A great trip that involved both Chuggers and Chaingangers! 16 of us travelled to southern France to take part in this relay marathon.
You could do the whole marathon if you wished or to cycle the beautiful landscape.
We had 4 relay running teams. One team of 6 (mainly cyclists normally); and three teams of 2 (who each undertook a half marathon distance). Doing just part of a marathon really worked well – it meant we could eat and be merry the night before the race, and we weren’t too exhausted to celebrate after the race.
The French Riviera Marathon starts on the palm tree lined Promenade des Anglais in Nice. It follows the coast road through Antibes and onto to Cannes, where is ends. The weather looked bleak at the start of the day and we all left the hotel in black bin bags to stay dry. But we soon shed them as the sun emerged. We all met up on the beach in Cannes at the end – a perfect end, and then found a bar to relax and have a few beers in.
The cyclists hired bikes and had daily excursions along the coast and in the hills. One day they cycled to Monte Carlo, actually cycled around the Grand Prix route, about which they were all quite excited.
Nice was a delightful place, combining an Old Quarter with lots of squares and independent shops and restaurants, a marina, seafront and castle walks. Our hotel was right in the middle and only a 5 minute walk to the start of the race. We were in the middle of everything!
The cost was about £300 including flights per person. 
Such fun. I plan to make this a biennial event so put it in your diary for November 2019!
Sally Gould
