Registration open for annual Rome marathon.

The 23rd edition of the 42-km Maratona di Roma, which begins and ends at the Colosseum, takes place at 08.40 on Sunday 2 April.

The 2016 winners of the men’s and women’s titles were Kenya's Amos Kipruto with a time of 2:08:12, and Ethiopia's Rahma Tusa with 2:28:49. There were almost 15,000 participants, with 13,831 completing the race, an increase of 2,315 from 2015. Last year's race also featured 37 runners who had taken part in each of the 21 previous editions.

The time limit for crossing the finish line is seven hours, and anyone who fails to reach the halfway mark within three and a half hours will be required to give up. Those who last the distance however will be rewarded with a medal, a goody bag and a foil wrap to stay warm.

In addition to the main event there is the non-competitive RomaFun, a 4-km fun run in the Circus Maximus area.

The marathon, whose inaugural outing in 1974 attracted just 313 runners, will result in numerous traffic diversions and street closures, for details see the Muoversi a Roma website nearer the time.

For full details including registration and route see marathon website.