Thrilled at managing to finish in less than 4.5 hours -- given the heat, the hills (especially the killer 10% incline hill), and my many stops for photos or video -- very quickly I was yelling at people to get out of the way, as was obvious from the finish line photo.
It didn't help that the organization of the finishing area was really poorly done. They didn't have a sufficient amount of space to have people to continue to move (or shift to the side), pick up their medal and post-race food/drink.
As is typical, people go to the first person who is offering up whatever item, even though there are plenty of them around. You don't need to get the medal from the first person in front of you. Keep moving and you can get it from the fourth person who has no one around them looking to get a medal - and get it even faster. Same with the water. And with the food.
As with the beginning, there were no signs directing people to where the food was nor the left luggage. While I knew generally where I needed to go, there was no discerning any of the area given how dark it was, generally, and the enormous throng of non-participants waiting to meet up with their runner. And what they were telling us was confusing, given there were different fences -- which side should I have been on?
It took at least 20 minutes, I think to inch my way forward, through hundreds of other people to get where I needed to go. But on the way, there was only some water available. Where was the food? Where was my bag -- inside of which I had a bottle of water, a protein bar, and granola bar, just in case there was insufficient food after the finish.
I eventually made my way to the right location. There was PLENTY of food available -- lots of ugly fruit and various cakes. I didn't want apples, plums, or apricots, so only wound up getting some of the cakes.
And then I finally found the left luggage area. It was the same exact location as where we had left it, so I knew where we were. The problem being that the fencing didn't allow for me to move the way I wanted, and going back through the crowd I had just come through was NOT an option. So, I wound up meandering, finding a metro station -- but it was CLOSED. *sigh* Where's the next stop? ("le prochain arrete?") I was pointed down one street (where a few others were going) when I thought it should have been a separate one to the right. (Frankly, it should have been to the right. Where I was pointed to was also a closed line.) I kept walking for what felt like forever. (Probably 1 km - 1 mile) I finally ended up in the vicinity of 40km - where I had watched the men's Olympic marathon. Great -- I knew exactly where to go to get to the right line. *sigh* another line closed.
I asked an official if there were any metro lines open. Yes - but on the other side of the course, which still has plenty of runners. I made my way to the crosswalk, but there were two gendarmes who were controlling the flow of people being permitted to dash to the other side. It took about 20 - 30 minutes more to get across, to then walk to the Metro line.
At long last, I arrived back. I wound up beating Robert back, and had no idea how long it would be before he arrived. (There was only one key for the room, so I sent him a message letting him know that I was back, and that I would message him again after I got out of the shower. Lord knows, I didn't want him knocking loudly on the door at 3am, potentially waking up the people in the next room over.) He eventually made it back, having walked the entire way back on a different route than I had taken. He was certainly the one who was going to be hurting more in the morning, because his plan called for waking up early enough to see the women's marathon start, 5km, and then get to his seat in the grandstands for their finish. That meant he had precious little time to crash before having to get up. I never planned to watch the women's marathon because I knew I'd be too tired to try that - so I got up after he was already gone for the day to start my day up -- with a long day at Versailles.
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