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Jessica Allen was gearing up for her seventh marathon—but this one was different. The longtime client of ��ɫtv Langone Health’s Sports Performance Center made her marathon debut in Paris alongside 20,000 fellow non-Olympian men and women, in the first amateur marathon to ever be held at the Olympics.

The Paris 2024 Mass Participation Marathon was sandwiched between the men’s and women’s Olympic marathons on the night of August 10. Allen, celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary with her husband the day before the race, has been getting back into marathon shape at the Sports Performance Center, where she trained for her first marathon back in 2016. Recently the center, part of ��ɫtv Langone Orthopedic Center, nearly doubled in size, to 32,000 square feet.

“The strength training I received at the Sports Performance Center has been so amazing and completely influential in my training,” Allen said. “I finish all of my races because of the endurance I’ve gained from the strength training and working in the Running Lab. It’s just as important as getting all the miles in.”

Back in April, Allen was surprised and delighted to get the email invitation that solidified her participation in the marathon, after completing app-based running challenges for a year and a half prior in order to qualify. Her training began two weeks later.

This is new terrain—figuratively and literally— for Allen, having never run a marathon at night before (the start time was 9:00PM), or on such a hilly course. During her training, she focused on endurance with Heather A. Milton, MS, RCEP, CSCS, an exercise physiologist supervisor, and the rest of the team at the Sports Performance Center. Allen also met with the center’s nutritionist, Nicole Lund, to plan out her meals during the day of the event.

“Whether you’re an elite runner or a novice, ��ɫtv Langone’s Sports Performance Center can help you improve your performance while preventing injury,” Milton said. “We assess all aspects of your running, including training days and programming, nutrition, running mechanics, strength and flexibility, footwear, recovery strategies, performance goals and injury susceptibility. We are excited for Jessica as she reaches this new milestone in such a special place.”

After traveling to Paris following her wedding 10 years ago, Jessica was excited to spend time there with her husband to commemorate their anniversary and celebrate her participation in this unique event. She was most excited to visit the Musée d’Orsay, the Luxembourg Gardens, and old haunts she and her husband Kevin enjoy.