Rome in 2017
In July 2016 we bought our tickets to visit Rome in April 2017. The main reason to choose April was the marathon, of course.
Registering for the Rome marathon was a marathon in itself. The Italian organizers demand a full medical check-up with four different specialists. I had to run around Montreal's hospitals to get all the paperwork needed for my registration.
This time I decided to do the marathon at the beginning of the trip. Usually I do the sightseeing first and then finish the vacation with a marathon, but this time I decided to run on the second day of the trip and do all the sightseeing afterwards.
So, on March 31st we were boarding our plane to Italy.
After leaving our luggage at the hotel, we went to the Marathon Expo to pick up my bib. Unfortunately, the organizers showed how disorganized they were right there at the expo: we had to wait outside the congress center for more than one hour under the sun before getting in:
And when we got in, we saw there was really no reason for the long line up! The Italians could learn a thing or two (or ten...) with the organizers from the other races in which I have participated.
Inside the congress center we had to walk through corridors and more corridors before getting to the place where we would get our t-shirt and other stuff. I stopped for a picture in front of the course map:
Well, we got back to our hotel, had dinner and went to bed early to compensate for the jet lag that would certainly hit us the next few days.
The following morning I was up early and got ready for the race:
Our hotel was close to start of the marathon, we walked alongside a multitude of runners that took the streets in the early morning.
There were two races happening at the same time: the marathon and the 5K. And of course, there was no signage to indicate where we should go. It was another runner, who was going to participate in the 5K, who told us that we were in the wrong place, the marathon would start near the Colosseum. Oh well...
Here am I, in front of the Colosseum, going to the start point:
The day before was sunny, so for the big day I had my sun glasses on:
They were useless, it rained all day:
The pace makers were identified by bright coloured balloons:
It started raining as soon as I crossed the start line and the rain stayed with us for most of the day. Here am I around km 12:
While I was running around Rome, my wife spent her morning walking through some impressive sites:
During my preparation for the marathon I used a training program provided by Nike. It was a great help, I liked it very much.
I believe that the fact that I did the marathon at the beginning of my trip and not at the end also helped me improve my time. I raced right after my last week of training, so there was no loss of fitness.
The race went wonderfully for me, I ran stronger than ever. Usually I do a good first half (from 2h10m to 2h20m) and then I fall apart in the second half and do it in almost three hours for a total time of more than five hours. Not this time. This time my time for the first and second halves were almost the same, I was only five minutes slower in the second part of the race.
I crossed the finish line with a new PR of 4h45m16s:
Here is the beautiful medal:
Even though the organizers didn't help and the weather was horrible, I'll have good memories of this marathon.
Here are my official splits:
Registering for the Rome marathon was a marathon in itself. The Italian organizers demand a full medical check-up with four different specialists. I had to run around Montreal's hospitals to get all the paperwork needed for my registration.
This time I decided to do the marathon at the beginning of the trip. Usually I do the sightseeing first and then finish the vacation with a marathon, but this time I decided to run on the second day of the trip and do all the sightseeing afterwards.
So, on March 31st we were boarding our plane to Italy.
After leaving our luggage at the hotel, we went to the Marathon Expo to pick up my bib. Unfortunately, the organizers showed how disorganized they were right there at the expo: we had to wait outside the congress center for more than one hour under the sun before getting in:
And when we got in, we saw there was really no reason for the long line up! The Italians could learn a thing or two (or ten...) with the organizers from the other races in which I have participated.
Inside the congress center we had to walk through corridors and more corridors before getting to the place where we would get our t-shirt and other stuff. I stopped for a picture in front of the course map:
Well, we got back to our hotel, had dinner and went to bed early to compensate for the jet lag that would certainly hit us the next few days.
The following morning I was up early and got ready for the race:
Our hotel was close to start of the marathon, we walked alongside a multitude of runners that took the streets in the early morning.
There were two races happening at the same time: the marathon and the 5K. And of course, there was no signage to indicate where we should go. It was another runner, who was going to participate in the 5K, who told us that we were in the wrong place, the marathon would start near the Colosseum. Oh well...
Here am I, in front of the Colosseum, going to the start point:
The day before was sunny, so for the big day I had my sun glasses on:
They were useless, it rained all day:
The pace makers were identified by bright coloured balloons:
It started raining as soon as I crossed the start line and the rain stayed with us for most of the day. Here am I around km 12:
While I was running around Rome, my wife spent her morning walking through some impressive sites:
During my preparation for the marathon I used a training program provided by Nike. It was a great help, I liked it very much.
I believe that the fact that I did the marathon at the beginning of my trip and not at the end also helped me improve my time. I raced right after my last week of training, so there was no loss of fitness.
The race went wonderfully for me, I ran stronger than ever. Usually I do a good first half (from 2h10m to 2h20m) and then I fall apart in the second half and do it in almost three hours for a total time of more than five hours. Not this time. This time my time for the first and second halves were almost the same, I was only five minutes slower in the second part of the race.
I crossed the finish line with a new PR of 4h45m16s:
Here is the beautiful medal:
Even though the organizers didn't help and the weather was horrible, I'll have good memories of this marathon.
Here are my official splits:
| Split | Time | min/Km | Delta | min/Km |
| Via Ostiense (5K) | 0:32:09 | 6:25 | 0:32:09 | 6:25 |
| Via Rolli (10K) | 1:04:50 | 6:29 | 0:32:41 | 6:32 |
| Viale Mazzini (21.097K) | 2:20:07 | 6:38 | 1:15:17 | 6:47 |
| Ponte Duca d'Aosta (25K) | 2:43:51 | 6:33 | 0:23:44 | 6:04 |
| Viale della XVII Olimpiade (30K) | 3:16:24 | 6:32 | 0:32:33 | 6:30 |
| Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia (35K) | 3:50:00 | 6:34 | 0:33:36 | 6:43 |
| Piazza di Spagna (40K) | 4:26:47 | 6:40 | 0:36:47 | 7:21 |
| Via dei Fori Imperiali (FINISH) | 4:45:16 | 6:45 | 0:18:29 | 8:25 |
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