A MARATHON IN PARIS, FRANCE Tradition Paris Marathon By Mario Mesa Tradition We follow Mario Mesa and his son Sebastian each year at marathon time. This year Mario ran in Paris with a time of 2:59:56. I met Mario at a seminar last year at the Boston Marathon for the late Johnny Kelley who ran the Boston Marathon many times. Check back next year to see where Mario is running and watch Sebastian grow. THE MARATHON Paris is a beautiful city in Europe. It has awesome places like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc Du Triomphe, and near the Seine River there is copy of the Statue of Liberty (the original which is in New York was a gift from France to America). Like many important cities of the world, Paris has a marathon, which is a race of 26.2 miles (42 kilometers 195 meters) where approximately 35,000 runners from all over the world gathered last Sunday, April 9th 2006. The race starts near Arc de Triomphe, in Avenue des Champs-Elysees, and along the course the runners passed by nice places like the Place de la Concorde, the Louvre Museum, Place de la Bastille, the Bois de Vincennes (in French Bois means Park), and most of the course is besides the Seine River, passing near the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the famous Eiffel Tower. Near the finish line the runners pass by a beautiful Park called Bois de Boulogne, to finish in Avenue Foch, in front of Arc Du Triumphe. On the picture I am with my wife Maria Elena (we both ran the marathon) and my son Sebastian, posing with the medals after the race. The picture was taken on Avenue des Champs-Elysees, having the Arc Du Triomphe on the background. Someday when Sebastian will grow-up I hope he will run this race too and have as much fun as I had. This year was the 30th anniversary of that race, there is more information on this marathon in the official website parismarathon.com THE CHILD Sebastian is a runner. Just for fun he run/walks an 800 m route at a series that I have created, once a month. But, besides that, he is very active, all day is walking fast or running, always I sweat when I am with him!! I would say he runs about 200 meters average per day. What else does Sebastian do? He rides a little bike, he plays at school with other little friends and plays at home in our courtyard after school. By Mario Mesa, April 2006 Stop back next year at marathon time for an update on Mario and Sebastian! LINKS Young Sebastian EMAIL rwedit@rodale.com Privacy Policy of Kids Running