© 10 km HOKA Paris Centre
2025 HOKA Paris Centre 10K: Florian Le Pallec and Noah Schutte Cross the Line Hand in Hand
One breath, one clasped hand, two silhouettes moving as one. Florian Le Pallec and Dutch runner Noah Schutte turned the finish line of the 2025 HOKA Paris Centre 10K into a moment of pure emotion. As Paris slowly shook off the morning fog and cold, the two training partners offered the most striking image of the day — no rivalry, no tactics, just a shoulder-to-shoulder finish, the kind you only get when a race is truly shared. The city wasn’t fully awake yet, but it was already buzzing.
A few meters from the line of the 2025 HOKA Paris Centre 10K, one picture said more than any headline could: Florian Le Pallec and Noah Schutte, hand in hand, same stride, same breath, same exhausted smile. Two friends, two HOKA athletes, two paths merging in the final meter as if Paris belonged to them alone. They didn’t look at the clock. They looked at each other. And that said everything — that soft, bittersweet glow in the eyes of people who know they’re living a moment they’ll remember forever.
Roughly 30 minutes earlier, around 9 a.m., the capital was still stretching awake. Streets were quiet, cafés barely open, and the runners formed a long, colorful wave rolling over the slick cobblestones. Spectators trickled in slowly, coffee cups in hand, to greet the thousands swirling through the heart of Paris.
The course read like a love letter to the city: Rivoli, Haussmann, Madeleine, Opéra… beautiful, yes — but demanding, with tight turns, tricky pavements, and constant changes of pace. The 16,000 runners gathered near the Louvre couldn’t have asked for a more iconic backdrop.
| Side by Side — Even at a 3:00/km Pace
At the front of the race, the story wasn’t told by the stopwatch. It was told by two voices: Frenchman Florian Le Pallec and his Dutch training partner Noah Schutte — teammates in training, brothers in suffering, and now… partners in the finish.
Just minutes after crossing the line, Le Pallec described the race casually, as if talking about a relaxed Sunday long run: a start “at a pretty easy pace,” about 3:00 per kilometer, “nowhere near our PR rhythm.” Very quickly, the two opened a gap. “We found ourselves alone from the 5th or 6th kilometer,” added Le Pallec, whose personal best stands at 28:24, set last year in Valencia.
| A Brotherly Duel — And the Same Time on the Clock
Their shared finish produced a podium as symbolic as it was photogenic. Noah Schutte took the win in 30:05, just a breath ahead of his friend — though Le Pallec was officially given the same time, 30:05. Two silhouettes crossing the line almost as one. Behind them came a fighter. Less than 24 hours after running a stunning 28:14 at the Urban Trail in Lille, Frenchman Simon Bedard dug deep again to claim third in 30:23 — clean, controlled, and perfectly placed on a course where every acceleration mattered. A snapshot of the current level of French distance running — even in a so-called “secondary” race.
| Florian Le Pallec Keeps the Momentum Rolling
If Le Pallec wasn’t aiming for a personal best, it’s because the script had already been written by his wild week: Bordeaux a few days ago (28:52), Warsaw on Tuesday (29:25 — “because I had to pace up to the 7th kilometer at 2:51/km”), and now Paris today: his third 10K in seven days. He laughed about it afterwards:“If you average the three, I must be around 29:20. Not bad!” Behind that light tone, the truth was clear: form is building.
Three weeks earlier in Font-Romeu, he logged heavy training loads. Now comes the French selection race for the European Cross-Country Championships on November 23 — only five spots available, monstrous level. “It’ll be very tough, but I’m going to play my card,” he said.
| Paris, the City of Cheering
Beyond the pace, the athlete from Lorient remembered the atmosphere: “It was early, but really cool. Lots of cheering everywhere.” He and Schutte even exchanged a few gestures with the crowd — arms in the air, quick waves, nods — a rare treat for athletes used to races where speed leaves no space for anything else.
The HOKA Team followed them throughout a weekend of events and collective spirit — including the presence of American ultrarunning legend Jim Walmsley, 2025 long-trail world champion and four-time Western States winner. He was spotted at the hotel and finished 32nd overall in 32:44. “We’re living crazy moments. HOKA gives us absolutely incredible conditions,” Bédard said.
| Marie Perrier Dominates the Women’s Race
In the women’s field, the win went to Mauritian runner Marie Perrier, smooth and commanding in 33:49 — a clean, controlled effort that looked almost weightless on Parisian streets.
The British athlete Hannah Viner finished second in 35:01, followed by France’s Camille Maire in 35:56. Three different profiles, but the same bright-eyed look at the finish — the mark of short, intense races where even a single turn changes the rhythm.
| Hugo Clément’s First 10K
Every race has its first-timers. French environmental journalist Hugo Clément ran his first official 10K. Usually more at home in long-distance swimrun events (60 to 70 km on average), he discovered the sharp sting of the shorter format. He joked: “I knew the wall at the 30th kilometer… now I know the wall at the 6th.”
The course was “super beautiful,” he said, but with “so many turns that wreck the legs.” He started too fast, caught up in the pace of the leaders, and paid for it later. The goal was to break 36 minutes. He did it: 35:39, 161st overall — mission accomplished. First race, first intense burn, and the first desire to come back. You can safely assume 100% of Sunday’s runners felt the same.
A pair crossing the line hand in hand, an American trail icon on the start list, runners discovering that a 10K can sting almost as much as a half marathon, and the unmistakable energy of a HOKA weekend. The kind of Sunday morning that makes you want to sign up for another race — then another, and another.
✔ All the results from the 2025 HOKA Paris Centre 10K are available here.
Dorian VUILLET
Journalist
