Today was the day for the Toulouse Urban Trail. I was not sure how I was going to do as I had not run 24k/15 miles in at least 6 months or more. I have been running more in Toulouse so I hoped that I would finish it and I did. I actually did much better than I thought I would. When I was running and not climbing stairs (more on that later) I was averaging around a 5:35 K-pop/9:00 mpm which is what I wanted as I was viewing the run as an experience not a race.

The Urban Trail runs through Toulouse and it passes through museums, churches, hotels, sports facilities and restaurants. It runs completely around the city so it is a running tour in a way. I took advantage of it to see some of the sites I have not been to before and to revisit a view that I had seen before. I stopped and took pictures at every site and venue.

I was not sure what to expect but there were many more runners than I expected, I would say there were over 10,000 runner but I might not be accurate on that but know there were at least over 6000 because of my bib number. I was glad there were that many runners as I thought I might get lost of the course as the roads are not closed for this and so the route is marked with yellow arrows and dots on the roads and sidewalks but I did not need to worry as there were always runners around. There were, also, race marshals at very turn and directed the runners as to following the course.

Here I am at the start:

The first stop was the Église de Gesu. It is a deconsecrated church and beautiful. Two women were performing as we ran through the former sanctuary.

The next stop was the Musée des Arts Précieux. You did not get to see much of the museum, we mainly ran through the ticket area with one display case. I will probably have to go back and see the rest of the museum.

We then ran through a little alley to get over to the Jardin de Plantes and the Monument à la gloire de la Résistance.

The museum that is a memorial to the Resistance movement in Toulouse during WWII. From what little I have read, there was a fairly active resistance movement here. It was led in part by Spaniards who had fled Spain after Franco won the Spanish Civil War. It is a maze of tunnels underground. Again, I will need to visit it while I am not running through it.

Then it was back into the Grand Rond, which is part of the gardens attached to the Jardin de Plantes. The gardens are connected by two overpasses and we ran both of them. This course had lots of elevation

New Name hotel was the next and probably worst stop on the run. The staff were very supportive and encouraging but we ran up 8 flights of stairs and then down 8 flights of stairs. I cannot say I ran up all 8 but tried to go faster down the 8 flights. I know that stairs were involved but was not expecting 8 flights. They did offer small pastry snacks after the experience.

There was a longer stint of just running through the city to get to our next stop which was a restaurant (Cafe Triplette) near the Basilica de Saint Sernin. The staff in the restaurant were offering beer. I did not take any as I know I still had a long way to run at this point.

From there we circled the Basilica and ran through the courtyard of the Musêe Saint-Raymond. We did not actually enter the museum but that was okay as I had already visited it.

We curved around and ran down a street that I had never walked or run before. Most of the streets we were running I had either run on with Run in Toulouse or wandered on one of my walks. It was nice to see some areas I had not visited yet.

The next stop was Ensenat Coaching, a gym, that we ran through. The staff or participants at the gym were cheering as we went through. At this point, a young man who was not running the race decided to encourage me on the run and started running along side with me voicing encouragement. Not sure if it was because I looked like I was struggling (which I did not feel), he thought I was old and need it or he was just having fun.

The Couvent des Jacobins cloister was next. This was one of the places I had looked forward to running through as it is beautiful and you have to pay to enter it. I had seen it at night last time I was here as I went to a piano concert there. It was great to see it in the daytime even though it was quick as I was running.

Between the Couvent and the next highlight of the run, we had to run down the ramp of the Port Daurade and then up the stairs of the Port St. Pierre.

From there were ran by the Compans Cafferalli metro and into the Jardin Raymond and the Japanese Garden

Then it was on to the ISEG Toulouse. This is the L’école de communication nouvelle generation. The buildings are ultramodern for such an old city but I guess it fits with the New Generation. This was the next test of endurance as we ran up and down five flights of stairs and through the hallways of the school. Again, the staff showing us the way was very encouraging.

Next on the tour was along the Canal de Brienne. I have run this part of the course and for the next 5 kilometers quite a lot as it is near my apartment and are nice areas to run. This was the first part where we went on off roads and were running along dirt paths. We ran over a small pedestrian suspension bridge and I was shocked at how bouncy it became with all the runners going over it. In the middle, I almost lost my balance for the bouncing.

The next part was the hardest part mentally. We ran within 200 feet of my apartment building. There is always the urge to stop when you run past your house. Luckily, I was in a good mood and place at that point (18 kilometers) and kept going. I had thought before the run, if it was a disaster I could just bail that this point.

This part of the run had required three flights of steps and so the steps were building up. We head through another garder to the Dôme of the Grave. I had never gone in the dome as it cost 5 euros and did not seem worth the cost. I was accurate after running through it about the value. Marc, one of my running friends who was out supporting his sister, saw me a took a picture of my exiting the building. It was fun to see a familiar face.

The next part of the run was mainly running with no real stops along the way. We ran by the Garonne and over to passerelles (pedestrian bridges, along a dirt path and on a track and past the new park – Parc Picot de Lepeyrouse.

Then we were in the final stretch to the finish. Enzo was near the finish line as he had been following Morgane during her run of the 14k course. I cannot say I raced it but I did enjoy the experience overall with running, climbing stairs, stopping to take pictures and at times having to run single file, I finished the whole thing in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Celebrating our finish with Morgane. There was beer at the finish line and I think this was the first time I had a beer at the end of the race/run.

After some time with Enzo, Morgane and some of their friends I walked over to Maison Pillon and bought myself a reward. A chausson aux pommes. It was a delicious apple turnover. I had looked at them in the window often and decide I deserved it after all the calories I had expended.

I took a nice long nap for recovery and then decided I needed to get out and walk so my legs would not get too stiff. I walked down my six flights of stairs at my apartment over to the Port Saint-Pierre and down the flight to the banks of Garonne. I stopped as a group was performing and listened to them for a few songs. I did not stop because I was tired.

Then walked up the ramp of the Port Daurade to La Reserve and had an Aperol Spritz.

I headed back to the apartment and made a nice dinner. Lamp chop, peas, salad and potatoes and then collapsed in to bed for a good night’s sleep. I am glad Monday is my do nothing day – I will do laundry and clean the apartment and relax. I will definitely go for another walk to make sure the legs are moving and not too stiff. I always find the 2nd day after a race is the worst so we will see if I can run on Tuesday.

It was a very fun day (even with the run). These types of experiences makes me feel like I am a Toulousian and part of the city and community.