo-gear starting at the halfway point of the race, and had picked up the pace significantly. He cruised through the second half of the race and finished strong at 3:26. Another few km and he probably would have blown right by me. Richard had run with Doug until around the halfway point when Doug took off. Richard had continued at a pace similar to the first half, and except for a slight drop-off for the last few km, finished in good shape around 4:00. He didn't even look sweaty or tired at the finish!
We walked around the finish line area, and then went back to the car
to cool down, stretch, and change into dry clothes. We left town
before the last runner had crossed the finish line, and headed back towards
Paris. We stopped for a buffet lunch at a roadside restaurant, and
then made it back into Paris by 5pm with no problems. Another good
marathon! Some images from the day:
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