A Paris Marathon Dream Come True

Nota Bene:   Although the event happened in April, the message I wanted to convey is timeless.

I had never been to a Paris marathon before, until last April, because I never knew any runners.    That all changed this year when I found out that Amy, the courageous mother of my two wonderful grandchildren and hero of this post, was participating!

This is an inspiring story of living your dreams.    The Paris Marathon is a strenuous 42-kilometer run throughout the city that goes by several of Paris’ most famous monuments.

This quick video of the Paris Marathon course will give you a bird’s-eye view of the Paris I love and some of the major beautiful sights that make Paris one of the visited cities in the world.

 

Every time I look at it, I am amazed that the heroine of the story ran it in just a few hours!      It was a little before Christmas when my granddaughter, Isabelle, casually mentioned that her mom was out practising running in preparation for the Paris Marathon.

Having never known Amy to enjoy running before as a sport, I was shocked. Was this wishful thinking, or was she really serious?   As it turns out, it was both!

Her wishful thinking began about 24 years ago when she was a culinary student with my late son at the renowned École Ferrandi of Paris.   She recounted wondering why one of her cooking professors was always coming a tad late due to running.   Learning that he was preparing for the Paris Marathon planted a dream seed of her own, which took root and finally came to fruition on April 13, 2025!

It was only about 9 or 10 months before that date that her dream sprouted the courage needed for serious preparation.    Amy admitted that at first, just running any short distances felt exhausting.

Considering the fulfilment of her dream might be a wonderful inspiration to her children, the commitment was solidified.  “I wanted my kids to know that they can do anything they set their mind to”

Amy started increasing her distance a little at a time.   Before long, her baby steps were paying off, as each day she found she could run a little longer at a time before exhaustion set in.

An even more encouraging discovery was that she started to enjoy running!  Not only was she now enjoying running, but even looking forward to her daily practice!

It wasn’t just the endorphins released during running that were kicking in, but the feelings of accomplishment each time she extended her time. This self-rewarding feedback is essential for maintaining our efforts and keeping us on track to follow through with our dream goals.

For Amy, that meant running in the bitter sub-freezing cold of a Saint Louis, Missouri, winter. Dodging snow and ice patches this past winter added to the challenge of keeping up daily practice.

Not only was she preparing daily for the run while continuing as director of a culinary school, but started organizing her trip to Paris for 6 others!    I was thrilled at the notion of being able to see my grandchildren, Isabelle and Brayden, both in Paris at the same time!

Isabelle had come two years ago, but this was Brayden’s first time.

 

 

 

 

 

Isabelle and Brayden’s adorable little sister, Sophia, along with Amy’s fiancé, Andy, his son and mother all came along.  More cherries on the cake, as the French say.

With only a week to fit everything they hoped to do, the whole visit became another marathon of sorts.  The big event was not only exciting for Amy, but for her rooting team, as well.

She, of course, had the most exhausting undertaking of running and finishing 42 kilometres! Ouch!  Our rooting team, however easy that may seem, turned out to be a challenge in itself!

The most difficult part was calculating where to meet up with her to cheer her on.  Fortunately, we had her tracking, and with my above-average knowledge of the Paris metro system and approximate travel/walking times to get there, we made all our connections.

My favourite photo of her whizzing by, seemingly taking it all in stride, seen at the beginning of the post. Amy said the runners dressed as a bride and groom were there to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.   I saw other runners participating for a mission like mental health, Alzheimer’s associations, or in memory of a loved one.

Amy finished with the biggest of grins, looking surprisingly undaunted by such a gruelling event.  The major goal of non-competitive runners is not to win, but to participate and hopefully finish! 

I brought bandages along in case of blistering sores, but her only complaint was some foot soreness.     Her rooting team, though, was too embarrassed to tell her we were exhausted catching up with her!

As Andy’s mother pointed out, it was tackling those 14 stairs in the metro, plus walking 10 plus kilometers to reach connecting points.   Some of that was my showing them around Palais Royal, the Tuileries, and the underground Louvre carousel.

In celebration, Amy treated us to lunch at the Ferrandi school restaurant.  École Ferrandi, known as the Harvard of culinary schools, has one of Paris’s best-kept secrets in the fabulous food they serve.

It was a multi-course menu served by graduating hotel management students and prepared by student chefs.  This lunch happened to be orchestrated by their international students, the same program Amy and my son attended in 2001.

The courage to commit to anything challenging can be daunting.  It is not an easy step, but once taken, you can build upon it each day.  It is like laying down the cornerstone of a building, then slowly adding on each day.

After a while, our efforts take shape, building confidence that we can complete our dream goals. Increasing winds of determination to finish the task take over. 

We might all have some dreams floating around the attics of our minds, awaiting that moment when we decide to give them a serious look and attention.

  You might not realize it, but the very life you are living is a marathon of sorts.  The major exception is that there isn’t any preparation beforehand!

We all have developmental stages in our lives.  We might be unaware of the significance of each, but there can be psychic tugs to change directions and enlightenment that follows afterwards.

Amy is a living testimony to this evolution of dreams, starting as mere seeds of thought that linger and wait in the attics of our psyche for the ripest time to bring into fruition.

The bottom line for you is not to give up on these little dream seeds.  They can remain viable for a long time, just waiting for the right time and season for you to nourish them into reality.

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