My Forum

Friday 8th March update:

Cardinals have announced today that the conclave to choose a new Pope will begin on Tuesday, March 12. On the same day, a desisional meeting with the Municipality and the Prefecture of Rome will take place to see where we stand with the Marathon. As previously stated, in case of Enthronement of the new Pontiff falling on March 17, we are likely to be asked to be required to postpone the race to the afternoon, with start between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

If you are a 3'30" runner and it starts at 2pm you will just catch the last BA flight.

Paul, your point about finishing in the dark is valid because the finishing stretch is on rough pave and the streetlighting is not too hot, so you would need to be very careful. Rough ground and tired runners are a risky mix as I know well from the finishes of sky runs in the alps.

I was going to run this with my son; it would have been his first. I live in Milan and he was going to fly out from London.

The score today is this. The cardinals are under pressure to have a pope in place before March 24th and since a coronation can only take place on a Sunday then it looks like it will be the 17th.

The race organisers are being very cynical. They know that over 60% of the field can not run if the start is at 4pm, but if they cancelled completely then they would have to refund (no offers from the vatican to compensate people they have inconvenienced).

If you are coming and are worried about the weather, this is the best site http://www.tempoitalia.it/meteo/roma however it should not be hot, say about 12 - 14c. That being said, this is Italy and in Milan in 2011 we had a freak heatwave and ran the MCM in 40c!!

I am keeping my final decision until next Tuesday but if I cancel I still lose €700 in train and plane tickets - thanks Pope.

Has anyone had problems with their registration for the Mont Blanc Marathon or 80Km?

I know of several people, British, Italian and French, who registered successfully but have since received emails saying their registration has been cancelled without a reason being given.

I bought a pair of Brooks Pure at the end of January and broke them in gradually. 1 run per week, then 2 and so on. It is a lot of fun studying your own style, like learning to walk again, trying it slow, then fast, noticing your different footfalls etc.

The end result after 2 months? My RE pace has gone from 5.0 mpk to 4.5 mpk, my Yasso pace has gone from 3.6 mpk to 3.42 mpk and I have no plantar or achilles problems after a 40 km run - what's really amazing is that none of this feels any harder then before.

The real tests are about to come when I run the Stramilano Half Marathon on 25 March then the Milan Marathon on 15th April.

I am quietly confident.