It was 9am and Dennis and I our race after having waited for close to two hours in the cold morning of Paris. It was Dennis’ first full marathon so as soon as we started, I told Dennis, “do your own race, don’t run with me.” Since we were aiming for different times and would be running at different pace, so I didn’t want to slow him down.

Ten kilometers in and I still see a bit of Dennis’ back, so I knew that either I was running too fast or he was going slower than his usual pace – this wasn’t a good sign. But gladly, I didn’t see him afterwards, which was a good sign because this means he was running at his usual pace.

The streets of Paris were fun. It was lively at most points with people cheering “Allez allez” or “Vamos vamos”, playing live music, and DJing. The weather was a bit colder than what I’m used to for running, but it was a perfect day for running a marathon.

I kept running, smiling, and enjoying myself, the crowd and all the sightseeing. I saw my friend Melissa, who travelled from New York to Paris to hangout and cheer me during the marathon, at mile 2.4 and her again with Anna at mile 18. What a beautiful feeling it’s to see familiar faces around the course. It definitely helped me keep going, so thanks for flying all the way and going to different points of the route to cheer!