May Chan - 40 Before 40: Marathon No.24

8,500 Participants, 3,000 Volunteers & 100,000 Spectators!

The 'Marathon Du Medoc' was my 4th Marathon in 3 weeks, my 12th Marathon of the year, and my 24th Marathon to date (Second Wine Marathon)!

My MINNIE Mouse Outfit

I loved everything about this Marathon, because there was such a mix of people, runners come from all over the world and it's such a big party atmosphere. The Medoc this year was based around the theme 'History'. Over 90% of runners were dressed up in fancy dress.

I dressed in a 'Minnie' outfit. At first I was a little worried about having to run in my costume but surprisingly it wasn't as difficult as I'd thought. I eventually got used to the Minnie out-fit as I've been doing a fair bit of running in hot weather.

The TWO Minnie Mouse - Me and Mona (From Japan)

I was quite a celebrity in my Minnie outfit. So many people were asking if they could take a picture of me in my Minnie outfit... It was so COOL. There were a few Minnies on the course - I felt like shouting out 'Would the real Minnie mouse please stand up' and then challenge them to a wrestling match in the lake but thought this might not go down too well with the sophisticated French Organizers dressed in their period costumes.

Lincoln, Betty and Myself - Around 6.30am on Race day....

On the morning of Race Day I met a couple, Betty and Lincoln both from the United States. They just happened to be staying at the same hotel as myself and were also running in Micky and Minnie outfits. We were at first running together but we some how lost Lincoln after the first couple of miles. I carried on running with Betty until we got past the half way mark. I couldn't keep up with her. She was a wee bit fast for me.

One of the many Chateaux

This Marathon course is really quite amazing. Where else would you have the chance to run a Marathon course with over 50 Chateaux on route, not to mention the beautiful picturesque countryside.

Fig Biscuits

Oranges

Fresh Oysters

Bananas

Medoc Wine was served in both Plastic Cups and the proper Wine Glasses!

Water

Throughout the run I drank lots of Red Wine and Water as it was very hot day and was worried that I'd get dehydrated. I was sweating so much, I'm sure it had something to do with the Minnie Costume I was wearing, never knew mice could sweat so much! The sweat running down my forehead was making my eyes water and this was hampering my Run.

* Happy to report that on this run, I had NO blisters or leg pains or cats chasing me. This is another Run I enjoyed doing *

Lumps of Sugar

Chopped Beef Steak

Food was plentiful along the course. There were approx. 21 Food Stands which included, Ham, Cheese, Crsips, Fresh Oysters (With White Wine) which were laid out at 39 Km. Nearing the end they served small pieces of Chopped Beef Steak...

Me and Marathon and Ultra Runner friend Ken!

I was also delighted to meet my Just Running Friend 'Ken', who was on the same shuttle bus as me; going to the start on the morning of the Race. Can you believe it, this was his 55th marathon on Saturday!

Some Magnificent Vineyard Views from the town of Pauillac in the Medoc area of Bordeaux!

The Sun-Rise

Some Runners in the Lake

The weather was very, very HOT indeed (Approx. 34-35°C)... There were quite a few ambulances on the course on Saturday. I ran past a Japanese gent who didn't look too well and was being attended by crews, felt sad for him as he was so close to the FINISH!

Every Finisher received a large number of gifts; tee-shirt, medal, sports bag, bottle of Medoc wine, a Cup and many more..... Some lucky runners even got a ROSE!

Many runners took their trainers off and decided to swim in some of the lakes to help them cool down. Others drank and danced around with their drinks. it was such a merry atmosphere and even more hysterical because of the costumes.