In Paris, jogging is no longer a faux pas

In a surprising turn, Paris has become a running city. Last year’s Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris set a worldwide record for the most participants in a marathon at the time, and this year’s race to be held Sunday sold out six months in advance, another record. The city last year even had a second marathon, when it opened the Olympics course to the public.

“We have a big change in Paris," said Thomas Delpeuch, director of mass events for Amaury Sport Organisation, organizer of the Paris Marathon. “All my colleagues now are running every [day at] lunch time." The fitness app Strava has seen a more than fivefold increase in the number of athletes uploading runs in Paris since 2019. Paris run clubs are flourishing and global sportswear companies are opening flagships on the Champs-Élysées.

Pardonnez-moi? The idea of running the city’s elegant boulevards instead of casually strolling as if in a Gustave Caillebotte painting—especially at lunch time, when the French are famous for their leisurely breaks—would have been laughable a few years ago. To wear athletic clothes in public seemed like a shameful faux pas in the birthplace of Hermès and Dior.

“Dressing to break a sweat doesn’t go with being French," wrote Mireille Guiliano in 2004’s “French Women Don’t Get Fat." “It’s odd for a French woman…to be seen jogging in the Luxembourg Gardens or the Tuileries."

But even the author, a former LVMH executive, has witnessed the change, spotting joggers in the Luxembourg Garden recently. Young people seem to have found a new way to embrace a longstanding French concept of being comfortable in one’s skin (bien dans sa peau), she said. “More and more young people are translating that into running and other physical activities, something, apart from walking, that you did not see a generation ago."

One thing hasn’t changed: French women still look chic, even while jogging. “They dress a bit less casually and a bit more elegantly than the norm," Guiliano said.

Run clubs such as Harbat Running Lab have become increasingly popular for Parisians.

Some have attributed the trend to expats, especially Americans, who arrive with their workout routines. Netflix’s “Emily in Paris" poked fun at this, with Emily’s morning runs and a season 2 story line about an American “Pelotech" exercise bike.

Parisian Arthur Da Rosa, owner of the restaurant Da Rosa Jr. near the Place Vendôme, used to take his frequent runs alone. “It was not [in] fashion to run," he said. These days, “it looks like the sport No. 1 in Paris. Everyone’s running everywhere, everyone is belonging to a running club." He even started such a club at his restaurant, something hard to imagine the classic bistros of yesteryear doing.

This being Paris, Da Rosa likes to look stylish while running. He typically wears trendy brands such as Satisfy, District Vision and Bandit, and bigger brands including Hoka, On and New Balance and often accessorizes with a hat and hydration vest.

Da Rosa also stays in that apparel when he’s done running, something Parisians considered interdit not long ago. “You can go to the restaurant after," he said. “It’s popular now."

Strava reported a 52% increase in run clubs across France in 2024, and the app lists well over 100 such groups in Paris, many with thousands of members. They seem to be quintessentially Parisian.

Photographer and videographer Agathe Van-Viet attended one where participants go for an easy jog and then eat flan together. This dégustation (tasting) club has 15,000 Instagram followers and nearly 3,000 members on Strava. “You run five kilometers and then you eat flan," Van-Viet said. “It’s really not about the performance. It’s just about having fun."

Another club, Kiin, which has more than 1,000 members on Strava and passes the Tuileries, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, has an option for what founder Maria Sanchez Gonzalez calls a “sexy pace" of around 11 minutes per mile.

Others are more performance-focused. Adam Belkacem started Harbat Running Lab in 2023, only a couple of months after he first got into running. He eventually left his role at a crypto startup to focus full time on Harbat, which has teamed up with brands and for which people pay to join. To Belkacem, Paris is the perfect course. “You have all the dimensions of running: uphill, downhill, track session, street running," he said.

In 2016, Paris closed a road along the Seine to cars. “One of the best running paths in the city didn’t exist very long ago," said Sara Callon, an organizer of Kiin. More street closures followed, and in March, Parisians passed a referendum to keep cars off an additional 500 streets. The city has installed more drinking water fountains, too.

Brands are responding to the shift. New Balance went from having one Paris-area shop to a handful in the past several years. Nike, Lululemon, Salomon and On opened new Paris flagships in the past few years, some of them on the Champs-Élysées alongside Louis Vuitton, Dior, Saint Laurent and Cartier. Hoka arrived in the city last year and has since opened a second location.

At the forefront of the Parisian running apparel scene is Paris-based Satisfy. The brand is known for gear that is highly technical but looks almost punk-rock, with shirts that resemble moth-eaten band tees. It was founded in 2015 and is now in approximately 100 stores in two dozen countries, exporting the French capital’s running aesthetic to places including Los Angeles and Tokyo. Satisfy is largely known for its “MothTech" shirts that contain holes for ventilation and are made from cotton, a material less common in running apparel these days. “Allowing our personalities to shine, our influences to shine, I think that’s the big secret sauce," said chief brand officer Daniel Groh. That comes at a price; tops go for $110 to $410 and shorts are $180 to $420.

Even more athletic and outdoor brands showed up for Men’s Fashion Week this January. A handful, including Portal, which makes apparel for running, hiking and cycling, hosted runs. The Paris running specialty store Distance, originally from the French city of Lyon, organized a night race from its shop on the edge of the fashionable Marais district, which featured trendy outfits, smoke bombs and an afterparty on the rue Oberkampf. “It’s a good time to be in Paris if you’re a runner," Groh said.