1,230 kilometres that have to be completed in 80 to 90 hours, depending on the starting group, plus countless hills and crests that add up to an awe-inspiring 12,000 metres in altitude: Paris-Brest-Paris is a cycling marathon of superlatives. This also applies in particular to the number of participants, which has been rising for years. More than 6,000 riders qualified for the 18th edition this summer; 5,845 of them actually lined up at the start in the suburb of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, including more than 500 German randonneurs. For the first time in the over 100-year history of PBP, Germany was the foreign nation with the most participants.
When it was first organised in 1891, PBP was a real cycling race in which professionals and amateurs took part. Due to its insane length, the race was initially only held every ten years, but was later shortened to five and then four years. Over the course of the 20th century, the event was increasingly characterised by touring cyclists, or randonneurs in French. The last professional riders took part in 1951, and since then PBP has been the celebration of all amateur cyclists for whom a route cannot be long enough. In 1979, more than 1,000 riders took part for the first time, and since then interest has also been growing rapidly abroad.
The PBP is organised by the Audax Club Parisien. The rules governing the event are laid down by the umbrella organisation Randonneurs Mondiaux (RM), which is closely linked to the ACP. In addition to organising the events, known as brevets ("tests" in French), the RM also ensures that the ethical principles of randonneuring are adhered to.
Paragraph 7 of the regulations states: "Each randonneur must make his own provisions for everything required to complete his brevet. No service by trainers, carers or support vehicles is permitted on the route outside the checkpoints. Participants who contravene this rule will be excluded without cancellation. Every participant must be correct in appearance and behaviour." Anyone wishing to take part in PBP must successfully complete four brevets of 200, 300, 400 and 600 kilometres within set time limits in the year of the event. The next PBP will take place in August 2019.
A German brevet calendar can be found at www.audax-randonneure.de
You can read the full report in TOUR 10/2015, which you can download online here. order can.
Link tip: An interview podcast with the experienced long-distance runner Jan Heine, published in the programme "Antritt" by the Internet radio station detektor.fm - a bit long, but very worth listening to.
