When was the first Paris marathon?
It is Sunday July 19, 1896 , it is rainy weather at Porte Maillot, there are crowds to see the first French marathon.
191 runners out of 282 entered for this foot race wear a sky blue and white armband in the colors of Greece where the first marathon of modern times took place a few months ago during the Olympic Games. The winner was the Greek Spiridon Louys, and the instigator of the establishment of this symbolic event for Paris which will then take place every year, will be Michel Bréal .
On the starting line, there will be some originals with garish clothing and bells on their backs, while others are armed with canes, while others will do it barefoot.
The first French marathon will start at 6:10 a.m., launched by Pierre Giffard, and will take place over 40 km from Paris to Conflans , organized by the little newspaper which will award a commemorative medal to all those who cover this distance in 4 hours or less.
Mathin will launch the first hostilities with a very fast train to Versailles where he will receive the control stamp without stopping, he will have covered 17,200 km in 1 hour 37 minutes.
The Briton Len Hurst will arrive in 2nd position, 200 m behind the leader, and Mège in 3rd position.
At the exit of Versailles Len Hurst took the lead and never lost it, supported by the company of 150 cyclists.
At Saint Germain (29.5 km in 1 h 49'05''), he took a squeezed orange and just before the Croix de Noailles a small glass of Champagne, thus not weighed down by other foods, he will cross after 2 h 31 and 30 hundredths of the race, the finish line drawn at the Conflans bridge to the cheers of 2000 spectators.
After quick hugs in the arms of his trainer Boon, Len Hurst will receive a 200 Francs fee from the " Petit Journal ", the issue of the newspaper Le Vélo sold for 5 cents.
The Frenchman Bragé will finish 6 minutes later, ahead of Chauvelot handicapped by blisters and dust.
Joe Hurst will finish in sixth place and the Frenchman Albert Ocrey, future medalist at the Saint-Louis Games, will appear in sixteenth place, ahead of the noble Mr. Pottemain de Laroque ranked twenty-first. Denis Terrier, who finished eighty-eighths, will close this historic event.
The Paris Marathon will return on September 18, 1976.
A tip for having your cell phone with you and your headphones in your ears comfortably when you're jogging:
https://mjcandco-shop.com/collections/velo/products/mode-brassard-autre?variant=42053021532405
