Race Recap: Les Foulées du 8ème


When I signed up for my first race in Paris back in May 2010, I was terrified I would have no idea what the heck was going on because everything would be in French. Looking back those feelings seem silly, but as an inexperienced runner I thought for sure I'd end up in the wrong time corral or find myself in a pastry shop instead of at the finish line. In reality though, most race day line-ups are pretty similar and once you know the drill, you're good. That being said though, I've never been able to find good descriptions (in English) of the races in and around Paris, and who doesn't want to know what free goodies you get with your registration packet? And, of course, whether the race route has you climbing hills for a million kilometers. In an attempt to get more information out there for anglophone runners, I'm going to start posting race recaps and asking friends to share their race experiences. Hope the running readers out there find the descriptions helpful and for those of you who'd prefer I never talk about running, I hope you can laugh about the weird (and sometimes kinky) freebies you get in race bags (ahem condoms and lube at the Saint Valentine's race...).

First up is the 10th edition of Les Foulées du 8ème 10km which was the second race in the Paris Running Tour Series.

Race Website: http://www.lesfouleesdu8.fr/
Registration Website: http://www.topchrono.biz/evenement_1917-Paris-Foulees-du-8eme
Bib Pickup: La Marie du 8ème at 3, rue de Lisbonne 75008
Goodies: Free T-shirt, but otherwise nothing special or fun in the registration bags. They did have two free books produced by the Association Promotionnelle Pour le Developpement de la Course a Pied en Ile de France listing all of the races in France and Paris which are pretty handy for planning future races.
Course: The course was two 5km loops starting and ending at Place Saint Augustin with a run past Parc Monceau and one rather long incline heading up to the Arc de Triomphe. (There's no map available on the course website and I forget to take a photo at registration--sorry, next time!)



Race day recap: Getting to and from the race was easy because the start and finish were close to three difference metro lines, Saint Augustin being the closest. Unfortunately the weather this year was terrible--rainy, cold, and just yucky. Everyone was bouncing around the start trying to stay warm and it felt like we waited forever to cross the start line. There were a few organized pre-race warm up routines, but they stopped long before the race got underway. The race was too small to have time corrals, although they did have five different pace groups you could stick with. I found the course pretty boring (only one band!) and not always safe. While there was always a section of road coned off for the runners, sometimes I found myself running side by side with cars which didn't make me feel super safe in the slippery conditions. Most runners took to running on the sidewalk just because it seemed safer dodging pedestrians rather than traffic. Overall I feel like race organizers had a hard time controlling traffic flow. There were a few moments where I wasn't sure if annoyed drivers were going to stop or plow through the crowd. After you crossed the finish line you received the dinkiest medal ever and a bottle of Powerade. I know medals are just to make people feel good and are often a waste of money, but this thing looks like something from elementary school field day. Lame. If you wanted to you could head over to the Mairie for some coffee and snacks, but they had the refreshment tent set up outside which didn't make much sense with the weather being so awful and everyone being chilled to the bone. Most runners huddled inside a basement room to change and keep warm. In more positive race news, my friend won the women's division! Woohoo! Despite there not being fun freebies in the registration packet, she did get some great loot for coming in first, including a free gym membership!

Final call: Sorry 8ème, but I probably wouldn't run this one again.

Did anyone else run the race? What did you think? Did I expect too much out of this neighborhood 10km?




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