For half marathon #16 of my 52@52 challenge, I was in Paris for work and decided to turn my weekly run into a sightseeing tour through some of the most iconic places in the city. The route ended up being about 22 km—slightly longer than a half marathon—so that I could include all the landmarks I wanted to see in a single loop.

The Route Through Paris

I built a custom route starting and ending near my hotel in Montparnasse, connecting the Seine River, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, Bois de Boulogne, the Eiffel Tower, and the Champ de Mars before heading back. The extra kilometer or so was a small price to pay for being able to link all these spots in one continuous run through the city.

Weather, Video, and Atmosphere

The temperature was close to ideal for running—cool enough to stay comfortable for the whole distance. The sky, however, stayed mostly cloudy, which you can clearly see in the footage I captured with the Insta360 X5; great for effort and heart rate, not so great for bright, postcard-style city photos. To make up for the lack of sunshine, I’m sharing links to several 360º videos from the run so you can immerse yourself in Paris by rotating and zooming the image as you wish, exploring the streets and landmarks around me as if you were there.

• Sena River almost flooding:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3o6b6T1F3z1p1z1V6215635968
• Notre Dame church:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3E6Z6C193m2r8j6L4724500480
• The Louvre:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/396T6i1d333b750Y2683525120
• Champs-Élysées:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3N6A681K3U4q7p2l4906717184
• Arc de Triomphe:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3i6W6D1V3L5W1G6b5455437824
• Park Bois de Bologne (two clips):
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3M646T1V3N6e0K2T0405583872
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3M616f1k3U696a6v1869858816
• In the middle of the Sena River on the way to the Eiffel Tower:
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3n6f6U1M3W7q7J6d7769411584
• Eiffel Tower (two clips):
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3f6E6i1d3c9T1F5K0815989760
  https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/3p646a1z3E988k941555237888

Running Without an Audiobook

Unlike many of my previous 52@52 runs, I decided not to listen to an audiobook this time. Navigating an unfamiliar city required more attention, so I relied on audio cues from the RunGo app to guide me through the turns of my custom route. Even with that, I still needed to pull out my phone now and then to double-check the map, which actually added to the sense of exploration as I matched the digital route to the real streets and monuments in front of me.

New Shoes and How My Body Felt

This was my first half marathon in the Altra Escalante 4, and they performed exactly the way I had hoped. My knee behaved the entire run, and even the usual discomfort in my left leg stayed mild and manageable from start to finish. The real test came the next day: I was able to walk normally from the morning, which is a big improvement compared to some of the earlier weeks in the challenge and a reassuring sign that my body is adapting well.