Paris Half Marathon 2011

Half Marathon of Paris start (photo: semideparis.com)

This morning the annual Half Marathon of Paris took place in fanfare and sunshine, with temperatures running around 8-9 degrees celsius (48 f) which is chilly for a long-distance run the sun however was shining throughout the entire run, but not enough to fight the icy winds blowing in.

Starting in the Parc de Vincennes, running up to the Hotel de Ville and then back to the Parc de Vincennes this is one of those scenic runs that one does for the great view rather than to bust world records.

Paris marathon and semi-marathon isn’t the world record places (unlike Berlin, New York and others) due to the topology of the city which has quite some ups and down. And most runners know that this makes all the difference in the world.

But half-marathons are all the rage these days, with more and more participants. 2011 in Paris had over 22,000 registered participants which is quite good for a 21km run. Half-marathons are probably one of the best distances for runners as it doesn’t require the same training level as a marathon and because after a half-marathon you can still walk.

For the exact route of this year’s half-marathon see the image here. Maybe next time it’ll get even more scenic with a trip down the Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower and more.

The male winner this year was Stephen Kibet of Kenya who completed the run in 1:10:10, the female winner was Katie Good who completed in 1:23:46.

As I said no world records made, but 22,000 happy runners that made it to the finish line. Congratulations to them all!

If you want to follow updates on next year’s Paris Half-Marathon check their site here: http://www.semideparis.com/