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Running a marathon as a couple: a sporting and romantic experience
42.195 km to support each other, overcome one’s dips in energy, accompany the other’s strides. What does it mean to run a marathon as a couple? The reasons that drive loving duos to tackle this legendary distance are many, and they inspire admiration in many ways.
Love provides the momentum to run one or more marathons, let’s explore.
| Marathon as a lifestyle for couples
Running together is sometimes about choosing a different way of life, a way to share daily life through sports. Chantal and Pascal Comte, who together are over 120 years old, reached an impressive milestone in 2024 with 1,400 marathons. Based in Yerres, the couple travels across France and even the world, clocking up kilometers. For them, it’s about the joy of running, not the result. Running, ever more, to achieve a marathon record that was never initially envisioned. Before they met, Chantal was not a runner. She swapped her soccer cleats for running shoes, encouraged by Pascal, already a passionate runner. Their story is one of a close-knit couple, between love and a passion for sports. And perhaps the key to a lasting love lies in a shared, pressure-free activity, full of joy and lightness?
| A shared passion that spreads
For others, running emerges before or within the couple and becomes a shared habit. Encouraged by her partner, Léane ran her very first marathon on April 13th. For the occasion, the roles were reversed: A runner since college, it was thanks to his girlfriend that Théophile got into running. Since she introduced him, they train regularly, each supporting the other in this practice where they have made significant progress. With full control, they crossed the finish line in 3h43, without suffering from the effort. Everything was about the duo, mutual encouragement, and the consistency of shared training. Hand in hand, their marathon adventure might just be beginning.
A similar dynamic exists for @Mr&Mrs Running: for them, “The marathon is a link in a plan, a symbol” before tackling increasingly longer trails. Always together, always at the same pace. They ran hand in hand from start to finish, as in every race. This is their strength: forming a team on the pavement as in life. At the Paris Marathon, the wife led the way, before her husband took over at the 33rd km, with the 3h30 goal in sight. Their love carries them in the race… and far beyond. Running fuels their bond: it stimulates the body, the mind, and strengthens their loving momentum.
| The marathon, a stage for a unique moment
Sometimes, running together opens up the path to an unforgettable moment, well beyond achieving a personal best. Such was the case for Alban, who took advantage of the Marathon pour Tous to propose to Charlène. Having met thanks to their shared love of running, their selection for this event represented the perfect moment to put a ring on his beloved’s finger. The proposal, meticulously planned, had to be perfect: he even swapped the real ring for a fake one to keep the original safe. But in the emotion and exhaustion, improvisation became necessary. The essence was there: symbolism, sharing, surprise amidst the effort, and the wave of love in this Parisian Olympic summer.
For others, like Pascal, the gesture was more daring: he kept the actual jewel with him throughout the race, waiting to propose to Anne-Sophie at the finish line, completing her very first marathon. As with the previous engaged couples, sports are central to their lives: choosing the marathon as the setting for this significant moment was a natural choice.
| A one-time but unforgettable challenge
For some couples, the marathon is neither a ritual nor an obvious choice. It’s a unique challenge, tackled together to share a thrill. A way to achieve a common objective. The rarity of this shared athletic moment provides a better understanding of the upcoming effort, planning with the mindset: “After this, it’s over.” To excel together to succeed, to experience something exceptional, and to do it together: this is the creed of marathon couples. To complete the 42.195 km, Pauline prepared alongside her partner, Simon, participating again this year. A challenge accepted two and a half months earlier, which propelled her into the marathon arena. Simon became both her pacer and coach, in addition to being the father of their children. A beautiful family moment, rare and powerful, which wouldn’t have come to life without the determination of its initiator, well-supported from start to finish.
In the end, the passion often comes from one before reaching the other. Sometimes, they meet directly on their playing field: at a stadium, during a run, or around a race. Occasionally, both become hooked on the pavement, on the post-run dopamine, and the feeling of invincibility after a marathon takes hold of them. The marathon then becomes not only a goal but a pretext to create or nourish a bond.
✓ The marathon calendar, to run as a couple!
