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Shortly before daybreak the pouring
rain stopped. The sky behind Henri IV still looked ominous on
the way to the start. The flags on top of La Samaritaine indicated
there would be a fast start as the runners would have a tailwind
for the first 9 miles. |
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The French went to great lengths
to welcome Alan Ruben. We don't need to spoil it by telling
you they were expecting a visit from Queen Elizabeth
a couple of days later. |
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With the Champs-Elysées
cleared of vehicles, the French students won't allow an opportunity
to demonstrate escape them, even at 8:30 on a Sunday morning.
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Turned aside peacefully by the
photographer...with two dozen police behind him.
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The Paris Marathon has a reputation
for very small crowds of spectators. But there was at least
one very large squirrel watching this year. |
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First they let the wheelchair
racers and other runners with special needs start.
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The lead pack is approaching
the first kilometer with over 30,000 runners behind them. Over
34,000 were signed up and just under 30,000 finished.
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At Km 1 from left to right are
Fred Ntabo (20; finished 18th), David Kosgei (48;
finished 12th), David Maiyo (23; finished 15th) and Paul
Biwott (28; finished 3rd in 2:10:27. Not visible is Ambesa
Tolosa who finished first in 2:08:56. |
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At the 1st kilometer mark half
the runners check their time. How am I going to find Alan
and Brad in this mob of 30,000? |
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What luck! Here comes Alan.
Unfortunately the auto-focus on the camera doesn't cooperate
for the rest of the day. |
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Where is Brad? Watching the crowd is
mesmerizing. After 16 minutes there is still no end of runners
in sight. Time to dash to the Château de Vincennes to
try to catch Alan again. |
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Just barely arrived in time to
get Alan at Km 13, followed here by Yunilesh Bekele
(214) who finished 8th among the women. No time to get to the
other side to have the chateau in the background. There are
pacers with balloons for 3:00 hours and 3:30, etc. I waited
here for Brad to the second group of balloons and knew
that I had missed him. No more time to waste. Off to the next
spot. |
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This is a good spot along the
river at Km 26 where the runners are pretty well spread out
and easy to spot. The course turns into a 1 km long tunnel here.
The first in a series of tunnels including the last one where
Princess Diana's car crashed. |
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Alan smiles for the camera
with the Pont Neuf behind him at Km 26. I'm on such a good luck
streak with Alan I don't dare wait for Brad here
to miss Alan at the next photo op. Getting there by Métro
on a Sunday morning is too slow. Sorry, no time for the Eiffel
Tower in the background at Km 30. The best is to go on to Km
36. |
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Km 36 between the tennis center Roland Garros
and the Hippodrome d'Auteuil. A great spot to catch even the
elusive Brad Weiss. Here is Frédéric
Degorce (107) leading a group that includes Olga Kovpotina
(203; finished 5th among women) and Corinne Raux (212
with cap; finished 3rd among women in 2:29:19). First woman
runner was Salina Kosgei in 2:24:32. |
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Km 36. Alan is looking
good. Sorry the camera is not cooperating. |
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Km 36. The loneliness of the
long distance Ruben. |
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Km 36. Judit Nagy (10th
female finisher) |
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Km 36. At last, there is Brad
at the left! |
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Km 36. Brad Weiss in good
form. We wonder what he is listening to. Maybe we should ask
for a playlist since he finished the race with a PR. Unfortunately,
this photographer had no time to catch our men in orange at
the finish line as he had to catch a plane for...
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Spring in Prague. Where, by the
way, they have a very good and fast Half-Marathon in March and
Marathon in May with a start and finish at the Charles Bridge.
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