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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Paris 2024: How to take part in the ‘marathon under the stars’ on Olympic route

Those interested in following in the footsteps of top athletes running in the Paris 2024 Olympics can now register for the 'Marathon pour tous' which will take place under the stars in the city of light next summer.

Published: 21 April 2023 14:35 CEST
Paris 2024: How to take part in the 'marathon under the stars' on Olympic route
Runners compete during the 46th edition of the Paris Marathon (Photo by Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AFP)

For the first time in history, the general public will be able to participate in a running event organised by the Olympic Games. 

The Marathon pour tous (Marathon for all) will follow the same route as the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon, allowing more than 20,000 people to run the route under the stars – the marathon will start at 9pm on August 10th, 2024.

The path will take you through the heart of the city, following the Seine river out toward the Versailles Palace, passing along several historic landmarks on the way. 

The route itself has historic significance – as it pays tribute to the “Women’s March on Versailles”, a key moment from the start of the French revolution when thousands of women marched to the Versailles palace to force the king to finally see the reality of the streets of Paris, where many faced starvation. Historians consider this moment to have been integral in pushing the king to finally sign the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens”.

You can see the route below:

To participate in the marathon, you must be at least 20 years old by December 31, 2024. It will start at the Hôtel de Ville and finish on the Esplanade des Invalides, with a total of 20,024 places available.

If you are less interested in running 42km, there will also be a shorter 10km race as well. This will begin at 11:30pm, staying within central Paris and passing by monuments like the Eiffel Tower.

The 10km route will also be accessible to anyone with a disability, including those running with a guide or participating in either a wheelchair or all-terrain chair.

Participants for the 10km event will need to be at least 16 years old before December 31st, 2024.

How do I sign up?

This is where it gets complicated – you have to enter for a chance to win a slot to participate, and the more exercise you do over the next year, the better your chance will be.

First, you have to sign up for the “Club Paris 2024” – HERE. Once you have done that, you can earn points in order to enter in the draw for a place in either the Marathon or the 10km event.

The goal is to earn at least 100,000 points before 2024. You can earn points by connecting to the “Marathon pour tous” app and tracking any walking, running or bike riding you do. 

 

You can also connect the app with other tracking apps you use regularly, such as Fitbit or Nike+.

 

 

The app is available for iPhone and android, but some users have reported issues accessing the app with an iPhone.

Playing interactive games and quizzes on the “Club Paris 2024” website can also earn you points. 

Will there be fan zones along the route?

For those who either did not earn a spot, or who are not interested in running, you can still attend and cheer the athletes on. There will be several locations along the route for members of the public.

And if you are not interested in joining the competition, you can try following the course’s route on your own – it takes in lots of Paris landmarks before ending up at Versailles, so is great if you’re looking for a route for a bike ride.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Olympic torch sets sail at start of its voyage to France

The Olympic flame set sail on Saturday on its voyage to France on board the Belem, the Torch Relay reaching its climax at the revolutionary Paris Games opening ceremony along the river Seine on July 26.

Published: 27 April 2024 13:33 CEST
Olympic torch sets sail at start of its voyage to France

“The feelings are so exceptional. It’s such an emotion for me”, Tony Estanguet, Paris Olympics chief organiser, told reporters before the departure of the ship from Piraeus.

He hailed the “great coincidence” how the Belem was launched just weeks after the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.

“These games mean a lot. It’s been a centenary since the last time we organised the Olympic games in our country,” he added.

The 19th-century three-masted boat set sail on a calm sea but under cloudy skies.

It was accompanied off the port of Piraeus by the trireme Olympias of the Greek Navy and 25 sailing boats while dozens of people watched behind railings for security reasons.

“We came here so that the children understand that the Olympic ideal was born in Greece. I’m really moved,” Giorgos Kontopoulos, who watched the ship starting its voyage with his two children, told AFP.

On Sunday, the ship will pass from the Corinth Canal — a feat of 19th century engineering constructed with the contribution of French banks and engineers.

‘More responsible Games’ 

The Belem is set to reach Marseille — where a Greek colony was founded in around 600 BCE — on May 8.

Over 1,000 vessels will accompany its approach to the harbour, local officials have said.

French swimmer Florent Manaudou will be the first torch bearer in Marseille. His sister Laure was the second torch bearer in ancient Olympia, where the flame was lit on April 16.

Ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories.

It will travel through more than 450 towns and cities, and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.

It will then reach Paris and be the centre piece of the hugely imaginative and new approach to the Games opening ceremony.

Instead of the traditional approach of parading through the athletics stadium at the start of the Games, teams are set to sail down the Seine on a flotilla of boats in front of up to 500,000 spectators, including people watching from nearby buildings.

The torch harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games.

Greece on Friday had handed over the Olympic flame of the 2024 Games, at a ceremony, to Estanguet.

Hellenic Olympic Committee chairman Spyros Capralos handed the torch to Estanguet at the Panathenaic Stadium, where the Olympics were held in 1896.

Estanguet said the goal for Paris was to organise “spectacular but also more responsible Games, which will contribute towards a more inclusive society.”

Organisers want to ensure “the biggest event in the world plays an accelerating role in addressing the crucial questions of our time,” said Estanguet, a member of France’s Athens 2004 Olympics team who won gold in the slalom canoe event.

A duo of French champions, Beijing 2022 ice dance gold medallist Gabriella Papadakis and former swimmer Beatrice Hess, one of the most successful Paralympians in history, carried the flame during the final relay leg into the Panathenaic Stadium.

Nana Mouskouri, the 89-year-old Greek singer with a worldwide following, sang the French and Greek anthems at the ceremony.

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