ROME MARATHON OFFERS GENEROUS BONUSES, PRIZE MONEY
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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)