This is the story of how nine Aussie runners from Brian Schepisi’s Sporting Spirit squad in Melbourne, ably supported by a cheer squad of four, descended upon Paris to complete the 2005 Paris marathon.

We all arrived in Paris at different times but it was 5pm Thursday when we all met up for the first time at the marathon expo. The location was very much ‘outer suburban’ but not hard to find.

We managed to spend two and a half hours at the expo – the more experienced amongst us said that the New York expo was much bigger – but as running tragics we still had to gawk at every stall and accept every brochure inviting entry to the next big run in Paris. Bibs had to be picked up, souvenir T-shirts had to be purchased and sports drinks consumed. We found a friendly place for dinner afterwards, compared stories and then made our way home to bed.

Friday was the day that had us all wondering what we were doing in this god forsaken place. The weather man predicted 7 degrees- the rain and icy winds felt more like minus 7. Thoughts of Shackleton stranded in Antarctica dominated one’s thinking of Sunday morning. What if I catch hypothermia in one of the big parks we run through? And what if there is no croissant shop nearby for my last wish to be granted when that happens?

Saturday was a quiet day for most, sleeping in till late, carbo loading on more wonderful French food and even catching a movie...anything to avoid wearing out the legs. The rain had stopped – and the temperature risen by easily one if not two degrees.

Our hotel’s Italian restaurant was the venue for pasta loading by most of us that night. Some alcohol was consumed (coach are you listening?)- including by the one who ran a 30 minute PB the next day (coach, are you still listening?) .

Early to bed of course and then up for a comfortably timed start of 8:45am Sunday 10th April. The weather had finally turned favourable – it was a cloudy cool morning but really nothing different to what we face in Melbourne on a July long run. In short, perfect running conditions.

The start was just 200m down the Champ Elysees from the Arc De Triomphe. We turned up an hour early which proved to be totally unnecessary. There was plenty of room to accommodate the 34,000 starters and their cheer squads -and the hustle and bustle really didn’t start till 15 minutes before kick-off. The sight of much piddling into urinals which did not hide much and the image of clothing being discarded and thrown across the crowd towards the outer fringes will be with us for some time after the smell of the Voltaren has faded.

The starting gun was followed by Chariots of Fire playing as we shuffled towards the start line. Starting in the 3.15-3.30 grouping it only took me 2mins30 to get over the start line- and from there given how wide the road was it was straight into the ‘event’. Within a kilometre I had come across two Aussies- yes they were from Geelong, they lived in London and yes they were running the Paris marathon – but no they didn’t know there was a marathon in Melbourne! Further down the track there was one of those sights you will see anywhere in the world where 34,000 people gather- an athlete in a Collingwood jumper.

Compared to Australian marathons? Well let’s just say that in a big marathon you get carried along by the crowd. You are constantly alert to who’s in front of you – coz they are never far away. I was nearly tripped up three times – and quickly learnt that changing lanes at drink stations recalled everything I had ever learnt about hip and shoulder bumps. Its just a pity tackling is not allowed in competitive running! But if you have started in the correct time group, you do not have to do a lot of passing so you can move along pretty unhindered.

So it was down the north side of the Louvre and along a narrower road from the 2 to 10k mark as we headed out of town. There were thirty-plus bands along the route which were entertaining and inspirational. The dancing troupe in short skirts at the 40k mark was probably the highlight – even if most of them were men!

The course was very flat and did three sides of Bois de Vincennes- a rather large park (read: large toilet stop for most runners) - before turning back towards the city centre at the 17k mark. Drink stops provided bottled water, bananas and oranges. To skip forward briefly, there was also red wine and cheese provided at the 34 and 38k mark. The crowd started to impinge on the course a bit in places slowing down the pace a bit- but you just had to relax and go with the flow- not a lot of passing lanes with 68,000 running shoes hitting the pavements!

A bonus was a long downhill stretch (but I don’t remember the uphill!) before hitting the Seine river where we ran along the right (north) Bank from 24 to 32k. The Eiffel tower loomed large from 24k until we passed it at the 30k mark. One of our group proved how much he can get in the zone by proclaiming later that it would have been great if the course had gone by the tower! Well now we know how champions focus!

Our cheer squad was at the 30k mark and managed to see some of us amongst the crowd of runners. Their vantage point was conveniently only 10 minutes walk from both the start and finish.

And the highlight of the whole run? The tunnels! Unexpectedly to us Aussies every time we ran into one of the four tunnels along the route (one of which was 1k long and very, very dark) the runners broke into a series of chants along the lines of what you get at a European soccer match. Had no idea what they were chanting but found out later that it was” We’re not tired” - ah, a little bit of bullshit goes a long way!

From 34k it was past Roland Garros –famous venue for the French Open and then into the Bois de Boulogne-parkland where there were suddenly few spectators and many corners stretching and stretching until the 41.8k mark. It always gets hard at this stage but a few of us found it particularly tough to get through this bit. However as mentioned before- there was the dancing show boys at the 40k mark. Only at this stage did the crowd of runners start to thin out.

And then it was suddenly out of the park and onto the very, very wide – and very, very aptly named -Avenue Foch- for a crawl to the finish line. Has there ever been a better name for a street on which you finish a marathon? The Arc De Triomphe loomed in front of us as we ‘breasted the tape’. From there it was a long walk as we handed in our timing chips, received our orange ponchos, and then got loaded up with water, bananas and more oranges. One by one we made our way to the meeting point where, with great expectation, we heard each others stories of our 42.195km journey.

They ranged from back problems near the finish that nearly but didn’t destroy our fastest runner to a series of PB’s and an assortment of happy faces. Different perhaps to the way many approach a ‘home’ marathon, we were all just aiming to have an enjoyable run and make the most of what could well be a ‘once in a lifetime ‘ experience. Just to cross the finish line was fulfilment in itself.

So there we stood in our bright orange ponchos- mission accomplished and not a single disappointment to be had. All that was left was to celebrate!

The rest of Sunday was –surprise, surprise- quiet. But Monday morning we all met up for a one hour train trip out to Chartres for a day in the country. The group was jovial as the pressure was now gone- but a dark cloud did descend every time we had to go down any steps- Oh the pain! A tour of the cathedral- a walk around town and then our one French speaking member pulled off the coup of the day by stumbling upon the quaintest small town restaurant you could ever find.

Translations of the set menu were structured, red wine was ordered and we were into a very memorable three course celebratory lunch. Memorable for some more than others. The “veal’ dish on the menu actually turned out to not be veal but to be “calves livers” -and so half the group was left to reflect on how good their neighbour’s meal looked- and on how tasty the entrée had been. After all the diligent race preparation, it crossed no-one’s mind that the protein in the livers would have restored the body in no time.

So for those that want to run an offshore marathon what can we say? It is, to use the much hackneyed phrase, the experience of a lifetime. As for the Paris course, it was flat, well organized and more than anything, fun. I have never smiled and laughed so much in a marathon!

It was the kind of experience that will inspire us all to keep running for a long time yet so if you want to do an overseas marathon, plan ahead, save the pennies, and do the miles.

For some of us the next one will be Berlin 2006. For family minded runners it is in the September school holidays, for the results focussed its the fastest course in the world, for the event minded it has 36,000 participants, for the weather sensitive it has an average temperature of 18 degrees on race day and for those that want to enjoy a holiday afterwards, the Greek Islands are only two hours flying time away and have an average temperature of 27 degrees.

So see you on the track!