One of our Physical Health clients will be running the Olympic Marathon route in Paris this summer, following in the same footsteps as the oustanding athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Games.
It's the first time at an Olympic Games, that members of the public have been invited to take part in an event that takes place not only during the Olympic fortnight but also at an Olympic venue.
Christene Nolan, already an experienced marathon runner, took up the challenge of competing for a place in the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous, two years ago. "I downloaded an app and had to complete a series of running challenges, which were all themed around Olympic distances or Olympic history".
Christene was already marathon training at the time, so she synced the app to her training tracker and worked her way through completing the weekly challenges. "After each challenge there would be an allocation of bibs (places) in the Paris marathon. I was notified at the beginning of April that I'd been successful, so not that long to get organised."
Christene has already completed the Tokyo marathon earlier this year, has Berlin scheduled for September and admits "I wouldn't normally compete in three marathons in one year but Paris will be a unique experience".
The Marathon Pour Tous will start at 9pm on Saturday 10th August, and Christene along with 20,024 other runners will run along the same route as the Olympic marathon, just a few hours after the male athletes and crossing the same finishing line just a few hours before the women’s Olympic marathon runners.
Christene is looking forward to seeing the Paris sights at night as the route starts at Hotel de Ville, looping through Paris and Versailles. before finishing at Les Invalides.
"I'm looking forward to a sight-seeing tour of Paris at night! I don't normally run at night but it will be cooler at this time and it will be a historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share this experience with runners from all around the world."
Christene is already an experienced marathon runner, having previously completed the London, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Edinburgh marathons. She's not expecting to set any PBs in Paris as she describes the route as "a bit of a beast with some big hills".
It might surprise you to learn that Christene was diagnosed with Osteoporosis in her spine a year ago, after falling during her training for the London Marathon and fracturing her wrist.
"Since learning I have Osteoporosis I've been very consistent with my strength and conditioning training. I also include Yoga to help my mobility, recovery and practise breathing control. The additional strength training I complete to keep my marathon training going well has also been a really important factor in helping me to stay injury free".
Another factor in Christene staying in tip-top shape has been previous physio with us in the clinic and most recently regular sports massages with Sport Massage Therapist Laura.
"Having regular massages with Laura really helps me to recover from my training and has helped me to maintain a healthy back".
The Physical Health team wish Christene bonne chance in Paris and we looking forward to hearing all about it. If you're training for a running event or just enjoy keeping your body feeling good, here's the link to book in to see Laura Lord at Physical Health in Shepperton.
If you’ve an injury that is holding you back from running and would like to see a physiotherapist to help you with a diagnosis and treatment plan, here's the link to book in to see a physio or you can call Physical Health Physiotherapy clinic on 01932 645320.
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