Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous: Discover the lucky winners from the world over set to run on the Olympic course
For the first time in history, amateur athletes will run the same route as the Olympic marathon. Regardless of physical condition, age, country or sporting level, thousands of lucky runners have secured a bib for the night-time Marathon Pour Tous on 10 August. Meet some of them here.
Athletics
Is there a better way to experience an Olympic Games than participating in them?
While the late Pierre De Coubertin’s opinion on this topic is clear – the founder of the modern Olympic Games revived the ancient Greek format to help build a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport – each lucky participant in the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous has their own feeling about the unique Olympic experience they will live this summer.
Over the past four years, various events have offered race entry for the unique occasion in which amateur athletes can race the Olympic marathon course, or a 10km option, in a night-time race on Saturday 10 August, the penultimate day of the Games in France.
Runners may have had the chance to 'beat' marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge on the Champs Élysées or earn enough points from daily physical activity over several years to secure their spots.
Of those who have already secured their precious places in the 20,024-strong fields – the number of participants is the same for each distance – the likely oldest runners who will be on the start line will be Charly Bancarel and Barbara Humbert, who are 95 and 85 year's old, respectively.
Bancarel will take part in the 10km race and Humbert, the marathon, with both already familiar with the route across France's capital havng completed the 2023 Paris Marathon.
Already unforgettable memories banked then, but participation on the Olympic course – between the men's race on the morning of Saturday 10 August and the women's race on Sunday 11 August – will be a once in a lifetime experience.
Discover on Olympics.com how excited some of the chosen few feel at this stage about the Marathon Pour Tous!
Evert van Overveld and Donal Coakley have already run with Olympians
Among the lucky winners, two runners have already had an opportunity to run with Olympic athletes.
Evert van Overveld, a 34-year-old IT project manager from Belgium – who describes himself as a sports fanatic – participated in an unprecedented chase against the marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge on 31 October 2021.
On that occasion, marking the milestone of 1,000 days before the Paris 2024 Games begin on 26 July, more than 4,000 participants pitted themselves against the greatest marathon runner of all time.
On a 5km route, runners set off with a staggered lead ahead of the Kenyan. Achieving the objective of not getting overtaken by their idol would win them their race entry to the Marathon Pour Tous.
“I looked back on the Champs Élysées and on the other side I still saw Kipchoge, so then I knew I would win my ticket,” explained van Overveld who since then has evolved from marathon to triathlon, before becoming an IRONMAN finisher a year later.
“From then on, it was one kilometre just enjoying it, because it's a little bit like a childhood dream that comes true!”
As for Ireland's Donal Coakley, he created an opportunity to take his place on the start line at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, alongside some of the biggest stars of the sport.
Organisers allowed people who had run 10km under 33 minutes the chance to enter the event in Denmark as a means to increase mass participation, so Coakley tried his luck by sending them his Barcelona Half Marathon time, as detailed on his personal blog 10 Things I Think About.
It worked. Coakley ended up running with Joshua Cheptegei, winner that day ahead of fellow countryman from Uganda Jacob Kiplimo, who went on to become world champion in 2023.
“I have a history of finding these (events) and ending up on a start line in some exotic place with a whole load of athletes,” confessed the 37-year-old who works in the pharmaceutical area.
After winning his spot, Coakley will head to Paris for the first time in his life this summer. It seems that for the Irishman, who started running in college, coached by Robert Heffernan, the bronze medallist in the 50km walk at London 2012, it’s about creating his own luck that has led him to this amazing opportunity.
Donal Coakley from Ireland, with his family
Running to find peace or bond with loved ones
While some athletes enjoy running on their own in order to find peace, others prefer to share their passion with friends or family.
For Carla Mannale, a 49-year-old Italian who used to be a “bookworm, reading for hours” ever since she was a child, sport changed her life.
Ten years ago, when her parents became sick and severely disabled, she had to manage the family business alongside her husband while taking care of her folks. During this challenging time, she started to go out for a walk, which then evolved into running.
“At first, no sooner did I start to run than I immediately began to cry, and the more I was running, the more I was crying. But I then came back home regenerated, happy and full of energy.”
Ten years later, she explains that running has become part of her daily life and helps her understand that even the most difficult things can be overcome, if you take it step by step.
Jorgelina Bernasconi started running in 2012 thanks to her French friend Anne-Marie Langlais who enthusiastically told her about her progress, her races and how happy running made her.
She then told Jorgie about her goal to run her first marathon. In Paris.
“This inspired me a lot so I started to run as well, and in April 2013 we ran our first marathon together – the Paris marathon,” explained the Argentine with emotion. “And 11 years after our start together on this distance, we will run together again in Paris, but [this time] for the Olympic marathon. This event is therefore twice as exciting for us.”
Jorgelina Bernasconi from Argentina (on the left) and her French friend Anne-Marie Langlais (on the right) at the Paris 2013 marathon
For Pierre Marcenac, who celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday 28 January by running the Marrakech half-marathon with this sons, running has been a family tradition for a long time.
“Since I had a busy professional life as a chartered accountant and external auditor, I tried to find a sport which could unite us and bring us together,” he said.
When his eldest son turned 18, he told him: “If you want to go to New York, come and run the marathon with me!”
He repeated the experience with his other two sons and even his three daughters-in-law ran this distance when joining the family.
Marcenac is already in the starting blocks to run the 10km race in Paris.
Pierre Marcenac celebrating his 80th birthday on Sunday 28 January 2024 by running the Marrakech half-marathon with his three sons in Morocco.
An unforgettable festive experience by night at the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous
When it comes to expressing how excited they feel about being part of the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous, the lucky winners’ emotions are already palpable.
“I imagine I will still be the oldest competitor,” says Charly Bancarel, recalling his Paris marathon last year at the age of 93. “It was unthinkable, you know: It goes straight to your heart to see so much applause like that.”
According to his counterpart Barbara Humbert, who holds the world running record of covering 125.271km in 24 hours in the 80-84 women’s category, the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous will be the biggest race of her life.
"I am now living, working and training for this great Olympic marathon on 10 August… which is something extraordinary!”
Barbara Humbert, 93 years old, at the Course du muguet (10km) on 1st May 2023 in Cergy-Pontoise, France
"Being part of such a historical event and enjoying the wonderful sights of Paris, passing by its marvellous monuments will be a unique and unforgettable experience,” says Murat Onhon (27) from Istanbul, Türkiye, who won a bib for the 10km race. “The fact that it will be a night run also makes it more exciting."
Murat Onhon from Türkiye, enjoying Paris by night
Ricardo J. Martinez Ortega, a Mexican marathon runner, talks about his expectations of running on the same route while feeling the same atmosphere as the Olympic legends.
“It is a privilege to be part of it, which makes me very excited,” he says.
While his fascination with the Games dates from the opening ceremony of Barcelona 1992, his dream was to attend the Olympics for real. “And I’m just about to make it come true.”
Even Olympians are sharing in the excitement.
Now-retired French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, runner-up in women's singles at Athens 2004 said: “The Marathon Pour Tous is a sporting challenge that motivates me enormously. Taking part in this unique race is a dream come true.”
Five-time swimming world champion Camille Lacourt, meanwhile, is also super excited about taking to the road at his home Games.
“Running in the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous is much more than taking part in a race: It's about sharing a challenge and emotions with runners from all over the world, in an incredible setting and atmosphere, just a few hours before the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games.”
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Ricardo J. Martinez Ortega from Mexico at the Chicago marathon 2023