Monday, January 31, 2011

2011 Naples Marathon results

Below you can find the results of 2011 Naples Marathon, where 400 athletes completed the 26.2 miles. 1 runner out of 15 were foreigner.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

3 Italian Downhill Marathons and implication on your performance

Treviso Elevation (minus 96 meters, 315 feet)

The IAAF defines "downhill marathon course" a competition where the course has a negative elevation between departure and arrival. At first cut, these types of competition should allow the average runner to perform better. The real question is therefore how much do such courses affect performance? Unfortunately the answer is surprising: not as much as you might think. Actually, it depends: in reality it is not the difference between departure and arrival that makes the difference, but the percentage of positive and negative elevation on the 26.2 miles course. 
Moreover, gain and loss depend on runners speed: every 100 feet (30.5 meters) of elevation descent speeds runners by 3.6% of his or her average one mile pace (2% grade/mile), while elevation gain would slow down runners by 6.6%, which is almost double the gain got from the descent. In other words, descent does not give back as much as ascent take away. 
The most famous downhill marathon in the US are St. George Utah Marathon in October and the Tucson Marathon in December. In Italy there are actually 3 marathons that are classified by IAAF as downhill, Treviso, Carpi and Collemar. The most popular is Treviso marathon (see the elevation profile on top). With more than 2000 runners, Treviso is the best organized event, with great local participation in the course. To see how the marathon experience looks like, readers can look at the Treviso marathon live experience link. The event takes usually place at the end of March and it is supported by Asics.
Carpi marathon Elevation (minus 100 meters, 330 feet)
The Ferrari Italian Marathon departing from Maranello (Ferrari's headquarter) and arriving in Carpi (Modena) is competing with Treviso both in the organization and in the performance of athletes. Details can be found in the Carpi marathon live experience
Finally, the Collemar Marathon is more a local event, with limited foreign runners, but it represents a truly great experience, with wonderful countryside, great food and outstanding organization. It does not provide great advantage to runners in term of performance, since the first part of the race is partly upphill (see below). Details can be found in the Collemar marathon live experience.
All Garmin tracks for the top 10 Italian marathons are available here.
Collemar marathon Elevation (minus 310 meters, 1000 feet) 

Monday, January 17, 2011

5 reasons to run the 2011 Milan City Marathon


This has been posted by the Milan City Marathon more than twelve months ago, but we believe it is still representing great reasons to participate to this event. 
Below you can find 5 compelling arguments to enroll to the 11th edition of the Milan City Marathon on April 10th 2011:



1. Because it has the fastest race course in Italy (the race record’s improves every year, in 2008 Duncan Kibet has stopped the clock at chronometer on the time of 2:07’53’’). From this year it will be at the beginning of the race season.



2. It is the chance to discover a city that is always on the run, at a different pace: you will be able to combine sport and tourism, seeing the monuments and the beauties of this unique city.


3. You will cross in the center of Milan and get the opportunity to shop in the world´s most fashionable city. You will be able to run side by side with people from the world of the fashion, politics and show business. Milan will host the Expo 2015.


4. Because everyone can run Milan: if you cannot complete enough training to run the full 42,195 Km you will be able to run the half marathon, or run with your friends in the relay marathon! There is one finish line for all the race distances: the iconic Piazza Castello 
in the heart of Milan.


5. Milan is the most well connected city in the world, besides the low cost flights there are hotel package deals that will allow you to spend a weekend in Milan for a reasonable price. 

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Italian Half Marathon top 30 ranking 2010

Below the list of the top 30 half Marathons in Italy, which represent a small proportion of the total number of competition in the country. Except for the top 5, the Italian half marathon list has regional participants (under parenthesis, the number of finishers in 2010).


TOP 10
1. Roma Ostia Half Marathon (8505), 28-Feb 2010, Rome 
2. Stramilano Half Marathon (3867), 21-Mar 2010, Milan  
3. Giulietta & Romeo Half Marathon (3826), 21-Feb 2010, Verona
4. Garda Trentino Half Marathon (2723), 14-Nov 2010, Riva del Garda (TN) 
5. Monza Half Marathon (2517), 19-Sep 2010, Monza (MI) 
6. Palmanova Half Marathon (2337), 21-Nov 2010,  Palmanova (UD) 
7. Agropoli Half Marathon (2280), 10-Oct 2010, Agropoli (SA) 
8. Cremona Half Marathon (2273), 17-Oct 2010, Cremona 
9. Turin Half Marathon (2112) 26-Sep 2010, Turin 
10. Lago Maggiore Half Marathon (2024) 7-Mar 2010, Verbania 


TOP 20
11. Fiumicino Half Marathon (2018) 14-Feb 2010, Rome 
12. Mezza Maratona delle Due Perle (1967), 14-Feb 2010, Santa Margherita Ligure (GE) 
13. Maratonina dei Tre Comuni (1936), 31-Jan 2010, Nepi (VT)
14. Bavisela Half Marathon (1869), 2-May Trieste 
15. UniCredit Run Tun up Bologna (1592), 5-Sep 2010, Bologna 
16. Dogi Half Marathon (1481), 11-Apr 2010 Stra (Venice) 
17. Montefortiana Half Marathon (1428), 17-Jan 2010, Monteforte d'Alpone (Verona) 
18. Scarpa d'oro Half Marathon (1411), 21-Mar 2010, Vigevano (Milan) 
19. Strapiacenza Half Marathon for Unicef (1409), 7-Mar 2010, Piacenza 
20. Padua Half Marathon (1405), 25-Apr 2010, Padua 


TOP 30
21. Busto Half Marathon (1390), 7-Nov 2010, Busto Arsizio (VA)
22. Udine Half Marathon (1332), 26-Sep 2010, Udine 
23. Genova Half Marathon (1331), 18-Apr 2010, Genova 
24. Meran Half Marathon (1287), 25-Apr 2010, Meran 
25. Gardaland Half Marathon (1150), 5-Dec 2010, Castelnuovo del Garda (Verona)
26. Flowers Half Marathon (1133), 18-Apr 2010, San Benedetto del Tronto (AP) 
27. Vivicittà Firenze Half Marathon (1102), 11-Apr 2010, Florence 
28. Half Marathon MareMonti (1064), 11-Apr 2010, Sorrento (Naples) 
29. Naples Half Marathon (1056), 18-Apr 2010, Naples 
30. Palermo Half Marathon (1035), 21-Nov 2010, Palermo

Monday, January 3, 2011

10 reasons to run the new Naples Marathon on the 30th of January 2011


According to the Naples Marathon website, these are ten reasons to run the International Naples Marathon on January 30th 2011. Compared to previous years, the event has been put forward by three months (January vs. April) to avoid competing in an overcrowded space with big marathons. This is indeed a great intuition, since it is very cold to run in the North of Europe in January, but ideal in the South. Organizer's expectation is to double the number of participants in 2011 (430 runners completed the marathon in 2010).

Those are the 10 reasons:

1-The course is pretty smooth, almost completely flat and well paved, with few turns limiting runners' speed
2-The Marathon Village is very closed to the Marathon start and finish and it is located in Piazza del Plebiscito, in front of the Royal Palace
3-You can run on one of the world's most beautiful promenades and main roads of the city center
4-The average temperature in January of Naples is ideal for a marathon (according to ilmeteo.it, the temperature on the day of the race will be 7-9 degrees C at the departure and 13-14 degrees C few hours later)
5-If you are not ready to run the 26.2 miles marathon, you can still compete with the race relay with two friends (not mentioned by the website as key reason, however runners can also take part to the Half Marathon)
6- Registration fees are very low (according to the site, 30 euro are the current fee, while 35 euro needs to be paid after the 20th of January. You can pay through the Active.com network as well)
7-You can stay at low cost, two excellent 4-star Hotels, being arranged to suit your needs (the two hotels are the Grand Hotel Oriente, which is located 100 meters from the departure and the Hotel Villa Capodimonte, ideal for relaxing week-end, also offering a shuttle to/from the Marathon departure/arrival. According to the site, the price for each night is 80 euro for a double bed, and 105 for a triple. Both hotels support an extended check-out to allow runners to take shower after the race)
8- The "Neapolis New Marathon" testimonial is a great Tuscan athlete Gloria Marconi, a symbol of loyalty and passion for sport (Gloria is a retired athlete who won the 2003 edition of the Rome Marathon in 2h29)
9- The organizing committee has been greatly strengthened, rising from three to eleven executives
10- You can find out with us, why the city of Naples is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

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