Florence Marathon

Florence Marathon

Florence's architecture features prominently – Piazza Santa Croce is the finishing point
Date Late November
Location Florence, Italy
Event type Road
Distance Marathon
Established 1984
Official site Florence Marathon

The Florence Marathon (Italian: Maratona di Firenze) is an annual full-length marathon race which takes place in late November in Florence, Italy. Established in 1984, the international competition has significantly grown in size since its inaugural edition of 462 runners[1] – a total of 10,211 runners started the 2010 edition, making it the second largest Italian marathon after the Rome City Marathon.[2]

Orlando Pizzolato, a two-time New York Marathon winner, was present to inaugurate the race in 1984.[3] The competition's first course was about a kilometre short of the true marathon distance, and it was increased for all subsequent editions.[4] The course, which was created in 2011, starts at the Lungarno Pecori Giraldi and finishes in Piazza Santa Croce. It passes through much of Florence's historical town centre, with architecture dating from the 13th century, including: Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and the Basilica of Santa Croce.[3]

From 2001 through 2010, the course began at Piazzale Michelangelo and had a zigzagging path through the centre[5] The bends and cobblestone roads made for a particularly difficult marathon and this led to the change in 2011 for an easier, faster race.[6][7] An AIMS-certified course,[8] it was ineligible for world records due to an overall net drop of 75 m from 2001 to 2009, but the current course is now eligible.[4]

Italians form the bulk of the runners, while France, Germany and the United Kingdom are usually the next most represented nationalities in the field.[9] From 2005 to 2009, the competition was annually broadcast live for three hours on the state-owned Rai Tre channel.[3] The race is among Italy's most prominent – it was selected to be the national championship marathon race for the first time in 2003.[4] The current course record holders are James Kutto, who set the men's record of 2:08:41 in 2006, and Helena Javornik, who ran 2:28:15 in 2002 to set the women's record.[10]

Past winners

The Piazza della Signoria is one of many Florentine squares along the course of the marathon.
Kenyan runner Alice Chelangat won the women's race in 2005.

Key:       Course record       Country's championship race       Short course

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
I 1984  Andrew Robertson (SCO) 2:15:23  Gillian Burley (ENG) 2:32:53
II 1985  Fausto Molinari (ITA) 2:17:44  Celia Duncan (ENG) 2:44:32
III 1986  Andrew Girling (ENG) 2:15:37  Graziella Striuli (ITA) 2:39:35
IV 1987  Trevor Fieldsend (ENG) 2:16:33  Carolyn Naisby (ENG) 2:33:23
V 1988  Edgardo Farinelli (ITA) 2:15:51  Manola Casalini (ITA) 2:43:14
VI 1989  Alberto Lucherini (ITA) 2:16:48  Christine VanPut (BEL) 2:39:45
VII 1990  Roman Kejžar (YUG) 2:18:57  Valentina Bottarelli (ITA) 2:44:23
VIII 1991  Alberto Lucherini (ITA) 2:16:33  Sheila Catford (SCO) 2:35:37
IX 1992  Ivo Rodrigues (BRA) 2:19:12  Ingrid Ekroll (NOR) 2:50:34
X 1993  Ivano Marcon (ITA) 2:16:39  Eva Petrik (HUN) 2:42:24
XI 1994  Antonio Clair Wathier (BRA) 2:14:03  Dana Hajna (CZE) 2:41:34
XII 1995  Bernard Boiyo (KEN) 2:15:36  Svetlana Netchaeva (RUS) 2:40:08
XIII 1996  Sammy Korir (KEN) 2:15:04  Bettina Sabatini (ITA) 2:33:51
XIV 1997  Ottaviano Andriani (ITA) 2:14:27  Matilde Ravizza (ITA) 2:47:00
XV 1998  Azzedine Sakhri (ALG) 2:16:39  Ida Kovacs (HUN) 2:44:16
XVI 1999  Michele Gamba (ITA) 2:11:51  Michaela McCallum (ENG) 2:38:28
XVII 2000  Angelo Carosi (ITA) 2:14:11  Tiziana Alagia (ITA) 2:32:18
XVIII 2001  Daniel Kirwa (KEN) 2:10:38  Florinda Andreucci (ITA) 2:32:26
XIX 2002  Michael Kapkiai (KEN) 2:11:15  Helena Javornik (SLO) 2:28:15
XX 2003  Angelo Carosi (ITA) 2:15:54  Anna Carmela Incerti (ITA) 2:34:40
XXI 2004  Benjamin Kiprotich (KEN) 2:11:34  Florence Barsosio (KEN) 2:29:11
XXII 2005  Samson Kosgei (KEN) 2:11:27  Alice Chelangat (KEN) 2:30:46
XXIII 2006  James Kutto (KEN) 2:08:41  Vincenza Sicari (ITA) 2:34:52
XXIV 2007  Paul Ngeny Kipkemboi (KEN) 2:12:50  Vincenza Sicari (ITA) 2:33:14
XXV 2008  Jackson Kirwa Kiprono (KEN) 2:12:37  Giovanna Volpato (ITA) 2:34:13
XXVI 2009  Benjamin Chebet Kipruto (KEN) 2:11:21  Eva-Maria Gradwohl (AUT) 2:35:41
XXVII 2010  Aredo Tolesa Tadese (ETH) 2:12:41  Firehiwot Dado (ETH) 2:28:58
XXVIII 2011  Berga Birhanu Bekele (ETH) 2:09:52  Asha Gigi (ETH) 2:31:36
XXIX 2012  Endeshaw Negesse Shumi (ETH) 2:09:59  Shuru Diriba Dulume (ETH) 2:30:08
XXX 2013  Oleksandr Sitkovskyy (UKR) 2:09:14  Abeba-Tekulu Gebremeskel (ETH) 2:30:37

By country

Country Men's race Women's race Total
 Italy 9 11 20
 Kenya 10 2 12
 Ethiopia 3 3 6
 England 2 4 6
 Brazil 2 0 2
 Hungary 0 2 2
 Scotland 1 1 2
 Slovenia 1 1 2
 Algeria 1 0 1
 Austria 0 1 1
 Belgium 0 1 1
 Czech Republic 0 1 1
 Norway 0 1 1
 Russia 0 1 1
 Ukraine 1 0 1

Participation

Number of race finishers
Year Men Women Total
2013 7839 1451 9290
2012 6577 1194 7771
2011 5924 1004 6928
2010 6611 1179 7790
2009 7025 1182 8207
2008 6181 1022 7203
2007 5356 931 6287
2006 5289 981 6270
2005 4201 679 4880
2004 3486 520 4006
2003 3428 561 3989
2002 2851 404 3255
2001 2351 291 2642
2000 2242 239 2481
1999 2055 186 2241
1998 2116 161 2277
1997 2170 194 2364
1996 2292 181 2473
1995 2166 145 2311
1994 1955 129 2084
1993 1470 78 1548
1992 1233 52 1285
1991 1022 45 1067
1990 1018 39 1057
1989 1127 43 1170
1988 1119 38 1157
1987 1247 50 1297
1986 1180 45 1225
1985 822 37 859
1984 448 14 462

References

  1. Sampaolo, Diego (2009-11-26). Record field of 10,000 runners the new barrier for Kosgei to clear – Florence Marathon, PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-30.
  2. Sampaolo, Diego (2010-11-29). Beating the rain and cold, Dado and debutante Tadese triumph in Florence. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Presentation. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Civai, Franco (2008-12-26). Firenze Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2009-11-30.
  5. Course plan 2009. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  6. Sampaolo, Diego (2008-11-30). Kenya and hosts share honours in Florence Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  7. The Course of XXVI Firenze Marathon. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  8. AIMS Race Directory. AIMS (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  9. Statistics 2008. Firenze Marathon (2008). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  10. Albo D'Oro (Italian). Firenze Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-12-02.

External links

Coordinates: 43°46′08″N 11°15′40″E / 43.76889°N 11.26111°E