Long ago before the grey hairs appeared (not you Malcolm), the three buckle brothers ran through the streets of Paris. We all ran the Paris marathon on different occasions. The first time being 1986, yes 40 years ago!!! We had some great times! It’s time for the new Buckle brothers to take the stage.
The Buckle sisters
Well almost… you get the picture though.
But how about the successors to the Buckle sisters.
In that group of tots is Annia!
That’s where out all begins, on the Saturday before the race. The tiny heroes all out for 800 metres and they absolutely smashed it. Well done Annia on that one but don’t get complacent because Jeanne is coming after you.
In the meantime though
After a few alcohol free beers and a fantastic meal at chez Buckle on Saturday, by Sunday we were race ready. Jenny, Alicia and myself along with almost 57,000 people give or take a few, all side by side in the green block.
We were originally supposed to be 4 but Leander was nursing a knee injury. That was obviously bad news but the good news was that he was there cheering us on and will definitely be there next year, thus ensuring our presence in another Paris marathon.
We made our way to the start on foot, ensuring a good warm up, this is important and gave us a chance to acclimatise to the atmosphere.
What an atmosphere it was, absolutely electric , so many people, so many voices, Spanish, English, German and obviously French. Jenny, Alicia and myself shuffled forward to the start. The power station that is Jenny providing the energy. Buckets of it! She was 220 volts, or maybe more. We started in the green block, all set for a 4hr finish or somewhere around that time. It seemed to take ages to start and everybody around us were looking anxiously at their watches, just to see if the gps was working. Mostly it was, so Jenny and I kicked off together at a nice pace. Jenny’s friend ran alongside us and everything was Sunday afternoon, chilled, relaxed and steady. Our goal aside from having a really good time was to go under 4 hours giving us a pace of anything south of 5:41min/km. After a couple of kilometres or so, I glanced at my watch and noticed we were around 5:42 min/km, nice! We were happy, strolling through the streets of Paris and neither of us felt stressed about the pace.
Then things started to clog up a bit, our pace was definitely very much dependent on what was in front of us and in front of us were people, lots of people. At around 20km I noticed that we were slightly over the 4 hours we needed but the possibility of increasing the pace was not an option. We were blocked by the mass of runners around us!
At around 25km or so, I can’t remember exactly, Jenny was experiencing a lot of hip pain so she told me she would slow her pace a bit. I tried hard to get a 5:20 pace after that but it was very frustrating bumping into people. At some point it became very slow, especially in narrow sections where the supporters crowded the streets. Their support was very welcome but on these stretches my pace dropped to 6min/km plus. It was also evident that after 30km lots of the runners were suffering, understandable I suppose. I have to be honest it did stress me and I noticed my HR rising in response. At some point though I resigned myself to getting as close to 4 hours as possible and that’s it. Positives were the incredible support and feeling of plodding through the city of Paris again.
I set a PB here in 1987 but I’ve no idea what it was, north of 3 hours. Maybe 3:07 or 3:10. My previous PB was 3:20 and my goal was sub 3 which I didn’t achieve, to massive disappointment. I’d joined a running club in order to go under 3. I felt like I’d failed! In 1987 I suffered after 35km and I remember having to walk a bit. This time though I actually felt good and my marathon playlist was delivering as were the numerous bands en route.
Shortly after Jenny and I parted I passed a band banging out London Calling by the Clash, I slowed down clapping, shouting and screaming my support. The ice age is coming but I, I live by the river. I recall reading that the lead singer of the clash, Joe Strummed once ran the Paris marathon. I always get a bit emotional when passing the African bands, it feeds my soul!
Water stations equipped with water pumps for refilling our silicon water cups were faster and more efficient than people handing out plastic cups. Food stations at strategic points with bananas and raisins. This was one of, if not the best equipped and environmentally friendly marathons ever!
Negatives
People on their mobile phones, supporters running on the course, the multitude of folk taking videos, pictures for insta. A chain of people, club members or friends, side by side, jogging along but clearly making it impossible for anyone to overtake, pedestrians who appear with a bicycle in front of you.
Yeah that was tricky but that’s the way it is in 2026. Wasn’t like that in 1987!
I always like to get to 30km and placate myself with the mantra, just a 10km left. Obviously it’s 12 but 10 sounds better and the 2km are hardly worth worrying about. I remember thinking that maybe I can put a sprint in and I might just creep under 4 hours. Between 35-40 kilometres I really struggled to get any pace at all after running into a man on a bicycle, two ladies one taking videos on the side of the road who on spotting her bloke raced out in front of me! The other one just ran alongside the road before jumping out facing the opposite direction. I ran into her rear and could only apologise but I was really thinking WTF!!!
All in all it was IKEA on a weekend without the teelights and furry dolphins.
The finish is along Avenue Foch and the slow runners and intrusive supporters had disappeared, so I thought I would get a sprint in, for Foch’s sake at least and with the Arc de Triomph in my sites I ran in. That was a great feeling!
Get your medal, have a drink of water and a bit to eat and make your way to the supporters.
Getting out of marathon finishes is always hard and there’s always a nutter. Paris adhered to those rules and said nutter was trying to shout his way out through the mass of sweaty runners. No one willing to let him pass at all making the whole situation even more difficult. I’ve no idea what he was shouting or what his argument for getting out quicker than everyone else was but it wasn’t working. Discussions started which slowed things down but luckily security arrived, they hadn’t run a marathon and persuaded him not to shout and to shuffle, like every other Tom, Hans and Pierre out of the finish.
Voila!
Shortly after Jenny and Alicia arrived at the finish looking remarkably better than I was!
That’s the power of Yoof for you!
I think they did a fantastic job! Marathons are not easy and it was criminal that they looked so good after 42km! Well done to you both! The much appreciated, barely mentioned support team were there at the end and for that I am always really grateful. We quickly located Leander and met up for a few bevvies and some much welcome snacks (thanks Servanne and Isabelle). Sadly Jenny did not get her pint of Guinness either.
So it only remains to call the clan back together for next year. I’ve a feeling the story will continue as Leander joins us all for his first marathon. That’s going to be a mega event and I’m going to do my best to get in again.
Next up is the Seiser Alm!