Roma Marathon 18/3/2012

seanin4711

Thinking of this next year,anyone done it?
any advice/
Best place for accomodation etc!
thanks
j

misty floyd

Sorry Sean, I can't help but I was curious to know when it is. 18th March 2012.
Here is the webpage if anyone is interested: http://www.maratonadiroma.it/default.aspx

EDIT: some 5* reviews on Marathon Guide: http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=757120318

RayCun

There was some discussion of Rome last year.

anymore

seanin4711 wrote: »

Thinking of this next year,anyone done it?
any advice/
Best place for accomodation etc!
thanks
j

Hi - yes I did it last year and loved it. I booked accommodation through booking.com and found a place near the main railway station Termini. I was looking for budget accommodation and it was around € 70 a night which I thought good. ( Right now forget the name of hotel ) There are quite a lot of hotels in this area in the budget category. I didnt book until about two weeks before going. Being near Termini is handy on race morning as getting to start is simply hopping on train for direct trip to stop. IMPORTANT - read the Marathon instructions as to which station to get off for access to the starting point.
If you are looking for a PB, then get up as far forward at the start line as you can as the first 3-5 miles are on congested roads - only one half of the road is used- and there are several choke points. About 16,000 run so get to start line early. Enjoy.
Also allow plenty of time to out to the Congress to collect your race number etc as it is it on the outskirts of Rome- say two or more hours.
P.s if you are not a member of a running club, they will ask for a doctor's certificate - if you are a member of an affiliated club, you will not need the doctors name but you will need to provide documentary evidence of membership of club. As it happens I had to provide copy of letter from my club ( we dont have membership cards) and also a copy of a membership card of Athletics Ireland - fortunately the secretary of my club had anticipated this and had got one for me.) After providing these two pieces of evidence, they then sent me an email asking for a copy of proof of payment of the entry fee ! So I had to send them a copy of the email they had had sent me confirming payment of entry fee by credit card. Once this bureaucratic business had been sorted out, everything else went very smoothly and the organisation of race is good. Must say I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope to go back again next year.

Woddle

I remember looking at this before and saw cobbles being mentioned. Not sure how often of for how long they appear in the race but it was enough to discourage me.

anymore

Woddle wrote: »

I remember looking at this before and saw cobbles being mentioned. Not sure how often of for how long they appear in the race but it was enough to discourage me.

Yes there are cobbles on long sections and in places they are in pretty poor conditions but I wouldnt be put off by them from entering next year.
there are probably sections of many marathons where there are uneven surfaces. _ I am thinking of one section of the Clon marathon, down a flat country road, where sections of the raod was split and on other parts where there were little streamlets of water flowing !
ON one section of the Dingle marathon/half marathon course, along the coast raod, there is a very sharp hair pin bend where a stream crosses the road and flows on to the sea - on the day of the race it was ok to step through, but the next day the rains had swollen it and I cannot see how it could have been crossed withouth getting soaked shoes - I drove through it next day.
So I would say dont worry too much about the cobbles.

central park

Have been considering this too for next year but wondering are all athletics clubs in Ireland affiliated with the IAAF and would being a member of a club save me the hassle and expense of getting medical cert from a doctor.

anymore

central park wrote: »

Have been considering this too for next year but wondering are all athletics clubs in Ireland affiliated with the IAAF and would being a member of a club save me the hassle and expense of getting medical cert from a doctor.

I imagine most ' Athletic Clubs' are but just ask secretary of any club you might be intending to join if they are. Yes membership of an affliated club will mean you do not require a doctor's certificate to run in Italy. Just ask the club sec to get you a membership card for Athletic's ireland and if the club does not have membership cards for the club itself, then get them to give a letter on headed note paper confirming you qre a member as well as the Athletics Ireland card. It sounds a but fussy and bureacratic but it is worth the effort as it is a great city to run in.In fact eariler this year Marathon Roma said in asnwer to my query, if I entered the 2012 marathon as soo as the enteries were open, that they would accept the documents I submotted for 2010 as the necessary proof which was decent of them. As it happens I did not enter then so will have to resubmit valid documents when I do as normal. In contreat I understand that there is no lee way in France where you must submit a doctor's cert. I ran a marathon in Holand in Feb and there was no requirement for a cert.

The race itself goes right by St Peters Sq - you run up the main avenue to the entrance of the circle of the square and then go right down the side street. So you get to see quite a lot of the old city passing some through some of the more famous squares. the race itself begins and ends right at the Colisseum and if that is not enough to inspire runners - I dont know what is ! Happily those failing to get a PB are not thrown to the lions !

seanin4711

Pay the fee and register online.
But what else?
Say if my club is registered with iaaf then what?
Thanks in advance

anymore

seanin4711 wrote: »

Pay the fee and register online.
But what else?
Say if my club is registered with iaaf then what?
Thanks in advance

" Just ask the club sec to get you a membership card for Athletic's ireland and if the club does not have membership cards for the club itself, then get them to give a letter on headed note paper confirming you qre a member as well as the Athletics Ireland card "

central park

Im finding it difficult entering Rome Marathon, can I enter now and send club membership details later on. Our club membership runs jan to dec so wont be able to do this til Jan as it has to be valid for time of race. The website is not great! thanks for all the nfo up to now though!

anymore

central park wrote: »

Im finding it difficult entering Rome Marathon, can I enter now and send club membership details later on. Our club membership runs jan to dec so wont be able to do this til Jan as it has to be valid for time of race. The website is not great! thanks for all the nfo up to now though!

I think you can begin the process without paying - they will send you some emails. From memory I think i entered about Christmas but didnt actually finish the process and pay by credit card and furnish the details until about the first week of march.
I suggest you take the first few steps in regitering your name and details and see what replies you get.
When you say you are finding it difficult, what do you mean exactly ?
I know I asked one question on the marathon Roma page via my facebook page and got a response pretty promptly.

central park

Agreed to the privacy policy then entered details and pressed next and it wont move on to next page!! this is annoying me!!!

anymore

central park wrote: »

Agreed to the privacy policy then entered details and pressed next and it wont move on to next page!! this is annoying me!!!

Ok I have just entered my details and after being reminded to fill in correct date and the Code, which I did, it moved on to the next page wihich is the details of marathons run.
Check everything again

central park

I was even struggling with entering the date!!!What is the code? maybe thats where I was going wrong

anymore

central park wrote: »

I was even struggling with entering the date!!!What is the code? maybe thats where I was going wrong

You knw the box with the title CAP ?I assume that they are looking for a postal code and simply write ROI. I put in ROI now as a matter of routine whnever filling in online forms.
Make sure every box with a red * is filled in.

central park

OK, so finally I'm in!! Thanks for all your help!

anymore

central park wrote: »

OK, so finally I'm in!! Thanks for all your help!

You are welcome - i might see you there !

seanin4711

I went into the reserved area of the site and under the "documents upload" section it asks for proof of payment(fair enough) and copy of health form.
Now I did state that I was affiliated to the AAI as in foreign athletics association on the registration process(is this enough?) , so I was wondering what is the craic?
Tad confused here!
any help would be great!
ta!

central park

You're in the same boat as me, the website is a disaster! I think I am finally in though. I got a code from them and a confirmation email there a while ago. I just said I'm a member of a club too, which I will join in January and then send on the details they need. despite all the hassle, it's a very good value marathon for just €40 til 13th October.

anymore

seanin4711 wrote: »

I went into the reserved area of the site and under the "documents upload" section it asks for proof of payment(fair enough) and copy of health form.
Now I did state that I was affiliated to the AAI as in foreign athletics association on the registration process(is this enough?) , so I was wondering what is the craic?
Tad confused here!
any help would be great!
ta!

1. I assume you havent paid as yet, is that right ?
Last year I registered in Nov and in Jan received an email from them reminding me that I had not yet paid. So I sent them the following email :

" Sorry for delay in replying - I had to await receipt of my registration number with Athletics Ireland.
I attach copy of my membership card of Athletics Ireland for 2011, Annual Reg No .****** and a letter from my running club confirming my member ship number with Athletics Ireland . I understand this will eliminate the need to provide a medical certification. I should like to pay fee by credit card - should I re -register in order to make payment, i,e go through the Registration processs again ?
Thnak you and I look forward to reply."
I attaced a copy of the letter from Running club and a photocopy of the membership card of Athletics ireland.
I foget the exact serquence of events after that but I think they uploaded the documents for me and then I was able to pay the fee.
Now I did have to pay the fee apprproate for someone entering in March and not the fee for when I first uploaded in Nov - I had no problem with that as it is when you pay your money is the real entry.
It did take about 4/5 emails in all to sort everything out.
So if you did not have a membership number of a club and/or Athletics ireland right now, then you probably wont be able to finalise matters until then . S

anymore

central park wrote: »

You're in the same boat as me, the website is a disaster! I think I am finally in though. I got a code from them and a confirmation email there a while ago. I just said I'm a member of a club too, which I will join in January and then send on the details they need. despite all the hassle, it's a very good value marathon for just €40 til 13th October.

Central i am assuming you havent paid as yet, is that right ?
From my experience last year, the price you will pay depends on the date when you pay rather than when you enter your details. So if you wait until jan you will pay the Jan price i think. I suppose if you have paid now, then you are ok.

central park

Yes I have paid and it has gone onto credit card

anymore

central park wrote: »

Yes I have paid and it has gone onto credit card

You should be grand so !
They sent me a confirmation email too - does this mean I have to go ???:)

central park

I was wondering the same thing!! Ah sure, we'll be fine after the Xmas!