Meeting on Sunday November, 29th 2009 with the 26th edition of the International classic road race
The wrapping glamour of centuries of art, history and culture accompanies you step by step along the 42 kilometres and 195 meters of the Florence Marathon. A unique emotion which can be told only by those who have run in Florence and which has made the classic race of Florence an appointment that cannot be missed by thousand of sportsmen and enthusiasts who each year punctually come from all over the world on the last Sunday in November. The Florentine event has gained exponential importance during the recent years, so much that on last November 30th on the occasion of its XXV edition a new record of participants has been achieved with over 9.141 runners (6.477 Italians and 2.664 foreigners) coming from 58 countries.
The record of the men’s race has been established by the 24-year old Kenyan James Kutto who won his race in 2h08’41”: fourth time ever for the winner of an Italian marathon. A record has been achieved also with regard to the number of athletes crossing the finishing line: 7.203 runners. Amazing numbers, in witness of a development both numerical and qualitative, which has transformed the Florence Marathon into the second Italian marathon second to the Rome race.
An event, which is not only a sport event, but also a custom and cultural enchanting event. This is the common feeling joining thousands of runners and shared by the large audience of Raitre channel, watching the three-hour live broadcast of the XXV Florence Marathon by Tgs-Raisport. This is the fourth consecutive year dedicated by Rai to the live broadcast of the Florentine event, as well-deserved appreciation of the growing importance this event has achieved during the recent years. Mentioning numbers only, however, won’t convey the right value to a marathon which has now reached full excellence as to its organizational level and which can boast an exceptional stage such as the city of Florence, unique in the world for its beauty and atmosphere.
The Florence Marathon is the main road race event taking place in Tuscany, which together with Rome is rightly by now the most important international marathon in Italy and among the first 20 marathons in the world as far as quality and number of participants. The event inaugurated by Orlando Pizzolato, multi-winner of the New York Marathon, has been attended during the years by some of the main Italian athletes such as Giacomo Leone, Francesco Ingargiola, Michele Gamba, Fabio Rinaldi, Denis Curzi and Angelo Carosi, in the men’s field, Tiziana Alagia, Gloria Marconi, Florinda Andreucci, Bettina Sabatini, Anna Rita Incerti and Vincenza Sicari, in the women’s field, just to mention a few, besides top-ranking foreign runners. James Kutto, Kenyan beginner over the long distance, who crossed the finishing line in 2h08’41 “, exceeding the record established by his compatriot Daniel Kirwa Too in the year 2001, with 2h10’38”, has established the men’s record of the event in the year 2006. On the contrary, the women’s record has been established during the 2002 edition by the Slovenian Helena Javornik, winning with the excellent time of 2h28’15”.
I’ll be there! 🙂