This year’s Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris saw a total of 49,155 motivated runners compete.
The race saw four women in particular - Gelete Burka, Azmera Gebru, Azmera Abreha and Kenyan Sally Chepyego - locked in a close battle. Gelete upped the pace with just one kilometre to go, dropping her rivals and managing to scoop first place.
A former winner of the Ottawa Marathon, this was Gelete’s first victory in Paris - achieving an impressive time of 2 h 22′47″.
"I'm delighted to add my name to the list of winners of the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris. I suffered in the bitter cold [that] morning, but I managed to focus on my goal and on getting this victory I wanted so badly," commented Gelete.
Second place went to 26-year-old Azmera Gebru, a 10,000m silver medallist in the 2015 World Championships, who was running her second ever marathon and beat Azmera Abreha by just 5 seconds.
Clémence Calvin also made an impressive display of fortitude to surge near the end and claim fourth place with a time of 2 h 23′41″. Her performance smashed the French record held previously by Christelle Daunay (2 h 24′22″) and qualified Clémence for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"I held on until the end. Paris gave us the welcome I expected. I want to thank Paris, France, the Federation and everyone who's supported me. The boiling lava of Auvergne runs through my veins," said Clémence.
Competing and collaborating
A further exciting highlight saw the female race (elite) women beating the elite men to the line after starting with a margin of 16′39″.
Ethiopian runner Abrha Milaw took the winning spot in the men’s race with an impressive time of 2 h 07′05. Meanwhile, disabled participant Julien Casoli won for a third time in the wheelchair race with a time of 1 h 36’57”.
Schneider Electric employees joined in the fun
Among the runners were many Schneider Electric employees including Sales Engineer Ben Gray who took part with his girlfriend Rachel and raised over £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
“I decided to run the marathon after one of my university friends became unwell. My girlfriend, Rachel, had a friend in a similar position and wanted to help join the fundraising effort. Macmillan Cancer Support have been fantastic and this was our chance in a very small way to say thank you to them. Paris is a beautiful city which Rachel had never visited before so the Paris Marathon became our focus and we decided we would run it together to help with all the cold winter runs,” explained Ben.
“Seeing thousands of green runners gives a real feeling of camaraderie, especially through the pain of the last 10km. Cheers of ‘Come on Schneider’ along the way also helped us to keep putting one foot in front of the other,” Ben added. “Now the pain in my muscles has subsided I’m glad we did it and finished together.”
For Ben, the marathon was also an opportunity to see first-hand how Schneider Electric reinforces the importance of the sustainability message to its partners, customers and the general public.
The marathon runs strong with values
The Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris is the world’s first carbon-neutral marathon – a truly impressive achievement.
The CSR approach of the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris spans all aspects of sustainable development - the environment, social and societal actions, the economy and good governance practices - and is articulated around three main components and 6 actions, weaving together a progressive supported by everyone, for everyone. Read more here.
Running for charity with Schneider Electric
Women who missed out on taking part, might wish to run a future Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris – and to do so in order to support an important cause.
Running for a charity is an excellent way to support people or communities in need. Whatever the motivation, it provides runners with an added sense of drive during both their training and participation.
Entries into the Schneider Electric Marathon are considerable, with many runners missing out on a place. Those running for charity, however, are guaranteed a place – which means anyone looking to help will never miss out. So keep an eye out here for when entries open for the next marathon.
Enjoy a rewarding career with Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric seeks out employees who reflect the diversity of the communities in which they operate. They are committed to giving back helping build a more sustainable future and are looking for people with a passion for success.
Learn more about Schneider Electric's job vacancies - or in the mean time, learn more about Schneider Electric's focus on the environment via the video below.
Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.