Paris Marathon, 33rd Edition

While sitting on a rather long metro ride to get back to the hotel after the expo this evening, I was reading the small guide they printed with information about this year's marathon. In it was a page of statistics, some of which I found pretty interesting and thought I'd share with you.

• This year there are 37,000 runners registered, which is 2,000 more than last year. A whopping 82.5% of them are male, leaving only 17.5% women! I have no idea why that is; I think the distribution is much closer to even in the US, but here I think that percentage breakdown is about the norm. Perhaps European women just aren't into distance running as much as their American counterparts, but who knows for sure?!?
• Of this year's registrants, 69% are from France and 31% other countries.
• The country with the biggest representation besides France is the UK with 5,078 runners registered. Belgium is #4 with 716 and the US is right behind at #5 with 708. And in case you're wondering, Carl and I were classified based on our residence, so we're counted as representatives of Belgium. Allez, Belgique!! :-) **FOLLOW-UP: It turns out I was wrong on this point. Since we paid with a US account it turns out we were actually counted in the tally of Americans.
• When the first Paris marathon was run in 1977, there were just 87 finishers - last year there were 28,844!
• The fastest times ever run on this course were 2:06:33 for the men, 2:23:05 for the women. If all goes perfectly I hope to be able to reach the halfway mark around the time the male record holder crossed the finish line. Kind of puts that in perspective doesn't it?

As I write this I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel, because the wi-fi connection doesn't reach into the rooms. I've seen a number of runners pass through, either going for light jogs or carrying the little "goodie bags" they give out when you pick up your race bib and t-shirt. I struck up a conversation with one of them, a guy from Denmark named Claes, who extended us an invitation to stay with he and his family if we ever want to visit Copenhagen - seriously! Marathoners are a friendly bunch, and there's definitely a "fraternity" of sorts shared among those who have conquered this distance. If all goes well, tomorrow I'll join the "extra special" group of crazies who have willingly subjected themselves to this torture more than once!! Kidding of course. ;-)

Look for the post-race update tomorrow afternoon!