Lee's Rome Journal 2005
Rome Marathon with Team Diabetes March 2005

The goal and the training:

Tired feet, toned glutes, and tremendous friendships are the sure results of 22 weeks of training and fund-raising as a team to power walk the 2005 Rome marathon.

In September 2004 a small, enthusiastic group committed to raising $5,500 for the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) in return for marathon training, registration to the 2005 Rome marathon, air and accommodation to the event. While some of the money raised goes to cover these costs, a good portion benefits the CDA directly. The excitement of going to the Rome marathon entices a slew of fundraisers that may otherwise never materialize. Moreover, the message of fitness that is advertised by the training process is one that the CDA aspires to send across the country - a country that is witnessing an unhappy rise in Type 2 diabetes caused, in large part, by our sedentary lifestyles.

Walking 42 km as fast as you can is an achievement that requires planning, training, good shoes and socks, physical stamina, and great training partners. The group that gathered in September had these and much more. The first half of the training schedule went fairly smoothly. By Christmas they were covering distances as long as 24 kilometres in one walk. They took a break from the intense speed work over the holiday season in December. This well-deserved rest meant that everyone was prepared to tackle the long distance walks (one/week) that would be necessary through January and February if they were to have the endurance to complete the 42 km, and the energy and foot power to sightsee in Rome after crossing the finish line! In general, the group benefited from a relatively mild winter and good Saturdays (their long walk day). Of course, there was one unforgettable Saturday when the group braved blizzard conditions: white-outs, 60 km/hour winds, and temperatures of -35 degrees C. Fortunately, most of the Saturdays after that offered normal winter conditions. March 13 is a challenging marathon deadline. It means that the longest walks of 26-38 km must be accomplished in the deepest of the southern Ontario winter.

We worked on speed training every Monday night for 20 weeks – well, 19. We had to miss one Monday evening for treacherous driving conditions. No one should risk their lives in a car for a walk!

Our last meeting before our departure found us experiencing an unlikely mix of sadness and anticipation. The friendships forged over so many miles would be missed now that the training was complete, yet the goal we had anticipated was just a few days away and half way around the world!

Final countdown to Rome:

Everyone arrives at the KLM area of Terminal 3 at 3:10 – exactly three hours before our scheduled departure of 6:10. It takes 40 minutes to get our luggage checked in, another 20 for bathroom breaks and get through security. We are at the gate at 4:10 -2 hours before our flight.

It is a cloudless but chilly afternoon in Toronto at minus three degrees. In the past few days we have been suffering from the weather. Monday March 7, our last training meeting, it was 8 degrees C with rain, hail, thunder and lightning. Hilary, our CDA representative, had given us a fine send-off with healthy snack of veggies and dip. We all received a sheet with inspirational quotations and learned that the grand fund-raising tally for the group was $87,000. Hilary also presented us with Canadian flags to bear proudly in Italy.

At the airport I can’t tell if we are hot from the building temperature or just flushed from excitement and anticipation. We board the plane on time and take off just at twilight, floating in pink dust over a snow-frosted Toronto. As the plane makes its way toward Amsterdam where we will transfer, the night remains clear. Out the window stars look within arm’s reach – Orion’s belt is just off the starboard wing. We arrive in Amsterdam and have our passports stamped by European Union customs officials. We will not get stamps in Rome because stamps are done only on first entry into the EU. We are all a little disappointed that our passports will not have an Italian entry stamp.

Arrive in Rome:

The temperature in Italy is a promising 10 degrees- perfect marathon temperature. We look forward to a little nap to recover a few jet-lagged hours and then on to the evening welcome reception. Everyone receives their race kit, race bib with computer chip timing device, and complimentary Rome marathon knapsack. This will be the 11th year for the City of Rome marathon (Maratona della Citta di Roma). Its logo is Veloce. Unica. Percorrendo la storia. Fast. Unique. Touring history.

Our first morning in Rome and we start our history tour. Runners and walkers from the CDA team head to the Coliseum for a short run or walk and a few games to get us into the marathon spirit. This is where the race will start the next morning at 9am. We will head from the Coliseum along the via dei Fori Imperiali past the ruins of the Roman forum, the Campidoglio and looping past the Circo Massimo (remember those Ben Hur chariot races?) then follow the Tiber river and cross over to walk by St.Peter’s Bascilica in the Vatican City. We will continue north along the Tiber and well north of old Rome (42 kilometers is a long way!). After turning south again we will walk by almost every major sight-seeing monument in Rome including the Piazza Navona, Piazza del Popolo, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain (must remember to pack a coin in my pocket – if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome!), the Pyramid, San Paolo church and finally past the Arch of Constantine with one final lap of the Colisseum to the finish line!

Race day:

Race day starts with a light breakfast at the Hotel Palatino or Hotel Madison depending on where people are billeted and then a group photograph. There are a lot of nervous smiles in that shot! We head off to the Colisseum where 10,000 participants are beginning to gather. The day is perfect for marathoning! Ten degrees. Slightly overcast. Because of the line-ups for the toilets and crowds to get through to the various starting corrals, several of us are late for the start by as much as 10 minutes. Of course, all is well, as we are being timed by the computer chips embedded in our bibs. Still, it would have been better to feel the excitement of the crowd waiting for the starting gun. For walkers the cobblestones are a real challenge on the Rome course. The odd angles can catch at your toes and set your feet off at angles. In Toronto, this is not an easy condition to mimic in training even though some optimistic souls decided that walking in the snow and ice did this a little bit.

All along the route the Team Diabetes singlet is identifiable from quite a distance and with its red Canadian maple leaf we hear a lot of “Go Canada” words of encouragement along with “Alle, Alle”, “Bravo” and “Forsa, Forsa”. For walkers, the marathon experience is somewhat different than for runners. When you have to walk as fast as possible the finishing times can be surprisingly fast anywhere between 4.5 to 7.5 hours…with an average finish time of 6 hours. Still, on the Rome course, without the advantage of an early start, these times mean that many of the walkers are walking the course much later in the day than the runners. We end up having to elbow our way through crowds of Italians out enjoying Sunday shopping on the Via del Corso and a little Dolce Vita at the Spanish Steps.

Walking under the inflated victory archway at 41 km with another arch of victory within sight, that of Constantine, makes the last kilometer of our 6 month journey highly charged. A final slight uphill to go around the Colisseum and the tears start to roll for most participants. The finisher medallion resembles an old Roman coin and the warming blankets provided by Adidas are also in Roman gold – nice touch! Now if we can just make it up to the hotel (a mere 5 extra minutes added to the hours of the marathon) for a good pack of ice for our poor feet.

Back at the hotel there is a rush on the bartender for… ice! The alcohol will have to wait. No one really escapes completely unscathed and ice is the marathoner’s best friend.

Later the CDA puts on a victory dinner that is more than worthy of the marathon venue. We drive out along a blackened Old Appian Way (one of the original roads out of Rome). A crescent moon hangs low in a cloudless sky as we descend from the bus that is depositing us at a restaurant that sits over the old Roman catacombs. We can celebrate all of our efforts with a glass of champagne and a fine Italian meal. We watch emotional pictures from the day …people smiling (well, maybe there were a few grimaces) and always showing the thumbs up sign as they made their way through one of the ultimate endurance tests…knowing that, in addition to all the steps they had taken that day and in the months leading up to that day, they had also helped people the Canadian Diabetes Association help those suffering from a chronic and debilitating illness.