Marathon Du Medoc Race Review: The Worlds Booziest Marathon

My last night in Paris; I anxiously packed all my bags and jumped into bed. I had been travelling solo for five days now, and being my first time travelling overseas, it had been such a thrill navigating my way through foreign countries some 17,000 km from home. Yet an even bigger challenge lay ahead… I was about to run my very first full marathon, the Marathon Du Medoc.

The Journey to Bordeaux

The alarm went off the next morning, and I sprung out of bed, got dressed, swung my 30 kg pack on my back (yes, rookie mistake, packed way too much) and hiked it to the Gare Du Nord train station to catch the Eurostar to Bordeaux. The Eurostar was comfortable and super fast. I gazed out the window in wonder, watching the changing landscapes and architecture as we sped closer to the south of France. I arrived at Bordeaux station three hours later and, utilising some dodgy French, managed to hail a cab and arrive safely at the gorgeous Hotel Continental. I checked in, met my roommate Bronwyn, who was also running the Marathon Du Medoc, and inspected the room. Stepping out onto the balcony to take in the view, I immediately fell in love with Bordeaux. What a beautifully charming city. The elegant Hotel Continental is an 18th-century townhouse set in Bordeaux’s Golden Triangle, just a short stroll from Opéra National de Bordeaux and Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux. It was a very welcome change from the backpacker-style accommodation I had become accustomed to.

The Night Before the Race

Both exhausted from our travels, Bronwyn and I had a quick “power nap” before heading out to meet the rest of the Travelling Fit crew for a marathon eve “Pasta Party”. In true French style, the drinking starts the night before the race at various “Pasta Parties” hosted throughout Bordeaux. We joined the Travelling Fit crew for dinner by the river and fuelled our bodies with French pizza, pasta, and copious amounts of magnificent red wine. A late night with an exuberant amount of wine is not the usual plan on race eve, but, when in France?

How it works

Running any marathon for the first time is a great life experience, but the Marathon Du Medoc, with its 42.2 km course through some of the world’s most famous vineyards, including the infamous Château Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, France, made this a truly unforgettable experience. Not to mention, it’s the craziest marathon on earth! Rather than the usual water stops, there are over 23 wine stations hosted by different châteaus, and there is even compulsory fancy dress! That’s right, a marathon that requires you to wear fancy dress (it’s Medoc law) and drink copious amounts of wine en route while tasting French delicacies, including steak, croissants, oysters, and ice cream! I almost couldn’t sleep; I was so excited! I laid my race kit out, tiara, sparkles and all, and finally jumped into bed sometime after 1:30 AM.

An Atmosphere unlike anything I’ve experienced

The morning of the race, we got into Pauillac around 8:30 AM, making our way to the race line for a 9:30 AM start. Standing at the start zone with the Travelling Fit crew, the atmosphere was unlike any other event I had ever experienced, with over 8,000 people, all of whom were in fancy dress (the theme this year was “dress to the nines”), including a great number of men dressed in fishnets, ha! I heard a mixture of French, German, Japanese, and American accents flowing around me, but no matter what language you spoke, everyone shared the same universal silly grin.

Difficult to put into words…

As I sit down and recall the event, I find it hard to put it all in words because the experience of my trip and running my first marathon feels so surreal. The range of emotions I experienced was so deep and vast; however, I will try my best. Here I was, in Bordeaux, France, on the other side of the world, lining up to run my very first marathon. I had never run a full marathon distance before; 35 km had been my longest run. I don’t know if it was the jet lag, my slight hangover, or just the fact that I was so absorbed in the energy and craziness of the crowd, but I somehow forgot the massive task ahead of me, feeling pure energy and excitement as I watched people around me laughing, cheering, and singing.

The entertainment at the start line was mesmerising—a giant silver ball suspended over the start line dangling acrobats on aerial silks twirling above the crowd to the tunes of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good”, which crooned through the massive sound system. An MC then came on speaking French. I couldn’t fully understand what he was saying, but recognising some numbers “trois, deux, un” and as quickly as I made the connection that it was a countdown, a large horn sounded, and we were off.

And We’re Off!

The start was slow going and a little congested for the first couple of kilometres, but that was okay. This marathon isn’t about getting a good time; it’s about having a good time, and I wanted the “full Medoc experience”. The official cut-off time is 6 hours 30 minutes (if you don’t make the cut-off, you don’t get a medal – eek!), having been informed by Medoc veterans since arriving: “The ideal finish time for those who are serious about the event is 6:29:59! No sooner” (You have a lot of wine to drink, after all).

We ran through the gorgeous vineyards of Bordeaux, arriving at the breakfast stop around the 2 km mark, where tables of mini croissants, waffles, chocolate pastries, and fruit awaited us. I had originally planned to use my gels (because that is what I had trained with), but, in the spirit of the Marathon Du Medoc “The Wine Marathon”, I threw them away, embracing the whole uniquely crazy experience by grabbing a mini croissant, a bite of a waffle, and ran on. Oh my, those waffles were something special!

Mixing Wine & Running

Another 5 minutes in, I came across the first ‘official degustation’ at the Chateau-Lafite Rothschild (we had already stopped at an “unofficial wine stop” previously, so the “23 stops” actually ended up being around 30 by the end of the marathon with all the unofficial stops included). The Chateau-Lafite Rothschild was the Chateau I was looking forward to the most! I took my glass of wine, gave it a swirl, positioned it under my nose, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, inhaling the aromas, picking up notes of coffee, spice, and cedar, then held my glass up to the light, marvelling at the beautiful deep ruby/purplish colour. I watched the other runners downing their wine, some devouring two glasses before speeding off. Nervously, I followed suit, took a swig, savouring the silky smooth elegance of what I guessed to be a Cab Sauvignon blend, and before the wine had even had time to hit my belly, I was on the road again. Funnily enough, the band kicked into the last chorus of “Back on the Road Again” as I took off. Smiling at the serendipity of the moment, I joined in on the chorus, singing as I ran on.

Unexpected Challenges

In all my nervous haste, I hadn’t noted the name of the wine I tasted. NO!!!!! Oh well, it would remain a tantalising mystery to which the name does not really matter, as in the words of Maréchal de Richelieu, “I have discovered the wine of Château Lafite to be a delicious, generous cordial, comparable to the ambrosia of the Gods of Olympus” (1755).

I arrived at the 5 km marker feeling good, knocked back another wine, and ran on. The wine stations came thick and fast for the first 10 km. It was really quite a surreal experience drinking wine whilst running what was technically a marathon. Then all of a sudden… it hit me! I needed to pee, but wait. I hadn’t seen any toilets yet! Oh no! What if there are no toilets??? How can they have no toilets!!?? I looked around in a panic, scanning the rolling hills and vineyards for a portaloo, and then it dawned on me… Ohhhhhhh that’s why everyone is sneaking off into the vineyards. Just as I was about to admit defeat and go “al a natural”, I found a port-a-loo. Phew. I jumped in the queue, but the line was so LOOOOONG. I would find out later on that it was indeed the ONLY solitary toilet on the whole course. I waited in line for 15 minutes and thought to myself I was missing out on valuable wine-tasting time and worried about the cut-off time, so aborted the lineup and snuck off into the fields (but shhh, let’s just keep this our little secret).

Feeling relieved and a little amused, I ran back on course, having a little giggle to myself, realising I was a tad drunk by the time the rain hit, and it was coming down hard! The temperature was around 25°C, the humidity was thick, and I was drenched in sweat. I welcomed the rain as it brought with it cooler temps and washed away the caked-on salt. My smile turned into a slight frown of concern as I pondered the fact that this was a marathon and I still had a heck of a long way to go!

My soaking wet shoes squelched as I ran through the winding gravel path, over cobblestones, and through mini creek crossings and washed-out roads. My ankles felt quite tender as I had only ever run road races and trained on road or flat gravel, so my body wasn’t accustomed to the uneven terrain.

Around the halfway mark, the wine sloshed around in my tummy, making me feel a little queasy. This was the long stretch of road in the middle of the course with no wine stops. Medic vans screamed by us on the way to rescue runners who were not faring so well. I was lucky enough to have Erin, a girl from the Travelling Fit crew, running beside me at this point. Some friendly banter helped me shake off the queasiness, just in time as we entered the second half, which greeted us with more châteaus, delicious red wine, and entertainment! The rain was still coming down hard, so we decided to grab some shelter at the next chateau. Spotting another member of the Travelling Fit crew with the same idea, we joined her, chatting excitedly about our adventures while taking in the atmosphere, watching the band, and enjoying a couple of extra cheeky reds.

Vibrant Landscapes and Unexpected Sights

After the skies cleared, the colours of the landscape seemed even more vibrant than before. The sunlight danced off the glistening green leaves and deep purple velvety grapes. Running through these gorgeous vineyards and enchanting little medieval villages gave me the sense of being suddenly transported into a romantic French impressionist painting or the pages of an eloquent old-world Wordsworth poem. It was just one of those moments you know will stay etched in your memory forever. I took in a deep breath, absorbing this glorious moment, feeling utterly blessed! The romance of that moment was abruptly interrupted as we ran up behind a guy running in a G-string. My attention then fell to his almost mesmerizing hairy butt cheeks bouncing up and down, and all I could think was, gosh, that is going to be some uncomfortable chafing. We overtook the cheeky Frenchman with a smile and ran on.

Pushing Through Fatigue

More stops followed, at km 18 and 20. I started drinking water with my wine but was also mindful of the lack of toilets on the course! As we came up to km 30, fatigue began to creep in as the gravity of running a marathon fuelled by wine and cheese hit me. By the time I’d ‘hit the wall,’ I was nursing a hangover, suffering a severe carbohydrate deficit, and fending off dehydration. My quads and glutes felt like a tightly stretched rope that was about to snap at any minute.

But with a band playing at every turn, great support, huge smiles from the crowds, high fives and sassy comments from fellow runners, and the gorgeous scenery including enchanting châteaus that looked like castles from a fairy-tale book, I easily found that little bit of extra inspiration I needed to carry on. “Just one foot in front of the other, keep going, don’t stop, can you believe it… you’re running in France, this is amazing! You can do it!” I chanted to myself.

Reaching The Finish Line

I made it!! It’s impressive to survive running a marathon whilst sampling wines from some 23 châteaus, plus the unofficial wine stops, but to have been able to experience all that and still make the cut-off time was an amazing feeling! This was my first marathon, and it was perfectly on time, Marathon Du Medoc time that is! The veterans would be so proud!

It had been a long day. I could no longer feel my legs and was unsure if they would ever work properly again. Yet, undeniably, I’ve managed to have one of the most bizarre and brilliant experiences of my life on this glorious day of Sunday, the 12th of September, 2015, in Bordeaux, France. The day I became a marathoner.

I hit the 36 km mark and threw my arms up in celebration—well, in reality, it was actually more like a limp flailing of the arms. This was my new distance PB! After struggling up a huge hill shortly after, Erin and I managed to get into a decent rhythm for the last couple of kilometres, crossing the finish line together in 6:29:16. We couldn’t have timed it better! We were presented with a medal in the shape of a bow tie—cute! A splendid commemorative satchel, a souvenir bottle of wine, and pièce de résistance—a wine cup with a holder that goes around your neck (that one has come in very handy!)

Reflecting on the Experience

Breaking All the Rules

So, for my first-ever marathon, I broke all the rules… Stay hydrated, avoid alcohol, get a good night’s sleep, eat a balanced breakfast, and make sure you’ve trained in your race kit. Pretty simple, right? Not when you are running the world’s craziest marathon! And to be honest, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

It was then back on the bus to celebrate with, you guessed it, more wine! We had a glorious night out in charming Bordeaux, sharing food, wine, stories, and laughs. We must have been running on pure excitement because, to my surprise, we didn’t get to bed till 2 AM that morning. What a day!