The 20 Kilomètres de Paris (Paris 20 km) is an annual road running

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 competition over 20 kilometres which takes place on the streets of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in October. First held in 1979, the race attracts top level international competitors and holds IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status.

The competition was the idea of Michel Jazy

Michel Jazy

Michel Jazy is a former French middle distance runner, who won the silver medal over 1500 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The race was won by Herb Elliott in a new world record time...

, a French runner who was an Olympic medallist and two-time European Champion. The first edition was held through a joint effort by the Council of Paris

Council of Paris

The Council of Paris is the deliberative body responsible for the governing of Paris, the capital of France. It possesses simultaneously the powers of a Paris City Council and those of a General Council for the Département de Paris, as defined by the so-called PLM Law of 1982 that redefined the...

 and ASCAIR (the French Airforce's body for sport). The race has been organised under the auspices of ASCAIR since then.

The course for the competition has a double looped, figure 8 style. The start point of the race is in the Trocadéro

Trocadéro

The Trocadéro, , site of the Palais de Chaillot, , is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The hill of the Trocadéro is the hill of Chaillot, a former village.- Origin of the name :...

 near the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...

 and runners then cross the River Seine over the Pont d'Iéna

Pont d'Iéna

Pont d'Iéna is a bridge spanning the River Seine in Paris. It links the Eiffel Tower on the Left Bank to the district of Trocadéro on the Right Bank.-History:...

. It heads in an anti-clockwise loop through Bois de Boulogne

Bois de Boulogne

The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine...

 before completing a smaller, clockwise loop along the banks of the Seine. The finish point is the Musée du quai Branly

Musée du quai Branly

thumb|225px|Musée du quai BranlyThe Musée du quai Branly , known in English as the Quai Branly Museum, nicknamed MQB, is a museum in Paris, France that features indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum is located at 37, quai Branly -...

. The original race distance was 20.3 km, but this was reduced to 20 km in 1981. As a result of poor race organisation at the starting point, athlete's times from 1981 to 1992 are not accepted for record purposes; unusually quick times were recorded as some runners began the race a whole minute before the official starter's gun had been fired.

The men's and women's course records for the 20 km race are held by Kenyan athletes: Evans Cheruiyot

Evans Cheruiyot

Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. He started out as a half marathon runner, taking wins in Rotterdam and Nairobi, and won his debut marathon race in Milan in 2007...

 completed the distance in 57:19 minutes in 2005 and Hellen Jemaiyo Kimutai

Hellen Jemaiyo Kimutai

Hellen Jemaiyo Kimutai is a Kenyan marathon runner.She started out in cross country running and was fourth in the junior race at the 1993 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, taking the team gold medal with Kenya in a perfect score.Her personal best time is 2:25:53 hours, achieved in April 2003...

's time of 1:05:28 hours was set in 2000.

The race organisers abide by their own charter of ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 which – aside from outlining typical races rules and safety issues – includes the aims of increasing inclusion of women

Women's sports

Women's sports include amateur and professional competitions in virtually all sports. Female participation in sports rose dramatically in the twentieth century, especially in the last quarter, reflecting changes in modern societies that emphasized gender parity...

 in the sport of running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

 and promotion of environmentally-friendly

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

 attitudes.

Past winners

Key:

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Women's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )
1st	1979		1:01:30		1:11:29
2nd	1980		1:02:53		1:16:00
3rd	1981		57:35		1:09:58
4th	1982		57:47		1:06:19
5th	1983		57:15		1:07:14
6th	1984		57:22		1:08:20
7th	1985		55:51		1:06:21
8th	1986		57:19		1:06:34
9th	1987		59:31		1:08:39
10th	1988		59:33		1:09:44
11th	1989		58:46		1:06:37
12th	1990		59:15		1:10:48
13th	1991		59:28		1:09:37
14th	1992		57:20		1:09:34
15th	1993		58:40		1:06:37
16th	1994		58:20		1:08:04
17th	1995		58:45		1:07:26
18th	1996		58:22		1:07:33
19th	1997		57:35		1:07:15
20th	1998		57:46		1:06:21
21st	1999		57:54		1:06:36
22nd	2000		59:35		1:05:28
23rd	2001		1:02:17		1:10:50
24th	2002		57:38		1:06:44
25th	2003		58:26		1:06:29
26th	2004		59:36		1:07:36
27th	2005		57:19		1:08:17
28th	2006		59:23		1:10:52
29th	2007		58:07		1:07:35
30th	2008		57:42		1:08:05
31st	2009		59:33		1:05:30
32nd	2010		58:09		1:07:27
33rd	2011		58:11		1:06:04