Paris Marathon

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The Paris Marathon is an annual marathon which takes place from the Champs-Élysées heading towards the Place de la Concorde and continuing through the city to finish at Foch Avenue.

Along with the Berlin Marathon and the London Marathon, it is one of the most popular long-distance annual running events in Europe.

Contents 1 History 2 Modern Paris Marathon 3 The route 4 Results 4.1 2008 4.2 2007 4.3 2006 4.4 2005 4.5 2004 4.6 2003 5 External links

[edit] History

The first Paris Marathon took place in 1896. A big crowd gathered to watch 191 participants. It was run over the 40 km separating Paris from Conflans and the organisers decided to award a commemorative medal to all runners who finished the race in under 4 hours.

The distance of 40km was chosen as it was the distance separating Marathon from Athens. The current distance of the race is 42.195 km - the standard Olympic Marathon length.

This first race was won by Len Hurst from England who crossed the finishing line in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 30 seconds. His prize money was 200 francs.

[edit] Modern Paris Marathon

The present Paris Marathon dates from 1976. It is normally held on a Sunday in April and is limited to 35,000 runners. It is organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. It is notable for the attractive route through the heart of the city of Paris, and for the food and drinks stations which include wine, beer, cider and oysters. It is also known for lack of crowd support, especially through the final miles around the Bois de Boulogne.

The 2006 race was the 30th anniversary, and was marked with special souvenirs for the runners. The organisers, however, were embarrassed by the theft of finishing medals by members of the public pretending to be runners. Approximately 2,000 new medals had to be minted and posted out to runners who did not receive a medal on the day.

Unlike most other marathons, but like all races in France, the Paris Marathon requires a doctor's note affirming the runner is physically fit to run a marathon.

[edit] The route

The race starts on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées going downhill to circle round the Place de la Concorde before turning right onto Rue de Rivoli. The route passes the Louvre, then goes round the Place de la Bastille, and down Boulevard Soult to the Bois de Vincennes. A long loop of the Bois de Vincennes returns the route into the heart of Paris. The halfway point is reached at Rue de Charenton. The route now follows the course of the Seine, passing Île de la Cité and going under the Pont Neuf, then a series of tunnels. There is a large drinks station and foot massage at Trocadéro, opposite the Eiffel Tower. The route continues along the Seine, before branching off east to eventually pass though Bois de Boulogne, emerging for the final 200 metres and the finish on the Avenue Foch.

[edit] Results

Date	Winner Men	Country	Time	Winner Women	Country	Time
2008	Tsegay Kebede	Ethiopia	2h 06mn 40s	Martha Komu	Kenya	2h 25mn 33s
2007	Shami Mubarak	Qatar	2h 07mn 17s	Magarsa Assale	Ethiopia	2h 25mn 08s
2006	Gashaw Asfaw	Ethiopia	2h 08mn 03s	Irina Timofeyeva	Russia	2h 27mn 19s
2005	Salim Kipsang	Kenya	2h 08mn 02s	Lidiya Grigoryeva	Russia	2h 27mn 00s
2004	Ambesse Tolosa	Ethiopia	2h 08mn 56s	Salina Kosgei	Kenya	2h 24mn 32s
2003	Michael Kosgei Rotich	Kenya	2h 06mn 33s	Beatrice Omwanza	Kenya	2h 27mn 41s
2002	Benoît Zwierzchiewski	France	2h 08mn 18s	Marleen Renders	Belgium	2h 23mn 05s
2001	Simon Biwott	Kenya	2h 09mn 40s	Florence Barsosio	Kenya	2h 27mn 53s
2000	Mohamed Ouaadi	France	2h 08mn 49s	Marleen Renders	Belgium	2h 23mn 43s
1999	Julius Rutto	Kenya	2h 08mn 10s	Cristina Costea	Romania	2h 26mn 11s
1998	Jackson Kabiga	Kenya	2h 09mn 37s	Nicole Caroll	Australia	2h 27mn 06s
1997	John Kemboi	Kenya	2h 10mn 14s	Yelena Razdrogina	Russia	2h 29mn 10s
1996	Henrique Crisostomo	Portugal	2h 12mn 18s	Alina Tecuta	Romania	2h 29mn 32s
1995	Domingos Castro	Portugal	2h 10mn 06s	Judit Nagy	Hungary	2h 31mn 43s
1994	Saïd Ermili	Morocco	2h 10mn 56s	Mari Tanigawa	Japan	2h 27mn 55s
1993	Leszek Beblo	Poland	2h 10mn 46s	Mitsuyo Yoshida	Japan	2h 29mn 16s
1992	Luis Soares	France	2h 10mn 03s	Tatyana Titova	Russia	2h 31mn 12s
1991	Not held
1990	Steve Brace	United Kingdom	2h 13mn 10s	Yoshiko Yamamoto	Japan	2h 35mn 11s
1989	Steve Brace	United Kingdom	2h 13mn 03s	Kazue Kojima	Japan	2h 29mn 23s
1988	Manuel Matias	Portugal	2h 13mn 53s	Aurora Cunha	Portugal	2h 34mn 56s
1987	Abebe Mekonnen	Ethiopia	2h 11mn 09s	Elena Cobos	Spain	2h 34mn 47s
1986	Ahmed Salah	Djibouti	2h 12mn 44s	Maria Rebelo-Lelut	France	2h 32mn 16s
1985	Jacky Boxberger	France	2h 10mn 49s	Maureen Hurst	United Kingdom	2h 43mn 31s
1984	Ahmed Salah	Djibouti	2h 11mn 58s	Sylviane Levesque		2h 38mn 20s
1984	Course féminine supplémentaire			Lorraine Moller	New Zealand	2h 32mn 44s
1983	Jacky Boxberger	France	2h 12mn 38s	Jacqueline Courtade		2h 58mn 14s
1982	Ian Thompson	United Kingdom	2h 14mn 07s	Anne Marie Cienka		2h 56mn 14s
1981	Dave Cannon Ron Tabb (ex-æquo)	United Kingdom  United States	2h 11mn 44s	Chantal Langlacé		2h 48mn 24s
1980	Sylvain Cacciatore	France	2h 25mn 50s	Gillian Adams	United Kingdom	2h 49mn 42s
1979	Fernand Kolbeck			Vreni Forster	Switzerland
1978	Gilbert Coutant	France	2h 34mn 55s
1977	Gérard Métayer	France	2h 30mn 41s
1976	Jean-Pierre Eudier	France	2h 20mn 57s
1896	Len Hurst	United Kingdom	2h 31mn 30s

[edit] 2008

The race was run on April 06, 2008. The top male finisher, Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede, just missed the course record with a time of 2h06’40. The top female finisher was Kenya’s Martha Komu finishing in a time of 2h25’33. Her partner, Frenchman Simon Munyutu, qualified for this year's Olympics with a time of 2h09’24. The handisport race was won was by Mexico’s Saul Mendoza in a time of 1h32’27 over France’s Denis Lemeunier and Heinz Frei of Switzerland. 29,706 competitors started the race

[edit] 2007

The race was run on April 15, 2007. The top male finisher was Shami Mubarak from Qatar in a time of 2:07:19 narrowly beating frenchman Paul Astin. The top female finisher was Tafa Magarsa from Ethiopia in a time of 2:25:08. Handisport race was won by Kurt Fearnley in 1:30:45.A runner who also ran in London's British 10K that year. 28,261 competitors started the race.

[edit] 2006

The race was run on April 9, 2006. The top male finisher was Gashaw Melese from Ethiopia in a time of 2:08:03. The top female finisher was Irina Timofeyeva from Russia in a time of 2:27:02.She also ran later in the British 10K. South African Ernst Van Dyck won the Handisport race in 1:33:58.

[edit] 2005

The 29th Paris Marathon was run on 10 April, 2005. The top male finisher was Kenyan runner Salim Kipsang with a time of 2h08'02, followed in by fellow Kenyan Paul Biwott 13 seconds later. The top female finisher was Lydiya Grigoryeva in 2h27'00. Ernst Van Dyck won the Handisport race in a time of 1h23’17.

[edit] 2004

The top male finisher was newcomer Ethiopian Ambesse Tolossa in a time of 2:08:56. This was the Ethiopian's 9th ever marathon and he beat the race favourite - Kenya's Raymond Kipkoech who came in at 2:10:08. The fastest female was Kenyan runner Salina Kosgei (also a newcomer on the event) in 2:24:32, ahead of Ethopian Asha Gigi and France's Corrine Raux. Switzerland's Heinz Frei won the wheelchair event in 1h37'43. 30,430 competitors started the race.

[edit] 2003

The top male finisher was Kenyan Mike Rotich with a time of 2:06:33, setting a new record for this event. Coming in second, France's Benoît Zwierzchiewski equalled the existing European record, at 2:06:33. The fastest female was Kenyan runner Béatrice Omwanza in 2:27:41, ahead of Italy's Rosaria Console.

France's Joel Jeannot won the wheelchair event.

[edit] External links

• Official Paris Marathon Site
• MarathonGuide.Com
• www.42k195.com
• 2008 Marathon de Paris Website (English Version)
• 2007 Marathon de Paris Website (English Version)
• 2006 Marathon de Paris Website (English Version)