Anyway, I did get an interesting press release overnight regarding the Rome, Italy marathon (site linked is written in Italian). It detailed how the event had just crossed over the 10,000 registrant mark with about 100 days to go to the race. I guess that's good or the Rome marathon wouldn't be bragging about it to some yutz in Maryland, USA, but I've run in 10 mile events that were bigger than that. Heck, the local Komen Race for the Cure 5K has drawn 30,000.
Finishing the Rome marathon like natives. (Note: This couple may, in fact, be native.)
[Pic courtesy Rome Marathon - © Christel Schemel]
So why am I writing about it here? Glad you asked. There was an interesting factoid about the registrants included in the release. It said that 57% of the people registered were from outside of Italy. That seems pretty impressive. Until I started thinking about it.
I've spent some time in Europe, and the thing that I liked about it was how easy it was to get on a train and travel anywhere. You could start the day in France, stop for lunch in Germany, and then bed down for the night in Austria. That's setting foot in three countries in a day with little fuss and little muss. With Europe being so small and so relatively easy to maneuver bragging the majority of your registrants come from somewhere else is like saying the majority of registrants for any race are from outside the town/city/state where it's held. And that's probably true for any race with more than a few hundred people participating. Ergo, it's not really that big of a deal.
Or maybe it's really special and I don't know what I'm talking about.
Also, what does this have to do with running? Nothing, really. Carry on.
Italy's not exactly a model for efficiency, so organizing a race with 10,000 participants is quite an accomplishment. The streets are small too, so there's sure to be some lovely hand gestures as well.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it would be like to run out of the country? You may be able to get in a days worth of sightseeing in pretty quick! I haven't ran outside the state of MD but I have done Komen, haha.
ReplyDeleteI think participating in the Komen race should give you credit for running on another planet.
ReplyDeleteId love to run in rome... hell who wouldnt? If the cute rabbit in front just happens to be french instead of italian i see no reason to complain ;)
ReplyDeleteBTW the three countries marathon takes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland http://www.sparkasse-marathon.at/ (site in german)