The Florence Marathon (Italian: Maratona di Firenze) is an annual full-length marathon race held in late November in Florence, Italy, since 1984.

Florence Marathon
Florence's architecture features prominently – Piazza Santa Croce is the finishing point
DateLate November
LocationFlorence, Italy
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorAsics
Established1984 (40 years ago) (1984)
Course recordsMen: 2:08:41 (2006)
Kenya James Kutto
Women: 2:24:17 (2018)
Israel Lonah Salpeter
Official siteFlorence Marathon
Participants3,751 finishers (2021)
5,792 (2019)
7,606 (2018)

History

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Established in 1984, the international competition has significantly grown in size since its inaugural edition of 462 runners[1] – a total of 10,211 runners started the 2010 edition, making it the second largest Italian marathon after the Rome City Marathon.[2]

Orlando Pizzolato, a two-time New York Marathon winner, was present to inaugurate the race in 1984.[3] The competition's first course was about a kilometre short of the true marathon distance, and it was increased for all subsequent editions.[4]

Italians form the bulk of the runners, while France, Germany and the United Kingdom are usually the next most represented nationalities in the field.[5] From 2005 to 2009, the competition was annually broadcast live for three hours on the state-owned Rai Tre channel.[3] The race is among Italy's most prominent – it was selected to be the national championship marathon race for the first time in 2003.[4]

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of registering for 2021, 2022, or 2023 for free.[6][7]

Course

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Initial course

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The course used in the inaugural race was about 965 m (3,166 ft) short.[4]

From 2001 to 2009

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From 2001 through 2009, the course began at Piazzale Michelangelo and had a zigzagging path through the centre.[8][3] The bends and cobblestone roads made for a particularly difficult marathon and this led to the change in 2011 for an easier, faster race.[9][10]

An AIMS-certified course,[11] it was ineligible for world records due to an overall net drop of 75 m from 2001 to 2009, but the current course is now eligible.[4]

From 2010 to 2011

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The course used in 2010 and 2011 had a drop of 40 m (130 ft), which meant that it was eligible for records as it was within the drop limit of 1 m/km (5.3 ft/mi).[4]

Current course

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The course, which was first used in 2012, starts at the Lungarno Pecori Giraldi and finishes in Piazza Santa Croce. It passes through much of Florence's historical town centre, with architecture dating from the 13th century, including: Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and the Basilica of Santa Croce.

Winners

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Kenyan runner Alice Chelangat won the women's race in 2005.

The current course record holders are James Kutto, who set the men's record of 2:08:41 in 2006, and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter who set the female course record of 2:24:17 in 2018.[12]

Key:

   Course record (in bold)
   Country's championship race
   Short course
Edition Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
I 1984   Andrew Robertson (GBR) 2:15:23   Gillian Burley (GBR) 2:32:53
II 1985   Fausto Molinari (ITA) 2:17:44   Celia Duncan (GBR) 2:44:32
III 1986   Andrew Girling (GBR) 2:15:37   Graziella Striuli (ITA) 2:39:35
IV 1987   Trevor Fieldsend (GBR) 2:16:33   Carolyn Naisby (GBR) 2:33:23
V 1988   Edgardo Farinelli (ITA) 2:15:51   Manola Casalini (ITA) 2:43:14
VI 1989   Alberto Lucherini (ITA) 2:16:48   Christine Van Put (BEL) 2:39:45
VII 1990   Roman Kejžar (YUG) 2:18:57   Valentina Bottarelli (ITA) 2:44:23
VIII 1991   Alberto Lucherini (ITA) 2:16:33   Sheila Catford (GBR) 2:35:37
IX 1992   Ivo Rodrigues (BRA) 2:19:12   Ingrid Ekroll (NOR) 2:50:34
X 1993   Ivano Marcon (ITA) 2:16:39   Éva Petrik (HUN) 2:42:24
XI 1994   Clair Wathier (BRA) 2:14:03   Dana Hajná (CZE) 2:41:34
XII 1995   Bernard Boiyo (KEN) 2:15:36   Svetlana Netchaeva (RUS) 2:40:08
XIII 1996   Sammy Korir (KEN) 2:15:04   Bettina Sabatini (ITA) 2:33:51
XIV 1997   Ottaviano Andriani (ITA) 2:14:27   Matilde Ravizza (ITA) 2:47:00
XV 1998   Azzedine Sakhri (ALG) 2:16:39   Ida Kovács (HUN) 2:44:16
XVI 1999   Michele Gamba (ITA) 2:11:51   Michaela McCallum (GBR) 2:38:28
XVII 2000   Angelo Carosi (ITA) 2:14:11   Tiziana Alagia (ITA) 2:32:18
XVIII 2001   Daniel Kirwa (KEN) 2:10:38   Florinda Andreucci (ITA) 2:32:26
XIX 2002   Michael Kapkiai (KEN) 2:11:15   Helena Javornik (SLO) 2:28:15
XX 2003   Angelo Carosi (ITA) 2:15:54   Anna Incerti (ITA) 2:34:40
XXI 2004   Benjamin Kiprotich (KEN) 2:11:34   Florence Barsosio (KEN) 2:29:11
XXII 2005   Samson Kosgei (KEN) 2:11:27   Alice Chelangat (KEN) 2:30:46
XXIII 2006   James Kutto (KEN) 2:08:41   Vincenza Sicari (ITA) 2:34:52
XXIV 2007   Paul Ngeny (KEN) 2:12:50   Vincenza Sicari (ITA) 2:33:14
XXV 2008   Jackson Kiprono (KEN) 2:12:37   Giovanna Volpato (ITA) 2:34:13
XXVI 2009   Ben Chebet (KEN) 2:11:21   Eva-Maria Gradwohl (AUT) 2:35:41
XXVII 2010   Tadese Tolesa (ETH) 2:12:41   Firehiwot Dado (ETH) 2:28:58
XXVIII 2011   Birhanu Bekele (ETH) 2:09:52   Asha Gigi (ETH) 2:31:36
XXIX 2012   Endeshaw Negesse (ETH) 2:09:59   Shuru Diriba (ETH) 2:30:08
XXX 2013   Oleksandr Sitkovskyy (UKR) 2:09:14   Abeba Teklu (ETH) 2:30:37
XXXI 2014   Asbel Kipsang (KEN) 2:09:55   Bizuayehu Ehite (ETH) 2:31:28
XXXII 2015   Tujuba Megersa (ETH) 2:09:55   Priscah Cherono (KEN) 2:31:34
XXXIII 2016   Yadete Teshome (ETH) 2:11:57   Winnie Jepkorir (KEN) 2:28:46
XXXIV 2017   Zelalem Bacha (BHR) 2:14:41   Dire Tune (ETH) 2:28:55
XXXV 2018   Abdi Ali Gelelchu (BHR) 2:11:32   Lonah Salpeter (ISR) 2:24:17 [13][14]
XXXVI 2019   Sahlessilae Bekele (ETH) 2:10:14   Jess Piasecki (GBR) 2:25:29 [15][16]
2020 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [6]
XXXVII 2021   CyBrian Kotut (KEN) 2:08:59   Tsehay Maru (ETH) 2:27:17

By country

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Country Men's race Women's race Total
  Italy 9 11 20
  Kenya 12 4 16
  Ethiopia 6 7 13
  England 2 4 6
  Brazil 2 0 2
  Hungary 0 2 2
  Scotland 1 1 2
  Slovenia 1 1 2
  Algeria 1 0 1
  Austria 1 0 1
  Bahrain 2 0 2
  Belgium 0 1 1
  Czech Republic 0 1 1
  United Kingdom 0 1 1
  Israel 0 1 1
  Norway 0 1 1
  Russia 0 1 1
  Ukraine 1 0 1

Participation

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Number of race finishers
Year Men Women Total
2013 7839 1451 9290
2012 6577 1194 7771
2011 5924 1004 6928
2010 6611 1179 7790
2009 7025 1182 8207
2008 6181 1022 7203
2007 5356 931 6287
2006 5289 981 6270
2005 4201 679 4880
2004 3486 520 4006
2003 3428 561 3989
2002 2851 404 3255
2001 2351 291 2642
2000 2242 239 2481
1999 2055 186 2241
1998 2116 161 2277
1997 2170 194 2364
1996 2292 181 2473
1995 2166 145 2311
1994 1955 129 2084
1993 1470 78 1548
1992 1233 52 1285
1991 1022 45 1067
1990 1018 39 1057
1989 1127 43 1170
1988 1119 38 1157
1987 1247 50 1297
1986 1180 45 1225
1985 822 37 859
1984 448 14 462

Notes

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  1. ^ a b h:m:s

References

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  1. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2009-11-26). Record field of 10,000 runners the new barrier for Kosgei to clear – Florence Marathon, PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-30.
  2. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-11-29). Beating the rain and cold, Dado and debutante Tadese triumph in Florence. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  3. ^ a b c Presentation Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Civai, Franco (2008-12-26). Firenze Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2009-11-30.
  5. ^ Statistics 2008 Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine. Firenze Marathon (2008). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  6. ^ a b "37th FLORENCE MARATHON POSTPONED TO 2021 – Firenze Marathon". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
  7. ^ "INFO FOR 2020 ENROLLED – Firenze Marathon". www.firenzemarathon.it. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  8. ^ Course plan 2009 Archived 2009-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  9. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2008-11-30). Kenya and hosts share honours in Florence Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  10. ^ The Course of XXVI Firenze Marathon Archived 2009-11-20 at the Wayback Machine. Firenze Marathon (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  11. ^ AIMS Race Directory Archived 2016-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. AIMS (2009). Retrieved on 2009-12-02.
  12. ^ "Israeli woman wins Florence marathon, smashing national record". Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  13. ^ "25/11/2018 - 35ª Firenze Marathon - TDS.sport". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
  14. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20201027031659/https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/-/14612043
  15. ^ "TDS.Sport". Archived from the original on 2020-10-27.
  16. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20201027030120/https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/-/14671957
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43°46′08″N 11°15′40″E / 43.76889°N 11.26111°E / 43.76889; 11.26111