Pattersons in Paris: Marathon de Paris 2022

One of the highlights of our stays in Paris during the winter months is the annual Marathon de Paris in early April. Kate, Carter and Luna arrived the Monday before the marathon and our neighbors, Sande and Mike Krieger arrived a couple of days later.

Luna arrives

Luna remembers our
apartment building

We had almost two days of warm beautiful weather when Kate's crew first arrived.

Kate and Luna at
Tour Saint Jacques

Luna out for a stroll

The cherry trees by the Petit Palais and the Eiffel Tower were blooming and gorgeous.

Kate at the Petit Palais

Cherry Trees on the Champ de Mars

Kate, Carter and Luna at the Tour Eiffel

Luna at the apartment

More Flowering Trees

Kriegers arrived on Wednesday along with the cold, rainy weather.

Kelly, me, Sande and Mike on Pont Alexandre III

Sande and Kate with view of
Pont Alexandre III

View of cranes working
on restoring Nôtre Dame

Thursday we went to the Marathon Expo to pick up the bibs for the guys and see what the vendors had for sale. Originally, Kelly, Mike and Carter were put in the 4 hours 15 minutes pen, which started the race at 10:30 am-after the elite runners would finish. Everyone was so kind at the expo and they were able to move up to the 3:45 group and start the race at 9:20 am--no questions asked.

Strolling through the Expo

Kate made a poster for our marathon support crew to use to cheer on the runners, complete with the Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe and French blue, white and red flag.

Kate's creativity at work

Bon Courage!

Kelly did find a cool Paris Marathon shirt. And the RATP that runs the Métro had helpful signs and maps so we could plan where to cheer the runners and how to get there.

Kelly's Paris Marathon Shirt

Ready to run

The métro maps showed the best métro stop at each kilometer of the race.

Mike, Carter and Kelly

Kilometer markers and métro lines

We made our plans to meet the runners at Hôtel de Ville at mile 3, Porte de Charenton at mile 12 near the Bois de Vincennes, and Mirabeau near the Eiffel Tower at mile 20. Carter's plan was to support Kelly to complete the marathon in about 4 or 4 1/2 hours. Kate's plan was to jump in at mile 12 with Mike and give him support until mile 20. Mike was having issues with low blood oxygen saturation so he decided to run at a slower pace so he was sure to finish.

Thursday night Sande and Mike treated us to a wonderful dinner at the new Café Lapérouse at the Hôtel de la Marine.

Café Lapérouse

Kate and Carter in the courtyard
of the Hôtel de la Marine

We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset as we walked home.

Sunset over Place de la Concorde

Saturday afternoon we were over at Trocadero for some classic Eiffel Tower pictures.

Kate, Carter, Sande and Mike

Kate and Carter

Kate and I also went to the Jardin des Plantes with Mike and Sande later in the week to see the blossoming cherry trees. They were stunning!

Sande and Kate
Jardin des Plantes

Mike and Sande

Kate and the amazing cherry tree

On the morning of the marathon, we sent the guys off to the Arc de Triomphe at 8:30 am to begin the race. Luckily, there was no rain and the temperature was in the 40s. Perfect marathon weather. Kate and I had breakfast with Sande and then took the métro to Hôtel de Ville.

Carter, Mike and Kelly all smiles marathon morning

Luna cheering on the runners

We were ready with our poster and some New York bagels for the guys at mile 3 at Hôtel de Ville. Some people were running in crazy costumes.

Looking for the runners to arrive

Sunflower costume

Kelly and Carter were the first of our runners to arrive at Hôtel de Ville. There was a group of drummers nearby cheering on the runners.

Kelly and Carter coming in strong

Tour St. Jacques in the background

Mike wasn't too far behind them. Mike was all smiles, too, enjoying the run.

Mike coming in strong

Stopping to chat with Sande

Next we were off to Porte de Charenton at mile 12 where the runners were coming out of the Bois de Vincennes. As we were walking up, we saw the Sapeurs-Pompiers (Firefighters) sitting on their truck's ladder, cheering on the runners. One of the firemen had a megaphone and would call to the runners, asking them to smile. They were having a good time.

Les Sapeurs-Pompiers

Kate readied herself to jump in and run with Mike and we waited for Kelly and Carter to come. The sunflower came running by again.

Sunflower

Sande cheering the runners

And then Kelly and Carter appeared.

Allez Kelly et Carter!

Kelly and Carter still smiling

Kate jumped in the race with Mike once he arrived. She planned to only go to mile 20 just before the Bois de Boulogne. But she was feeling strong and told us not to be surprised if she ran to the end.

Kate and Sande at mile 12

Running Giraffe

Kate took off with Mike and Sande and I returned to the apartment to let Luna out of her crate. I stayed home with Luna while Sande went to meet Kate and Mike at mile 20.

View towards Nôtre Dame

View of Conciergerie

Mike at Pont Neuf

Kate was a pro at running and taking pictures along the way! There were such great views of Paris landmarks.

Mike at the Tour Eiffel

Mike was still all smiles and Kate was feeling good, so after they met Sande at mile 20, Kate decided to continue to the end of the race and run Mike in.

Kate and Mike at the Tour Eiffel

In the meantime, Kelly and Carter finished in 4 hours 18 minutes, thanks to Carter's pacing and support of Kelly. Kelly and Carter were so happy with the outcome of the marathon. They returned very hungry and Carter devoured most of a baguette with the good salted French butter before dinner. It's a good thing I bought two baguettes!

Tired runners with their medals

Carter and Luna

What was left of Carter's baguette

We put our poster on the door to let the building know we had marathon runners in our apartment.

Kate and Mike finished their run in 5 hours 53 minutes. Mike was pleased to finish in less than 6 hours. Kate evaded the handlers pulling people without bibs out of the race before the finish line. She stayed in the middle where she was harder to reach, but was finally caught. She used her best French and told the guy she needed to stay with Mike to help him finish and he let her go. Sande was there waiting for them.