Over 13,000 runners expected in annual sporting event

The 40th Rome-Ostia half marathon takes place at 09.15 on Sunday 2 March. This year more than 13,000 runners are expected to take part in the 21-km marathon which began in 1974.

The route begins near Palazzo dello Sport in EUR and continues along Via Cristoforo Colombo in the direction of the seafront at Ostia where it finishes at 13.00. There is also a non-competitive five-km Euroroma2Run in EUR.

Names to watch out for in the men's section include Kenyans Robert Chemosin, Simon Cheprot, Kiprop Limo and Titus Masai, as well as Ethiopia's Shami Abdulhai.

Some of the top women running in the marthon include Kenya's Sharon Cherop and Caroline Chepkwony, and the Turkish-Ethiopian runner Elvan Abeylegesse, while the Italian champion marathon runners include Domenico Ricatti, Denis Curzi, Anna Incerti and Rosaria Console.

However the Italian likely to attract the most attention is Abdon Pamich, the 80-year-old athlete who won a gold medal in the 50km race at the Tokyo Olympic games in 1964. Pamich says he is running to relive the memory of participating in the inaugural Rome-Ostia marathon 40 years ago.

Last year's event was dominated by Kenyan runners. It was won by Kenya’s Wilson Kiprop, equalling his personal best of 59:15. Kiprop’s compatriots Robert Chemosin and Simon Cheprot followed him to take second and third place, with times of 59:19 and 59:20 respectively. The fastest woman was Kenya’s Flomena Cheyech who crossed the finishing line at 67:39, followed seven seconds later by fellow Kenyan Agnes Kiprop.

In 2013 the event was awarded the prestigious Gold Label award from the International Association of Athletics Associations (IAAF), seen as recognition of excellence.

For full details see the marathon website.