I made it – a Road to Paris update!

I made it….well, sort of!

Yes, I actually got to the finish line of the Marathon de Paris…it was in a round about, crazy sort of way though, which I will explain. The important thing however, is that I got my medal and I’m happy with what I achieved 🙂

If anyone ever tells you that you can “walk” the Paris Marathon, don’t believe them! It’s definitely a marathon made for runners! Would you believe there was nobody else, amongst more than 40,000 entrants, walking the marathon except for me?!

After waking at 5am, a 2 hour wait at the start line in the freezing cold, and witnessing some of the most disgusting “toileting” behavior in the gutters of the Champs élysées by many a male and female athlete, the glamorous vision of the Paris Marathon had quickly vanished from my mind.

By the time I arrived at the 5km mark, it hadn’t got much better either. The roads had already opened up to cars, motorbikes, bicycles and even trucks, which was rather dangerous! When I got to 15kms, things deteriorated further with sign posts, food & drink stations and even the marathon officials gradually disappearing. Once I hit 30kms, not only was I traumatized by the state of the port-a-loos, disgusted by the lack of organisation of this so-called “international” event, but I was completely lost in Paris!!! And I mean that I was “lost” literally. With not an official, sign or marker of any type in sight, I had no idea where to go next.

Fortunately for me, my sister had met me at the 5kms mark, along with John & the kids, and she actually decided to walk the rest of the way with me. Without her I would have been petrified, but as it turned out, we found it rather hilarious that at least four sets of policemen couldn’t even steer us in the right direction! I got very good at asking, “parlez vous anglais?” to as many passers-by as I could spot, but to no avail. Not one person could point us onto the right path.

In the name of safety, we ditched the search for the marathon route and went in search of the nearest cab or train station instead. Every local we passed who could speak to us in English broke the news that we were miles from any public transport. We eventually stumbled upon the Barault Metro station, which happened to be many kilometres off the marathon course, as discovered later that night when we looked at a map back at our apartment.

We hopped on the Metro, made a detour to our apartment for a quick shower, and then made our way back to the finish line. I took my whole family with me, as the plan was for them to cheer me across the finish line. I was hoping that I could explain what had happened and still get my medal. When we arrived, everything was being cleaned up and packed away! I was able to cross the finish line just before it was pulled apart and once over the line, I found an official to whom I could explain my situation…and she happily presented me with my medal! I was very grateful, but couldn’t help but push my luck a little further by asking for a medal for my sister as well. I reckon she deserved it after walking 25kms (having met me at 5kms) without having trained for it!

So now it’s time to enjoy beautiful, enchanting Paris. Then off to London & Dubai! Ticking a few things off my bucket list here 🙂 Once again, I feel so grateful that I’m here and experiencing all of this. I imagined that the whole thing would have been so overwhelming at the finish line that I’d be bawling my eyes out, but I didn’t. There were two times I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing though – first when we remembered Sam, the other Team Pink member who lost her breast cancer battle before she got to Paris; and second when my hubby held me in his arms after giving me a black Thomas Sabo bracelet with an Eiffel Tower charm as a marathon gift, and whispered “I’m so proud of you”.

Jennifer xo

PS. If you appreciate my “marathon effort” and would like to make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to support me in this cause, you can still do so on my Everyday Hero Fundraising Page