Photo by Yann Caradec from Paris, France via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Semi-Marathon de Paris
Half marathon in Paris, normally held in March. A flat half marathon course — Loops out from the Château de Vincennes; flat and fast, and the usual spring season opener.
The Semi-Marathon de Paris at a glance
| Distances | Half marathon |
|---|---|
| Main distance | 21.1 km (half marathon) |
| Usually held | March |
| Course | Flat |
| City | Paris, France |
| Typical conditions | 12.2°C high / 4.2°C low, rain on ~42% of days |
Loops out from the Château de Vincennes; flat and fast, and the usual spring season opener.
Entering the Semi-Marathon de Paris
Entry fees, closing dates and start times are set by the organiser and change every year, so they are not reproduced here — a stale deadline is worse than none. The organiser’s own site and its social channels are the authoritative source for the current year, and are where entry opens.
What is stable, and what this page covers: the month the race is held, what the course is like, the conditions you should expect, and how long a build-up the distance needs.
Weather at previous Semi-Marathon de Paris races
Across the last ten years, Paris in March has averaged a daily high of 12.2°C and a low of 4.2°C, with at least a millimetre of rain on about 42% of days.
These are recorded observations for the race month averaged over ten years, not a forecast and not a single past race day — race dates move, so one day’s figures would mislead. Source: Open-Meteo historical archive.
How to prepare for the Semi-Marathon de Paris
How long to train
Build for 12 to 14 weeks from a base you already hold rather than from nothing. For half marathon the block should peak at a longest run of 18–20 km, reached at least two weeks before race day so there is time to taper. Ten days of reduced volume is enough of a taper at this distance; keep one short session at race pace in the final week.
Training for this course
The course is flat, which means no downhill sections to give your legs a break — you hold one rhythm the whole way. Train on similarly flat ground so the repetitive loading is not a surprise, and practise holding goal pace for long stretches rather than surging.
Conditions in March
Conditions are usually good for racing: highs average 12.2°C and lows 4.2°C in March, which is close to ideal for half marathon running. Dress for the temperature about ten degrees warmer than it actually is, since you will warm up within two kilometres. Rain is common — around 42% of days that month see at least a millimetre — so do some training runs wet and know which kit does not chafe.
Fuelling
A half marathon needs one gel or its equivalent around the hour mark for most runners, and a normal breakfast two to three hours before the start. Practise the same timing in at least three long runs so race morning is a repeat, not an experiment.
Race week
Sleep matters most two nights before, not the night before, so protect that one. Keep eating normally with a modest tilt toward carbohydrate, lay out kit the night before, and do nothing new: no new shoes, no new breakfast, no new socks. Plan to arrive at the start with time to spare — half marathon fields move slowly through bag drop and security.
Distances and where the race is run
- Half marathon — 21.1 km
The pin marks Paris city centre, the area the Semi-Marathon de Paris starts and finishes in. This is not the course line: the route is set by the organiser and changes between editions, so the official course map for the current year is theirs to publish. The routes below are for training on the same roads.
Train on these roads: 10K routes in Paris · long runs in Paris · GPS art routes
Other races in Paris
- Marathon de Paris — Marathon, April
- 20 km de Paris — 20K, October
- Paris-Versailles — 16K, September
- La Parisienne — 6.7K, September