Sixteen thousand marathoners at the 17th edition of the 2011 Rome Marathon

This article is freely adapted from several press releases of the Rome Marathon.


After a significant effort to promote the event and with the Road Race IAAF Gold label, the Rome Marathon will depart on Sunday March 20th 2011, 
in via Fori Imperiali.


16,188 runners enrolled from 84 different countries, of which 9,147 are Italian, while 7,041 are international runners. Sixteen thousand runners represents a new high record for the Rome marathon, 5% higher than the previous edition.
This figure also represents the highest number of participants ever for an Italian marathon. 

On the international enrollment side, France confirms its first place with 1335 runners 
(+6% more against 2010), ahead of Germany, England, Spain and the United States. 
In the top ten foreign countries, Canada entered at the sixth place, while Denmark (tenth).
Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland are completing the ranking.



This year’s edition is labeled “Road Race IAAF Gold Label” for the first time. The IAAF Gold label is the most prestigious label awarded by the International Association of Athletics 
Federation. With this award, the Rome Marathon entered the top 16 marathon list, while last year it was the 17th largest competition in the world.


Both participants and the international media have always defined the route of 
the Rome Marathon “the most scenic in the world”.  The 2011 course is he 
traditional one, turning in via Ostiense after the first kilometers and back into the 
city centre at the end. The start line is in  via dei Fori Imperiali;  the route 
continues on to piazza Venezia, turns into via del Teatro Marcello, via dei Cerchi, 
via Ostiense, St. Paul’s Basilica, viale Marconi, Porta Portese, then stretches on 
all along the Lungotevere towards the Synagogue, the Ara Pacis, piazza Cavour, 
St. Peter’s Square near the Vatican; then back to the Lungotevere and to Foro 
Italico, one of the legendary places of the 1960’s  Rome Olympics. The route 
continues toward the  Mosque,  via Ripetta,  piazza Navona,  largo di Torre 
Argentina,  via del Corso, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna, the Trevi 
Fountain, piazza Venezia, via di San Gregorio, (where the finish line of the 1960’s Olympic marathon was), the Colosseo, and, finally, the finish line in via dei Fori 
Imperiali. The route stretches along more than  500 places of high historical, 
archeological, religious and architectural significance.  


The Rome Marathon has probably organized the best world pasta party,
in cooperation with "Gragnano in Corsa", a superb pasta-brand from Gragnano (Naples), the world's capital of pasta. The pasta party will take place at the Marathon Village on Friday 18 and Saturday 19, from 11am to 7pm.