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Sunday, 7 April, was one of the first dates on the European
Spring marathon calendar. For some reason this race fails
to attract the big marathon names, even though this race is
a fast flat course, the marathon greats prefer London and
Rotterdam. This could be something to do with the fact that
even though the race attracted some 30000 participants this
year, there is not much crowd support from Parisiens, who
simply prefer to spend Sunday morning lazing in bed and watching
the race on their television screens.
This race has come a long way however in terms of organisation.
In 1990 this race lagged behind the other well established
City Marathons, with only 7000 participants. In those days
just 20 minutes before the set-off of the race the start banner
was still being put up so that runners not familiar with the
race were not sure which way to line up on the Champs Elysees.
Today, the race is well established and it is the only day
in the year where you can past the historic French sites,
as the banks of the Seine and Champs Elysees are closed off
to traffic. It is a pity though that with a registration fee
of over 50 Euros, for that you get barbie doll sized sponges
and a very poor quality t-shirt.
This year the race had windy cool weather so that those who
made a conservative start could profit from the strong tail
wind from the 14km mark to the finish. The Blue, white and
red supporters who did turn out could be well proud as this
race was won by the fambouyant Frenchman Benoit Zwierzchlewski
in 2:08:18, who dons a dragon on this thigh, better known
as Benoit Z. The women's race was easily won by Marlene Renders
the Belgian woman in 2:23 by a large margin.
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