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Published: September 10th 2018
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Run, wine repeat
A few years back while on an amazing cycle tour with Tom, Rolande, Don and Debbie we had lunch in lovely park in Pauillac France. Our guide, Jean Phillipe told us about the world famous marathon that takes place here every September. A unique and fun marathon that’s course not only takes you through some of the most beautiful and famous wineries in the world - but also gives you samples of their wines many being Grande Cru status. Where do I sign up I wondered... and how many people can I convince to join me ?.
As usual I would have to wait for the right time to plant the seeds that a holiday that included a marathon (to my mostly non running friends) was a great way to vacation. Oh and maybe add in a 6 day cycle trip as well... this would not be an easy sell and would require starting with subtle mentions and then a hard sell mixed in with a a bit of wine and timing.
Debbie and Don would perhaps be the easiest as they were already aware of what an amazing place France is, and how incredible
Yumi and Jean Phillipe’s trips were. The marathon would be the tough sell for sure. Maybe I would gloss over that detail to start with.
A group of us regularly meet for Saturday night suppers and it was at one of these dinners that I tossed out the idea of a trip to France. That was the easy part, now to get everyone on board for a marathon followed by cycling. More wine was the key to that and by the end of the evening everyone was on board. Well maybe some of the details were foggy but I started the communication process with Velotopo. This was mid August 2017.
Fast forward to Sept 8 2018. 8 of us brave souls plus Yumi and Eloy, our guides, lined up at the start line. I wasn’t feeling overly popular for getting everyone into this situation. We were all a bit nervous/excited to get started. Did I mention it was a Costume Marathon? We all had some variation of the Amusement Park theme ! - and toed the line in our spangles and tutus etc , eager and anxious, keeping in mind medals were only given if you completed in
6.5 hours.
We had a plan to stick together for the first bit. However we did not realize that 8500 people, with every imaginable costume plus some pushing floats , would impede the ability to stick together. Within 100 meters we could not see Shelley and O Brian. ?. We tried for a bit to reconnect but could see it would be impossible to find them in the crush of the crowd. Then Kevin and I got separated from Dan and Marj and from each other. This continued until 12k when we separated for the rest of the run.
We also had a plan not to drink until after the 1/2 way mark. (I did mention this was a Wine Marathon, didn’t I ?? ). Well at the 2k aide station all I could find was wine.... so what was a girl to do? Kevin and Yumi and Eloy were all on the same page - we needed our liquids didn’t we? turns out wine is a great carbohydrate to fuel with. Also turns out that when you run and drink wine it’s hard not to spill it all over your shirt ?♀️. Also managed to get chocolate
from my chocolate croissant all over me.
The first 10k was exhilarating and wine fueled. The sun was out now and it was getting HOT. Some of the wineries had people hosing the runners off and one beautiful winery had people skinny dipping in the pond ?. The second 10 we were starting to realize that a wine marathon is still 42.2k. We had spend so much time at this point trying to find each other (and sampling wine) that the heat of the day was on us.
The views and wine were amazing. We went though La Tour and Rothchilds to name a few of the more famous ones. As we went on my stomach started to rebel. In a big way. Umm. There is a lot of food, wine and water. No toilets. The men were using the vineyards ?. Around about 30k the need was so great that Kevin was asking/begging spectators for toilets. Finally a lone tree. I will apologize now to all of France for what happened there ?. This is where we lost Yumi ?.
The last few stops had oysters on the half shell, slivered steak, and the last one
was ice cream. I will admit now that I stuck my hand into the filleted beef and ate it like a savage. At this point the temp was in the mid 30’s and we were at a steady walk. After all - the whole point was to enjoy it and finish before 6:30.
As with all things in France the time and the distance is subjective. The marathon was actually 43k and the extended the cut off to 7 hours. Kevin and I crossed the line at 6:12 Yumi was 6:21. Debbie and Don and O Brian were cheering us in. That meant they got a ride to the finish. ?. Turned out that Don had terrible leg cramps right from the start and they had to quit at 16k. O Brian pulled a muscle and made it to the 25k but had to walk 5k back. So in the end he did 30k. Eloy re-injured his foot and had to quit at 32k.
Shelley soldiered on alone and managed to catch up to Dan and Marj at the 32k mark!! Amazing!! They keep on trucking together amid all the offers for rides to the finish line! And
finished upright and smiling. First marathon in the books even though there was no wine or medal they had great attitudes and accomplished a major distance in the blistering heat. Hats off the all of them. ???
At the end of the day many milestones were completed and everyone was still speaking to me! The Marathon Du Medoc www.velotopo.com
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