The 15th Maratona della Città di Roma, scheduled for Sunday, March 22, in the Italian capital, is once again offering generous bonuses and prize money to encourage fast times, according to elite athletes coordinator Massimiliano "Max" Monteforte.
The race is offering a whopping EUR 250,000 (USD 315,000) to the race winners for a new male or female world record (2:03:59 / 2:15:25). Those marks may well be out of reach on Rome's cobblestones, but a EUR 75,000 (USD 94,500) bonus is also on offer for new Italian records (2:07:22 / 2:23:47), along with EUR 50,000 (USD 63,000) for an Italian all-comers record (2:07:44 / 2:22:53). Only Italian citizens are eligible to earn the EUR 75,000 bonus for the Italian records.
Even if none of those lofty marks are surpassed, Monteforte has a second tier of time bonuses which will be paid in addition to the event's prize money purse (the above special bonuses are NOT cumulative with prize money):
| MEN | WOMEN |
| 2:10:00 | 2:29.00 | € 5,000 (USD 6,300) |
| 2:09:30 | 2:27:30 | 10,000 ( 12,600) |
| 2:09:00 | 2:26:30 | 15,000 ( 18,900) |
| 2:08:30 | 2:26:00 | 20,000 ( 25,200) |
| 2:08:02 | 2:25:00 | 25,000 ( 31,500) |
Prize Money for finish position will be paid as follows, regardless of finish time:
| 1st | € 18,000 (USD 22,680) |
| 2nd | 12,000 ( 15,120) |
| 3rd | 8,000 ( 10,080) |
| 4th | 6,000 ( 7,560) |
| 5th | 3,000 ( 3,780) |
| 6th | 2,000 ( 2,520) |
| 7th | 1,000 ( 1,260) |
| 8th | 750 ( 945) |
| 9th | 500 ( 630) |
| 10th | 500 ( 630) |
Fast times are indeed possible at Rome. The third-fastest women's time in 2008 in Europe, and the fifth-fastest in the world, was achieved by Russian record holder Galina Bogomolova in Roma last March: 2:22:53. This was also the course record. The men's course record is 2:08:02 by Italian Albercio Di Cecco in 2005.
The race is also Italy's largest marathon; the 2008 edition recorded 10,453 finishers.
PHOTO: The start of the 2008 Rome Marathon (photo courtesy of the race organizers)
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