Rome Hotels near Rome Marathon

From Italian pastry chef Dorando Pietri’s heroic but ill-fated finish at the 1908 London Olympics, to Ethiopia’s Adbebe Bikila’s triumphant barefoot run through the dark along the torch-lit Appian Way and into the Olympic Stadium, Rome’s connection to the marathon has been a special one. The organizers of the modern Rome Marathon seem determined to live up to that tradition; they claim that in its thirteen-year existence it has already become “the most participated sporting event in Italy.”

The Rome Marathon, in fact, does draw an enormous number of both Italian and international runners. One very logical reason for its popularity is that its 42-plus kilometre course is not only almost completely flat; it also leads its brave-hearted travelers though the most hallowed sites of ancient Rome, keeping them both well-hydrated, and well-nourished along the way.

The 2007 Rome Marathon, for example, began along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the base of the Capitoline Hill, progressing between the Circus Maximus and the Roman Forum, past St. Paul’s Basilica and the Piramide Cestius, and continuing to the palm-graced Piazza Cavour and the front of St. Peter’s basilica. Winding along the Tiber River, it reached the halfway mark near the Foro Italico.

The runners crossed the Tiber, ran past both the Mosque at the foot of Villa Ada’s green spaces and the Parco della Musica, and began retracing their steps towards Via dei Fori. Imperiali. They went by the Villa Borghese and Piazza Navona, Augustus Caesar’s obelisk at the Piazza del Popolo, around the Colosseum, to the Arch of Constantine, and to the finish, where medals awaited all who completed the course in less than eight hours!

The Rome Marathon offers liquid sustenance to its participants every five kilometres, and beginning after twenty-five kilometres, solid food in the form of fruit, sugar cubes, and biscuits. There are sponge stations at closer intervals, and at the watering stations, toilets and basic medical care. There are also busses to take stragglers on to the finish line.

For those who have only one day to spend in Rome, and want to make sure they see everything, participating in the Rome marathon will not only get them through their guide books in record time; it will eliminate their need to stop for refreshments!

Accommodations Convenient to the Rome Marathon

A stay at the aptly-named four-star Gladiatori Hotel Rome, with a dining terrace overlooking the Colosseum, will place Marathon participants and spectators only a ten minute walk from all the sights of the Via dei Fori Imperiali.