Rome, now, today, right now, as two thousand years ago. Rome the invincible and eternal. Rome forever. The city of Fellini’s “La dolce vita”, where you fall in love with every step and where every step can make you feel like a glorious marathon runner.

Rome awaits you: majestic, noisy, colourful, and in a state of celebration. Rome is unique. With the spine-tingling romantic sunset at Janiculum Hill and the taciturn sunrise over Lungotevere. 42.195 km imbued with art and history, of cobblestones stepped on in the past by Roman gladiators with battered sandals and today trampled by hundreds of thousands of marathon runners who have already raced there in the last 28 years.

These are runners who became real marathon runners in Rome. Eternal ones. Starting from the Colosseum, they have wept along the Imperial Fora on the first kilometre of a journey called the Marathon. And then they shed warm tears again on arrival, because the excitement of winning a medal is always irrepressible.
Along the way, every marathon runner has come across monuments that only Rome – and no other place in the world –can offer, emotions that can only be experienced in the Eternal City. The road rolls by, asphalt and cobblestones, maritime pines and the applause of thousands of fans along the roads that run alongside the open-air museum you can find only here.

Those who run in Rome make history, run amid history, and retrace history.

The marathon in the Italian capital has a strong tradition. We could go back over a century to 2 April 1906, when the Emilian Dorando Pietri won the marathon, crossing the finishing line in Piazza di Siena. We could go back 60 years, to that magical night of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, when Ethiopian Abebe Bikila opened the season of African marathon runners, running the whole race barefoot. He became a legend, his stride along Appia Antica illuminated by torches is pure athletics history, as is the photo of him winning on arrival at the Arch of Constantine.

More gold medals again, this time at the World Championships on 6 September 1987 with the success of Kenyan-Japanese Douglas Wakiihuri, a great icon of world running.

The marathon we all know today originated in 1995 with the Italia Marathon Club and in 2011 was awarded the prestigious IAAF Gold Label recognition. In 2019 the organisation was entrusted to FIDAL, and since 2020 there has been a new organising committee formed by Infront, Corriere dello Sport – Stadio, Italia Marathon Club and Atielle Roma. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the edition planned for 29 March 2020 could not take place; with just a few weeks to go before the start, it had to be cancelled on account of a global lockdown that stopped it from being held. At the Alba Edition Special Race on Sunday, 19 September 2021, the mission of heightening emotions was entrusted, a goal achieved thanks to the departure at dawn, with the sun’s rays illuminating the monuments, a unique and unrepeatable opportunity to experience an exciting page of history, to the notes of  the Tenor Carlo Asogna and to the thousands of marathon runners who made their steps and their joy felt, leaving a mark of their passage in the Eternal City forever. In 2022, the winner, the Ethiopian Fikre Bekele Tefera, achieved a new male record with the first three men at the finish line. Even for women, there is great satisfaction in having shown that the route is among the smoothest ones on Italian soil: the first two women, in fact, achieved the first two best performances on Italian soil in 2023.

2023 will be remembered for the National Anthem sung live by Tenor Carlo Asogna, the 40 entertainment events with games, shows and music along the way, the magic and amazement of the flyover of the Tricolour Arrows combined with the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Italian Air Force while the marathon runners waited for the start, religiously lined up at the starting line between the Colosseum and the Imperial Forums.

Recent editions have attracted over 115 participating countries, while in the men’s roll of honour there have been 14 successes for Kenya, 10 for Ethiopia, 3 for Italy with Stefano Baldini, Ruggero Pertile and Alberico Di Cecco, and 1 for Morocco, during the last edition. For women, we find victories that fly the flag in 11 cases for Ethiopia, 5 for Kenya, 3 for Russia, and 1 for each of Estonia, Ukraine and Algeria. There is also a significant Italian presence: six times, thanks to the victories of Franca Fiacconi, Maura Viceconte, Maria Guida, Maria Cocchetti, Gloria Marconi and Ornella Ferrara.

The race record is held by the Ethiopian Fikre Bekele Tefera, who reached the Imperial Forum in 2022 in 2h 06’48”, while the fastest woman ever was Kebede Megertu Alemu (Ethiopia), who ran it in 2h 22′ 52″ in 2019.