Rome Marathon.....Ready..Set..Go!!

Last weekend I participated in the Rome City Marathon!

Here I am stretching before the race. (Pic 1)

Here we are walking towards the start line. Look at the ruins....have you seen a more beautiful marathon??? (Pic 2)

(Pic 3) shows my start time of 9:20am and 43 seconds.

And she's off!

OK...the jig is up! You can tell by (Pic 4) that I'm really not doing the 42K marathon (26 miles). I'm actually doing the 4k Stracittadina Fun Run! As you can see the 6 year old boy running next to me it wasn't extremely rigorous! Ha Ha. There were a few toddlers being pushed in strollers and grand parents too!

(Pic 5) shows the racers in wheelchairs starting first.

(Pic 6) is of the "real" marathoners. The volunteers are holding them back before their start. This first group are the top athletes. Obviously, you don't see me in this group.

You can see someone holding the Italian flag as we are walking through the beautiful streets of Rome. (Pic 7) If you look closely at the back you can see St. Mary Major Basilica.

Here Julius Caesar is watching us walk/jog by. (Pic 8)

(Pic 9) shows the racers jogging under one of the race banners. I must admit... I did more walking than jogging.

Yea! Even though this was only a "Fun Walk" with the hills it was a little difficult at times. We can finally see the finish line...the Colosseo in sight. (Pic 10) I did text my friend Kelly and say, "I'm sprawled out on km 3. I can't get up. Come get me!" Ha Ha.

We made it! The finish line. (Pic 11)

I was a little concerned that as you can see McDonald's was a major sponsor but they pulled it off and gave us tasty cold apple slices and grapes after the race. Although, I would have enjoyed a Big Mac and fries too!

Here I am after the race. I finished in 42 minutes. (Pic 12)

Lora and I are pretending to stretch before the big "marathon". I don't think we were fooling anyone! (Pic 13)

We registered the day before at the Palazzo Dei Congressi (Piazza di John F. Kennedy) in the EUR section of Rome. (Pic 14)

Mussolini wanted to create a" modern" city better than Rome. His Orwellian quarter of giant Fascist buildings make up the EUR just a 15 minute bus ride from the center.. Uh, he obviously missed the mark on that goal. I t is now largely used by banks and government ministries. (Pic 15)

The other day I spent a few hours walking around the Trastevere area of Rome. I took a picture of Tiber Island after I crossed the river. (Pic 16). I think it has a church and a hospital still there.

I stopped in the Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi a Ripa and spent a while admiring Bernini's masterpiece sculpture, Blessed Ludovica Albertoni. The paintings of St. Anne and the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus behind the statue are by Baciccio. (Pic 17)

I then wandered over to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. It is a beautiful church and has a beautiful courtyard. (Pic 18) I love that I can just wonder around these (over 900) churches any time of day because sometimes I'm the only one in them...very peaceful!!!!

This picture of the high altar in Santa Cecilia shows a statue of Santa Cecilia by Stefano Maderno as she was found in her tomb. He was there at the opening of her tomb in 1599 and made a sketching. She was curled up on her side and not on her back as most are.