the 46e edition of the Paris Marathon will be held on Sunday April 2. 52,000 runners are expected for the second biggest race of this type in the world.
By Théo Sauvignet
© SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
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Ghe annual meeting of French and international runners, the Paris Marathon will hold its 2023 edition on Sunday April 2 in the capital. The organizer (ASO, Amaury sport organisation) has confirmed that, despite the social unrest of recent weeks, the race will indeed take place under the conditions initially planned.
More than 52,000 participants are expected for this gathering, which is the second largest in the world, behind that of New York. Riders from 144 different countries will be present, including champions of the discipline, such as the Ethiopian Guye Adola or the Kenyan Elisha Rotich.
The course
This year, the route changes slightly: after a start on the Champs-Élysées, a lap in the Bois de Vincennes, the descent from the right bank quays to the Bois de Boulogne, the runners will return to Paris intra-muros earlier than when from previous editions. They will leave the Bois de Boulogne at 38e kilometer to pass under the buildings of 16e arrondissement. During the 42.195 km of the race, the marathon runners will pass in front of ten emblematic monuments of the capital before finishing avenue Foch, near the Arc de Triomphe.
The profile of the race shows a total elevation gain of 269 meters with two main climbs, between the 15e et 18e kilometers, and before the 40e kilometer. The start is scheduled for 7:55 a.m. for the disabled wheelchair competitors, 7:59 a.m. for the women’s elite race and 8:15 a.m. for the men’s elite race. The rest of the runners will leave in waves from 8:15 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
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The participants
Among the tens of thousands of marathon runners who will find themselves on the starting line, the profiles range from professional runners who have come to try to beat a record to amateur runners who have come to take up the challenge. While almost half are running the marathon for the first time, as every year according to ASO figures, statistics from previous years show that almost 98% of them will reach the finish line.
Some trends remain – three-quarters of registrants are still men – others are emerging: there are more and more young people running the Paris Marathon. The average age, which used to be above 40, is 39 this year and 18-24 year olds have almost doubled their quota over the past two years to fluctuate between 8 and 9%. The 35-49 remain the most represented, with 40% of runners (about 45% in 2019 and 2021). Nearly half of the registrants are Parisians, a relatively stable albeit declining figure, and a third of the registrants are foreigners.
the memories
The Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris record is 2 hours and 4 minutes for men, set by Kenyan Elisha Rotich in 2021. Last year, Frenchman Morhad Amdouni set a new French record in 2 hours and 5 minutes , twenty years after the previous one. On the French men’s side, we will also find runners Mehdi Frère, Michael Gras and Yoann Kowal. For women, the time to beat is 2 hours 19 minutes and 48 seconds, run by Kenyan Judith Jeptum in 2022.
Disabled sports
The organization wishes to highlight its disabled sports platform which welcomes practitioners in wheelchairs, visually impaired, cerebral motor disabilities or amputees. For wheelchair participants, Frenchman Julien Casoli, five-time winner and record holder, will notably oppose Frenchman Pierre Fairbank, bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games. For those running standing, Frenchman Nicolas Bompard (winner 2022) , Djamel Mastouri and Vincent Delion will face each other in times of less than two hours. Among the women, Rosario Murcia-Gangloff is the favourite.
The Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris has welcomed disabled athletes for nearly twenty-five years and will support the French Championship for the third year in a row.