3 Marathons to run at least once in France

Running a marathon, whether it's your first, second or tenth, remains a sporting challenge and a unique experience. It is also a rare and incomparable opportunity to discover a city. The city that hosts a Marathon is prepared for the event, the streets are reserved all along the course just for you and all the other participants. The city is celebrating. People are cheering you on. And even if the marathon remains a demanding race, running a marathon in a city is a unique opportunity to discover it. Images will remain etched in your memory, this city where you will run for 42 kilometers will reveal itself to you as the kilometers go by.

If you are looking for ideas for Marathons and cities to discover while running in France, here are three very different Marathons that are worth the trip as the Michelin guide would say. These are three very different Marathons in three different regions in France that will each offer you a unique experience.

The Paris Marathon

Noblesse oblige, the Paris Marathon is a must in France. Because it is Paris, the city of lights with its large avenues, majestic bridges and grandiose monuments. Of course, as with all large cities or capitals, we are a little excessive. The number of participants is counted in tens of thousands. During the last edition, there were more than 54,000 finishers. Fifty-four thousand, that's huge! It is a mega event with a high density of runners. It is not the fastest, but it is a truly unique course in the middle of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The start on the Champs-Élysées is memorable, just below the Arc de Triomphe. You absolutely have to think about turning around after one or two kilometers of running. You will find yourself in the middle of the Champs-Élysées and you will have in front of you and behind you a continuous stream of runners who fill this large and beautiful avenue from top to bottom. It is very impressive and this image will certainly remain etched in your memory. During the Paris Marathon, you will run along the Champs-Élysées, then you will cross the Place de la Bastille, pass near the Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame Cathedral, run along the banks of the Seine and all this, without crossing a single car. A real pleasure. On the second part of the race, when you will run again towards the west of the city after passing through the Parc de Vincennes and crossing the center of Paris, the Eiffel Tower will accompany you on your left for many kilometers. You will 'finally' arrive in the Bois de Boulogne. This is not the easiest part. You are approaching the 35th kilometer, it is difficult and the spectators are becoming rarer in the Bois de Boulogne. But a few kilometers later, you will finally come out of the Bois de Boulogne for the last kilometers. It is hard but the finish is close. One last turn on your right and here it is finally, this liberating finish line. You will cross it with great relief and great satisfaction. You will have become a marathon runner, perhaps for the first time and the great avenues of Paris will no longer hold any secrets for you.

The Lake Annecy Marathon

Change of scenery for this second marathon in our list of 3 Marathons to run at least once in France. We are heading to the Alps and the beautiful city of Annecy and its superb lake. The Lake Annecy Marathon is run along the banks of the lake. It is a round trip and you will run the whole time along one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Europe, on the way there on your left and on the way back on your right. Lake Annecy is an absolutely superb lake with transparent waters, winding contours in the middle of an alpine landscape of great beauty. It is not always easy to look up when running a Marathon, but if you do it from time to time, while you are between two grandiose and imposing massifs, you will see on the way out on your right the Semnoz massif and later on your left on the second half of the lake the Tournette massif as you approach Doussard at the bottom of the lake where you will make your U-turn.

A round trip route is also a unique opportunity to meet the first runners as they speed towards the finish. I remember seeing the first runner straight, light, fast, giving off an impression of both speed and incredible ease. Of course, as the kilometers go by, fatigue sets in, the return to Annecy becomes more difficult. I remember having the impression that the further I advanced towards Annecy, the more the city seemed to recede as if it became impossible to return. Once past this somewhat difficult moment when lucidity begins to fail a little, the city of Annecy still ends up getting closer and you will return to the starting point to complete a Marathon in a unique alpine landscape on the banks of a majestic lake.

The Alpes-Maritimes Marathon Nice – Cannes

Now imagine a Marathon that starts on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, runs along the Mediterranean coast and finishes on the Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes. Incredible, right?

Unbelievable and yet this Marathon exists. It is the Nice-Cannes Alpes-Maritimes Marathon. The course is unforgettable. The views throughout the Marathon are absolutely splendid. First, along the Promenade des Anglais with on the left the superb bay opposite Nice and if you take the time to turn around, you will also see the mountains of the Nice hinterland, perhaps with peaks already covered in snow (this Marathon is run at the beginning of November). All along the course, even if you are running a Marathon, which is never easy, you will almost feel like you are on vacation. You will run along the Mediterranean and enjoy all the beauty of the Côte d'Azur passing through legendary cities of the French Riviera such as Cagnes-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Golfe-Juan to finally arrive like a star on the Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes.

A very nice Marathon to run at the end of the season to end your running year in the best possible way.

Paris, Annecy, Nice: three very beautiful Marathons in France that we recommend to you to discover three unique routes with a great diversity that will take you from the great avenues of the capital to the banks of Lake Annecy, then to the roads along the Côte d'Azur between Nice and Cannes. Quite a program!