Ever wanted to run the Paris Marathon? Let me take you along for the ride! Here's my perspective running one of the world's most iconic races on my birthday. Amusez-vous bien!

This year for my birthday I decided to do something a little different. Rather than spend it chilling in my hometown, in my home country, I spent it running the Paris marathon in France.

Travelling is something I’ve always loved, having already visited places like Prague, Dublin, Berlin, Edinburgh and many more. To combine this love of experiencing new sights with my other passion, running, I figured running 26.2 miles through the French capital would be the perfect way to spend my birthday.

My brother and I got an early morning flight from London to Paris the day before and got ready for the big run. On the day, the weather was beautiful, and I can happily say it was near perfect running conditions. I ran a very comfortable marathon and was able to soak up the Parisian sights en route too.

This was a nice change from the last marathon I did, the Brighton marathon. For the Brighton marathon, the weather was gruelling with the majority of the course being in baking sunlight. To add to this, I (being incredibly intelligent, not) only brought 2 energy gels for the entire marathon. Needless to say it wasn’t a fun experience.

The Paris marathon was luckily much different. The weather was ideal, the course was flat and fun, and I purchased a running belt online to store my energy gels in for easy access during the run. The difference in performance was unbelievable. I ran the Paris marathon an entire 15 minutes quicker than the Brighton marathon. A successful marathon to mark my birthday, happy days.

Massive congratulations to my brother Jack for smashing his personal marathon best by a whopping 20 minutes!

Overall, this was a brilliantly organised marathon that I would highly recommend to fellow runners.

Some top tips learnt from the weekend in Paris and running the marathon:

Leave yourself more than enough time between attractions. We were very optimistic in our ability to get around the city and this was quite stressful.
Get to Paris a day or two ahead of the marathon and leave yourself enough time to pick up your race number in the race village.
Take at least 5 energy gels or something else to keep you going during the marathon. This made a massive difference in my performance, and I shaved 15 minutes off of my personal marathon time.
If possible, book a room near to the Champs-Élysées. We booked a room on Air B and B literally 3 minutes away on foot from the starting line and this made race day unbelievably simple.
Have fun and enjoy yourself. This was an incredible weekend and I’m sure I’ll remember it fondly for the rest of my life.
Thanks for watching. If you’ve enjoyed this video, hit the like and subscribe button to stay up to date with future video releases.

Full Paris Marathon 2021 results - https://www.schneiderelectricparismar...

My Strava effort on the day -   / strava  

Follow me on Strava -   / strava  

Follow me on Instagram -   / craigbarden1  

Follow my running blog - https://runnersfirst.co.uk/

Equipment used on the day:
Race gear
Running watch - https://amzn.to/3EhasLV
Running shoes - https://amzn.to/3AdrhoH
Shorts - https://amzn.to/2VKp6tM

Filming equipment
Camera - https://amzn.to/3uN3NV8
Extension pole - https://amzn.to/3hNmP9b
Outdoors Microphone - https://amzn.to/3erMMdc

Music from Epidemic Sound - https://epidemicsound.com/referral/5qaq9

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction and France arrival
01:07 - Starting line
01:57 - Race start, miles 1-3
02:44 - Miles 4 - 6
03:56 - Miles 7 -8
04:46 - Miles 9-10
05:32 - Miles 11-13
06:18 - Miles 13.1-15
07:19 - Miles 16-19
08:22 - Miles 20-25
10:04 - Miles 25-26
10:35 - Finish line and end

Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that the channel may receive a small commission for any purchases made after you click on one of these links. This is at no extra cost to you, and it will be a way to support the channel. Thank you :)