Too focused on my PB to take in sights and sounds of Paris

IT may not be a World Marathon Major, but the Paris Marathon is one of the most highly regarded road races in the world. And to have ticked it off my bucket list on Sunday was a fulfilling achievement.

Well, not so fulfilling given that I failed dismally in terms of my targeted time of completing the race. I had gone to Paris with the aim of running a personal best time in the marathon. That meant I wanted to run anything under two hours and 55 minutes. I dragged myself across the finish line in a pedestrian three hours and four minutes.

As I lamented my failure, a friend showed me another perspective: “Is there such a thing as a poor run in Paris,” he laughed. “You ran a 3:04, that just means you were lucky enough to spend more time on the streets of Paris. I would have aimed for a full day.”

I guess that’s what the majority of the about 70 000 who lined up at the start on the famed Champs-Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in the background signed up for - to take in the sights and landmarks of that beautiful City of Light.

Until the wheels came off for me in the last five kilometres of the race I had been speeding through the city, hardly taking in any of the landmarks.

But I do remember early on running round the Place de la Concorde – the venue where the likes of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI met their demise via the guillotine during the French Revolution. I’d gotten off the metro there early in the morning to get to the start.

I was intrigued to hear the Chariots of Fire soundtrack being played before the start of the race, although it didn’t have the same emotional effect as when it is played in Durban or Pietermaritzburg for the start of the Comrades Marathon.

Earlier on in the race, the aroma of freshly-baked croissants and other French pastries distracted my run as we went through the city and the confectioners got ready for the day. When I got dizzy late in the race, I found myself wishing I had gotten one of those and fed myself a little.

The Parisians did their best to make the race fun for us, with different kinds of entertainment – brass bands, choirs, dancers and majorettes on the route.

Along the river Seine, deep into the race, we ran through multiple tunnels and while some were a bit dark, the organisers made sure we got entertained in others by creating a club-like atmosphere complete with strobe lights and a DJ blasting out techno music from the deck.

I was still fresh and on course for my PB at this stage, and thoroughly enjoyed flying through the tunnels.

Prior to the tunnels, I hardly saw any of the landmarks – the Louvre,

Bastille, Notre Dame, Grand Palais and Eiffel Tower – as I was in the zone, focused on my chase for that PB.

I should have taken them in, although my excuse is that I had been to Paris a few years before as a tourist, given that I didn’t get to run that PB I was chasing.

I was merely two kilometeres from the finish when I hit the wall, my whole body shut down and reduced me to a walk. Two fellow South Africans came flying past and invited me to go with them. But I was finished. A good Samaritan on the side of the road saw me struggling and came to offer help. He spoke to me in French and I didn’t understand a word he was saying, but I managed to explain to him via gestures that I was dizzy. He gave me his bottle of water and urged me on “allez, allez” (come on), he shouted what was now a song stuck in my head given I had heard it throughout the race from the spectators.

I pushed a little bit, but I just couldn’t run. The last stretch had the crowds drumming against the perimeter boards as we approached the finish. But I couldn’t be bothered about time anymore for all I wanted was to cross that finishline. And I did, in a pedestrian 3:04 – to attain overall position 2 090, position 2 017 among the men and position 226 in my age group.

Given that there were about 45 000 runners in the race, I should be pleased with my showing, right?

Besides, I ran the Paris Marathon.