10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About Les Foulées d'Orléans Half Marathon

1. Old Orléans

I think that the best way of finding races abroad is to find the race after you’ve booked the trip. We were going to Paris for the weekend but there were no races on in Paris which was terrible so I looked a bit outside Paris and found a race in Orléans that looked nice. They even had a 10k and a 5k on before the half marathon so Rhona could do a race too.

2. Electric Car

I think that Michael Herlihy is right about Electric cars. They are great. No one wants to drive one so the rental car companies will give them to you for next to nothing. Fortunately, Orléans is very close to Paris so I didn’t have to risk charging it so it was like having a proper car like a Volkswagen Scirocco just that it didn’t make any noise.

3. Two Minute Warm Up

I think that this might have been my shortest warm up for a race. The parking for the race was very convenient right by the Cathedral only 100m from the start in a big underground car park. There was even a toilet in the car park. Unfortunately, I missed the turn off for Orléans because I was too relaxed in the silent electric car so we were slightly late for the 10k that Rhona had planned to do. I ran up to the registration and switched her to the 5k using my excellent French. There were 30 minutes between the end of the 5k and the start of the half but by the time I had installed magic shoes everyone had lined up for the half so skipped the warmup and negotiated my way to the front.

4. Streets of Orléans

I think that the opening loop of the town was lovely. I asked one of the guys on the start line where the course went. He told me that we did a warmup lap of the town before heading out to the river. It was a lovely lap of the cobbled streets, sort of like the races in Spain but in France. The only blight on the course was a Starbucks café at a sharp right-hand corner, other than that it looked like it would have looked in the 1800s.

5. Banks of the Lovely Loire

I think that the race route was wonderful. After the lap of the old town we ran over a bridge to the otherside of the Loire and did a little loop that made up the 5k before heading out on a Paris Roubaix style path along the banks of the Loire. We exited the Paris Roubaix section by turning right onto a bigger bridge. We then turned right again off the big bridge heading back to the town centre on a slightly downhill cycle path. It was lovely and sunny with enough heat to make the locals head for the shade where possible.

6. Out of Sight

I think that the local Ryan Creech must be very good. After 100m it was clear that I wasn’t going to win as the local Ryan Creech had already checked out. He was so much better than us that they put a second motorbike in front of our group. For a moment I thought that he might have pulled out and that we were in the lead but I could hear the friends of the people I was running with saying that we were the deuxième.

7. The Battle for Second

I think that I did very well in the battle for second. There were two other runners in the group. They both looked like they were far better than me and had friends on the course handing them those flexible flasks that mountain runners use. We had to do two laps of the course to make up the half marathon. It was great to do two laps as I got to see the finishing straight twice. It was as good a finish as you can get finishing right in front of the huge cathedral which is possibly the most impressive cathedral that I have ever seen.

8. Paris - Orléans

I think that my tactics for the race worked perfectly. My group stayed together until the final Paris Roubaix section at 10 miles where I made my move, well in my head it was a move. Imagining myself like a Tom Boonen or Mathieu Van Der Poel I dropped the group and got a slight gap before we turned off onto the bridge and back onto the downhill cycle path to the finish. I had a motorbike in front of me clearing the way. A motorbike in front is great motivation to keep going.

9. Joan of Arc

I think that the finish of the race was very nice. I wish I had of been more confident of my second position as I had to work very hard for the last uphill mile. It would have been nice to have enjoyed seeing the big statue of Joan of Arc before turning into the home straight up to the Cathedral. Instead, I sprinted as hard as I could when I saw the Cathedral as I was sure there was someone right behind me which there wasn’t due to my devastating attack in the last secteur.

10. L'opportunité C'est Enorme

I think that I will have to go back and learn more French. After the race the monsieur with the mic came over and asked me for an interview in French. I gave a full Ronan O’Gara style interview where I probably insulted the whole town by calling the Cathedral an Église. I didn’t understand the questions he was asking me so I reverted to the french leaving cert oral tactics of saying the sentences I knew about running a race. Then I went on the podium and got half a meter of local chocolate and €75, what more could you want.

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