AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Paris Olympic Games closed today after two weeks of hosting the world's top athletes. As is the tradition, the marathon was one of the last events. This time, though, Olympics organizers opened up the 26.2 mile course to thousands of non-Olympians to run their own marathons. All Things Considered co-host Juana Summers was one of them.
JUANA SUMMERS, BYLINE: When I packed my bags for Paris, I knew I had to bring my running shoes. And for the past few weeks, as often as I can, I've laced them up and logged dozens of miles running past some of the best views that Paris has to offer.
SUMMERS: Here we go. Running across the Seine right now, and I just have to say it never really gets old saying that. It's also incredible to be able to run along the routes that the marathon is actually going to cover, be able to see all the sites and really get a tour. Everything that makes the city just so iconic.
Turns out, I'm not the only person who wanted that experience.
AURELIEN HOCHART: Hello. I'm Aurelien. I'm the mass event manager. I'm organized the Marathon Portus, the first marathon open for all of people, not Olympic athlete.
SUMMERS: That's Aurelien Hochart, part of the team that put together the Marathon for All. The first-of-its-kind race is giving tens of thousands of average everyday runners here the chance to run the same course as the Olympians. It's part of the effort to open the Paris games to everyone.
HOCHART: Yes, Paris is the most beautiful city of the world, OK? It's subjective, so it's true for me. And on the night with the light, it's more beautiful.
SUMMERS: As night fell in Paris, producer Fatima Al-Kassab and I headed to the starting line to check it out. Runners stretched and did warm-up strides lining up along the streets near the starting line. That's where we met Marie Carmen Lopez (ph). She lives here in Paris and got emotional when she talked about this moment.
MARIE CARMEN LOPEZ: (Speaking French).
SUMMERS: She said that it was incredible that so many people had the opportunity to run the same course as the Olympic athletes, and that she felt lucky that this race would be her eighth marathon on a picture-perfect route. Picture perfect, absolutely, but this course is far from easy. Like the marathoners, these runners start at the Hotel de Ville, and as they set out west toward Versailles before looping back again, they face a number of long, hard hills. Earlier this summer, I talked to U.S. marathoner Clayton Young about just how punishing this course could be. He ended up placing ninth in the Olympic men's marathon.
CLAYTON YOUNG: It's the toughest course that I've ever trained on for a marathon, so I think we're all going to need a little bit of good luck.
SUMMERS: For Rosemary Dooley (ph), who lives in New York and was visiting Paris, this was to be Marathon 20. She'd gotten up early Saturday morning to watch the men's race.
ROSEMARY DOOLEY: I think it's an unbelievable privilege. It's like a totally unique experience to get to run the exact same course. Looking at the hills, some of them are really challenging. I've run the Boston Marathon, which is a lot of hills, but this has, like, double the elevation. So it's going to be really, really challenging, but I'll walk if I have to. Whatever I have to do to finish, I don't mind.
SUMMERS: Spectators crowded the streets, carrying big signs and noisemakers, lining the route, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite runners. J.J. Jones (ph) of Louisville, Ky., and her family were in the crowd. Her husband, Louis (ph), is an experienced marathoner.
JJ JONES: He is running this just as a long run. He's not going to race it 'cause he's running - he ran Boston, and he's running the New York Marathon in November. And so that makes me feel better.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: But we don't know if he can do that cause he loves to race. So he's probably just going to try to race, so we all told him not to.
SUMMERS: They were catching a train to Versailles hoping to see him at the halfway point. I asked the group if they'd given Louis any advice.
JONES: What did you guys tell him?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Good luck (laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I told him to have fun.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah, have fun (laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: And that we love him.
SUMMERS: Just before 9 p.m., everyone's eyes were on the start where blue neon signs spelled out the numbers, 2024. The music blared. The crowd roared. Then, a countdown.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Non-English language spoken).
SUMMERS: The first wave of runners surged past, taking their first steps toward marathon glory. As we followed the route through the streets of Paris, watching runners fly by, we met a woman who was still waiting for her chance to try out the course.
KASHMIR CHAK: So, I'm Olympian Kashmir Chak (ph) and it's my Olympic debut, 10K in Paris this year.
SUMMERS: She was surrounded by a big group of family members, many wearing red and white shirts representing the Polish Olympic team. She told us this is her first race ever.
CHAK: I have never been a runner. Running - well, jogging - it's more kind of something a new skill to me, like, I picked up that during the COVID time, but it was a much shorter distance, though.
SUMMERS: She said she was nervous but excited and trying to visualize herself on the course.
CHAK: I hope I'll be so excited afterwards, as well, like, you know.
SUMMERS: While maybe these runners aren't official Olympians, there were medals waiting for them when they crossed the finish line.
Juana Summers, NPR News, Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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