A Marathon with Wine and Oysters: France’s Wildest Race

What pairs best with a rich red wine from Bordeaux? As it turns out, a marathon.

The Marathon des Châteaux du Médoc takes runners through the vineyards of France’s Médoc region and feels more like a food and wine festival than a sporting event. Along the route, participants can enjoy nearly 20 wine tastings, as well as croissants, canelés, oysters and steak, according to The New York Times.

Around 8,500 people take part in the race each year, while tens of thousands more remain on the waiting list. And here, speed is definitely not the main goal.

“In Médoc, the word ‘fast’ doesn’t really belong,” says 68-year-old Dominique Laurent, who has completed the marathon 16 times.

Most runners finish just before the six-hour cutoff. “Anything faster is a waste of time,” Laurent jokes.

At one of the wine estates, runners can sample the local wine, with some bottles costing around $100. Organizers stress that the wine is meant to be tasted, not gulped down.

Still, the combination of alcohol, heat and 26.2 miles of running can be risky. Doctors are stationed along the course, massage stations are available, and volunteers hand out water roughly every 400 meters. This year, because of the heat, the finishing time could even have been extended beyond seven hours.

The culinary experience becomes increasingly impressive as runners approach the finish line. Participants are served fresh oysters and, around mile 24, pieces of hot steak sprinkled with salt. One runner admitted the meat was so tender that he went back for another serving.

Another participant ran the entire distance dressed as a member of ABBA, while 80-year-old Michel Bach, recovering from an injury, decided to cover the 26.2-mile course inside a huge cardboard cake on wheels pulled by four friends.

“The most important thing here is joy, not the result. It’s collective happiness, and given the world we live in, we really need it,” Bach says. He has taken part in the marathon more than 30 times.

By the time runners reach the finish line, the atmosphere has become downright festive. Some runners cry and embrace one another, others collapse from exhaustion, while some pull a bottle of wine from their race packs and start drinking straight from the bottle.

After 26.2 miles, heat, alcohol, oysters and steak, the participants seem to finally realize one thing: the marathon is over.

And it’s time for celebratory beer.