It was run over a course of 40 km (25 mi) from Paris to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine via Versailles, and the organisers decided to award a commemorative medal to all runners who finished the race in less than 4 hours.

This first race was won by Len Hurst from England who crossed the finishing line in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 30 seconds.

Some sources, including the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, consider Frenchwoman Marie-Louise Ledru as the first female to race the now-defined marathon distance of 42.195 km, as she set a time of 5 hours and 40 minutes during the 1918 edition of the Tour de Paris, while other sources, including the International Association of Athletics Federations, credits Violet Piercy as the first to do so.

The route now follows the course of the Seine, passing Île de la Cité and going under the Pont Neuf, then a series of tunnels.

There is a large drinks station and foot massage site at Trocadéro, opposite the Eiffel Tower.

The route continues along the Seine, before branching off east to eventually pass through Bois de Boulogne, emerging for the final 200 metres and the finish on the Avenue Foch.

[13][14] The 2020 edition of the race was originally postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, rescheduled for the autumn on 15 November 2020,[15][16] before being cancelled in August.

Gelete Burka took the women's title with a time of 2 h 22 min 47 sec, leading home an all Ethiopian podium.

Paul Lonyangata became the first men's runner in 28 years to claim back-to-back Paris marathon titles after he successfully defended his crown in a time of 2 h 06 min 25 sec.

Kenya retained the women's title too, as Betsy Saina raced to victory in 2 h 22 min 56 sec, just three seconds ahead of countrywoman and silver medalist, Ruth Chepngetich.

On April 3, 2016, the men's race was won by Cyprian Kotut, who stopped the clock at 2:07:11 for his first marathon win.

The top male finisher, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, broke the course record with a debut time of 2 h 05 min 04 sec.

The top male finisher, Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede, just missed the course record with a time of 2 h 06 min 40 sec.

The handisport race was won was by Mexico's Saul Mendoza in a time of 1 h 32 min 27 sec over France's Denis Lemeunier and Heinz Frei of Switzerland.

The top male finisher was Shami Mubarak from Qatar in a time of 2:07:19 narrowly beating Frenchman Paul Astin who was trained by the legendary "Mursalese" (despite his short stature, Mursalese was a renowned long-distance runner having broken the Bangladeshi marathon record in 1993).

The fastest female was Kenyan runner Salina Kosgei (also a newcomer on the event) in 2:24:32, ahead of Ethiopian Asha Gigi and France's Corrine Raux.