My Most Memorable Run

I’m sure we’ve all got them. That one run that will remain in our memories for ever. A special run, a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, or an achievement that gave you that extra piece of satisfaction.

It could have been achieving that illusive time for 10k or the day you set your P.B for a half-marathon. It may have been the place, it may have been the occasion, and, possibly, it was the company. It may have been a race, perhaps a particular training run. Perhaps, like me, it was an early morning run whilst on holiday.

I thought it might be a good idea to share these moments with each other. I also thought that Wesham’s excellent magazine would be the perfect vehicle for doing so.

So here goes. I’ll see if I can set the ball rolling.

March 2001, 6.30am, Paris.

It was one of those beautiful, crisp, clear, spring mornings. We were in Paris on a short break to celebrate my wife Chris’ 50^th birthday. I thought, I’d get my run in early whilst Chris is still asleep and before the streets become the seething mass of traffic for which all big cities are known. I had not planned a route. I would just see where the mood and the road took me.

I’d better mention that one of my other interests besides running, is history. I didn’t realise it as I set off, but this was to become a celebration of both for me. I left the hotel. The streets were almost deserted and, within half a mile, I was in running heaven. You all know the feeling, the yards and miles, or should I say metres and kilometres, seem to float by and the whole thing seems effortless. This was going to be an enjoyable run wherever I went or how far I went and this is where Paris and its history took over.

After about a mile, I found myself at Les Invalides. Founded in the late seventeenth century by the Sun King, Louis XIV, as a home for retired soldiers, but certainly more famous as the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte. Final resting place is an apt description here as it was fully forty years after his death on St Helena in 1821 that his coffin was placed under a specially constructed dome at Les Invalides.

From Les Invalides I headed down to the River Seine and turned left heading towards Notre Dame. I ran past the Musee d’Orsay, once a railway station but now one of Paris’ major museums, housing many of the world’s most famous impressionist paintings. We wanted to see what the museum had to offer later that day. However, thanks to a classic piece of bad timing, we chose a day when the city’s museum staff were on strike. A strike, in France? Unheard of, surely? Still it left us with a good excuse for revisiting this wonderful city.

Over the river now, by way of one of Paris’ famous bridges, the four hundred year old Pont Neuf with its 384 ‘grotesques’ (bizarre sculptured faces on the cornices of the bridge). No time to count them as I headed towards the Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo amongst many more famous works of art. Better luck here as, when we arrived the next day, the strike was over and we could actually get inside. We didn’t need a code either!

Leaving the Louvre behind I ran through the Tuileries Gardens, all that remains of the royal residence built for Catherine de Medici in 1564 and royal prison for Louis XVI and his family during part of the French Revolution.

Next came La Place de la Concorde, once known as La Place de la Revolution. Here it was that 2800 people, including Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Robespierre and Danton made their acquaintance with Madame Guillotine between 1793 and 1795 during the Reign of Terror. I may have picked up a bit of speed through here!

Having survived the run so far in one piece, I ran up one of the world’s best known streets, sorry, boulevards, the Champs-Elyees, towards the Arc de Triomphe, the famous monument built to the glory of the French Army and inaugurated in 1836. Later in the day I revisited it and saw it in its other role as a roundabout and monument to French driving technique.

From here I headed back down to the river past the Trocadero Palace and over the Pont d’Lena. Another of those famous bridges, this one built by order of Napoleon to commemorate his victory there against the Prussians in 1806. Crossing the Pont d’Lena brings you to what must be Paris’ best-known landmark, the Eiffel Tower. Here we have another excuse to revisit the City, as they would only let us climb to the second level due to the wind. Call that a wind? They had obviously never run along Fleetwood Prom in February!

From here a gentle jog along the Champs de Mars towards the Military School Palace and back to the hotel. I can’t remember how long it took, it doesn’t matter. I do, however, remember thinking it must have been about 10k. Surely you can’t pack any more history and culture into a 10k than that?

An hour later of course and I could not have done this. The streets would have been crowded with traffic. Worth getting up for? A good run? More than that.

C’etait magnifique.

I hope you found this article of some interest. Whether you share my love of history or not, I do know you share my love of running. Why not share your most memorable run with the rest of us. I know you must have one and I’m sure people would like to hear it, I certainly would.

Written by: Dave Young

Submitted: 1 May 2006

Edited by Brenda J Earnshaw WRr Website/Magazine Editor