marc | 
10 25th, 2008| 
A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to run les 20km de Paris. The race attracted 25,000 race participants for its 30th anniversary event. The crowd was huge, and I spent the whole race dodging other racers. So much that I hardly had time to enjoy the surroundings. The start is at the Trocadero bridge, right in front of the Eiffel tower, then through the Bois de Boulogne, along the Seine river all the way to the Louvre, then over to Rive Gauche and finish under the Eiffel Tower. It was surprisingly warm this year for October, drinking stations were spaced out every 5K and mobbed. The finish line was a disaster and the crews that handed out medals and drinks could not keep up with the in flux of finishing runners. I saw at least one person close to passing out in the rush to get water after the finish line. We were literally compressed against each other, in a typical french crowd management system which anyone who has taken the RER A at rush hour will recognize. Needless to say, this is the last thing you want after a 20K run.
Much to my surprise, compression socks are selling big time in Europe. I saw many many runners with these socks, usually in fancy colors. I was wearing a pair of pure white compression socks made by Jobst that I bought for less than $10 at my local pharmacy. Beats the $40 that Nike is asking and the compression is quite strong. The basic rule is that if you have trouble putting them on or pulling them off, then you know you are “compressed”. The socks did feel like they provided good support, but can’t say for sure if its psychological, or physical.
