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ROME MARATHON

MARCH 2022

The Rome Marathon takes place once every spring. The long winter is over, and I really miss the sun and warmth. Even at the end of March, there was still snow on the ground in Estonia, with a few metres high mountains of snow in my yard, and the thermometer was eager to display minus degrees. Since in Estonia we have nearly nine months of “crappy skiing weather”, as we jokingly say, collecting training kilometres in blizzard and storm, ice and snow is totally normal.

Just a regular day at the office (read: marathon training on icy road).

I was actually supposed to participate in the Rome Marathon in 2020, but due to COVID-19 the whole world went into lockdown, with the key to the lock gone and no knowing when and if it was ever going to be found again. So, when I finally sat on the Finnair plane headed to the capital of Italy - Rome, I was especially overjoyed. It is a really nice change to spend a spring weekend in one of the oldest cities in the world: to enjoy street cafes, listen to birds sing, and smell the freshness of budding trees. Every metropolis has its charm and outstanding features. In Rome, what comes to mind first are the Colosseum, Vatican City, and delicious Italian cuisine. The gastronomy culture in Italy flourished already during the Roman Empire. Today, one of the country's most popular desserts is pastry products, known as pasticcini, and gelato, aka ice cream.

And if you’re looking for a quick breakfast place, it’s right next door to Pantheon. All’antico Vinaio. The best sandwiches in Rome.

BUON APPETITO!

It is widely known that Italians are great experts in pizza and pasta, but I would give them another gold medal. They are world leaders in car parking skills.

I find Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestseller Eat, Pray, Love to be the best description of Rome. Although the protagonist travelled to two other countries in Gilbert’s book, in my opinion the events of this story could have easily taken place in Rome alone.

To start with:

EAT

You need to consume lots of carbohydrates before a marathon, and Rome is the land of pasta, so you don't have to worry about finding a plate of delicious pasta. Pasta is divided into two categories: dried and fresh. There are 310 different pasta shapes with over 1,300 different names. Pasta is so popular in Italy that locally grown wheat doesn’t fully cover the country’s pasta production. As a result, wheat is imported, and most of the pasta is mass-produced in factories, with only a small proportion being handmade.

Since we're talking about the Rome Marathon, it's worth mentioning that the most prevalent type of pasta there is spaghetti.

Rome is also where the famous pasta dish known as carbonara originates. Allegedly, shepherds from the mountain region of Lazio came up with the idea and combined pasta, guanciale (cured pork cheek), Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, which they brought with them to make lunch while herding the flock. Egg was added to these ingredients, and this is how pasta carbonara was born. Nowadays, pancetta or even ham is often used in place of guanciale, and cream is also added to the dish. The Italian American, world-famous film actor Stanley Tucci, who not only is a fantastic actor but also a chef, writes in his book Taste: My Life Through Food that a traditional carbonara always uses guanciale and never pancetta. It shouldn’t include onion or garlic and it most certainly shouldn’t include cream. Instead, the creaminess is achieved with the correct timing of adding egg yolk, cheese, and pasta cooking water to the dish. According to Mr. Tucci, the lovely fatty and spicy guanciale strips should be browned in a deep pan. Once the fat is rendered, al dente spaghetti is added to the pan. The heat is then turned down, and the egg and egg yolk mixture are added in, followed by a couple of handfuls of parmesan. It is then gently mixed together along with splashes of pasta cooking water. Simple as that!

If we’re already sharing recipes, then listen up, running buddies, because here is my big favourite: Lasagna Bolognese (another chance to remind you that it’s essential to consume enough carbohydrates before race day, and this delicious pasta dish is perfect for that).

My advice is that you make your own pasta. It’s not complicated at all. To do it you need to invest in a pasta machine, and once you've made it from scratch, you won't settle for supermarket pasta again.

To make Lasagna Bolognese, handmade pasta sheets are layered with Bolognese sauce, besciamella sauce, and grated Parmesan cheese in a baking dish. Instead of beef stock, I use cheese stock to add even more flavour to this amazing dish (another tip I got from Tucci’s book). You put cheese with herbs into a cheese cloth and cook for a few hours on low heat. After reading Tucci’s book, I’ve been using all the leftover parmesan rinds to make cheese stock, which my dogs aren't great fans of because they adore these nice and fatty cheese rinds. They sit by the kitchen table with their puzzled faces and sad eyes, not understanding why their favourite treats end up in a cooking pan.

Although it took me years to learn how to make it, and even today making it does require lots of time and effort, I still find it completely worth the effort. If you make Lasagna Bolognese between two marathons, meaning that alcohol consumption is allowed, then it’s highly recommended to wash it down with a substantial quantity of quality wine.

Now, let’s talk about water as it’s essential you drink enough before a marathon. Rome is a metropolis with approximately 2.8 million people. I can’t recall another city of its size where tap water is so drinkable, and you can quench your thirst with beautiful fountains across the city. For over 2,000 years, the Romans have supplied clean water to the city, and the quality of water complies with all international standards. Water is tested daily, and reports are available to everyone. Therefore, if you’re visiting Rome during hot weather season, you don’t have to worry about dehydration because you can rest assured that you can quench your thirst by fetching water from small drinking fountains. Fountains for drinking purposes are called “Nasoni”, and the water that pours out of its little noses is fresh and replenishing. All you have to do is take a water bottle with you. This way, you’ll save money and the environment. If you go to the website of the water supplier ACEA, you can easily find the locations of the drinking fountains.

PRAY

The Vatican City State is located in Rome, and it was established on June 7th, 1929. In 1984, the Vatican City was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it is the only country in the world to have this status.

The Vatican is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and is home to the pope, who has absolute power in the Vatican City, which makes him the only absolute monarch in Europe. About half of the Vatican City territory is made up of gardens that were built during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In addition, there is an abundance of great art and architecture to be found there. This unique economy is supported through donations from the faithful, ticket sales for museums, and souvenirs and postage stamp sales.

The symbol of the Roman Church is the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti. St. Peter's Basilica is a magnificent building, where the marble floor area already by itself takes up at least 200 hectares and 200 meters. Every day, scores of pilgrims and visitors from all over the world visit the basilica.

Recently, it seems like it has become the norm for me to climb some mountain or run too many kilometres before a marathon, rather than taking a rest before an important race. This time, I decided to climb the stairs to enjoy the beautiful view of the Vatican from the St. Peter's dome viewing platform. There was a warning at the ticket counter for people with heart problems not to use the stairs but take the elevator instead. I wondered to myself, how high could these stairs really be to give such a serious warning, and leapt up the stairs in double steps. I was a little breathless, but nothing too bad. I admired the beautiful paintings on the dome, and the light shining through the dome's windows created a playful game of shadows. It was beautiful and magnificent.

However, the moment of truth arrived when I decided to climb up to the roof of the dome. The beginning went smoothly again, but as I climbed higher, the walls of the dome became narrower and more curved, and the worst part of it was that I didn't know how much further I had to go. Luckily, there were small windows in the wall where I could take a rest and breathe in some fresh air. For a moment, I thought about turning back, but that simply wasn’t possible, because the corridor was so narrow that two people could hardly fit past each other. I thought to myself that it’s not like I’m actually going to die here because if it was that life-threatening then people wouldn’t really be allowed to come all this way up, and so I pushed forth. It seemed like the dark tunnel went on forever, or at least, that's how it felt at the time. I already imagined how the intimidating stairs would get even narrower and curvier, and I would suffocate because no ambulance would come to rescue me. And that staircase just kept getting narrower and curvier. As a small person (162 cm tall), even I felt like I barely fit there.

Anyway, I was very grateful that I wasn't a two-metre-tall basketball player who would probably have gotten stuck in that narrow dungeon. But just as always, even at the end of the darkest tunnel, there is always light. And what a wonderful view of the Vatican and the city of Rome from up there!

Rome truly is full of wonders! Did you know that in Rome, it’s possible to see three countries – Italy, Malta, and the Vatican – at once from a small keyhole? You can find this keyhole on the Aventine Hill. Just type “Buco della Serratura” into your Google Maps app, and after a short walk, you’ll find yourself behind a high wall and a massive door, where a long line of people stretches, waiting to see this view with their very own eyes.

I join the queue, but it moves so slowly, and when the next person goes to look through the keyhole, they just don't want to leave.

But as an Estonian proverb says, “He who suffers lives long,” so I, too, did my waiting until it was my turn.

From this keyhole, you can see the garden of the Priory of the Knights of Malta, right behind the garden are the roofs of Rome, and in the distance, the majestic dome of St. Peter's Basilica. It's like a beautiful postcard or even a teeny-tiny painting. The view is captivating and etches itself into your memory. This will be my object of meditation! I’ve never seen anything like it before, there are simply no words to describe its beauty. You have to see it to believe it, so go and check it out for yourself!

The morning of the long-awaited race day has finally arrived. The start and finish area were both located next to one of Rome's most famous attractions, the Colosseum. Once again, I had managed to find accommodation just a short walk away from where the marathon began and ended. As I made my way to the start area in the pitch-black morning, there were only few people on the slumbering streets. They included some party-goers, cleaning personnel – scraping up the traces of nighttime festivities –, and fellow marathon runners.

I arrived at the start area without any complications and much faster than I had anticipated. Although at that hour, there weren't many runners around yet, the spirits were high. I could have easily taken an hour longer to nap in bed, but the thing with these city marathons is that you never truly know how much time you need to get to the start in time.

As the starting pistol fired, millions of small blue and yellow pieces of paper flew into the sky. I wasn’t sure if it was done in honour of Ukraine, but the war had just started, and there was a lot of support for the Ukrainians because no one of sound mind could even begin to understand this kind of barbaric and inhuman attack by russia. Despite the incredible sight of the blue and yellow pieces shooting into the sky, they then fell on the asphalt where thousands of runners just stomped on the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

More than 800 marathons are held worldwide each year. It’s not winning any titles in the environmentally friendly category. After every few kilometres, runners are offered water, which is of course essential to our bodies, but is it reasonable to use plastic bottles for this purpose? In case the weather isn’t hellishly hot, most of the runners only take a few sips of water, and the rest of the bottle ends up on the street. Could someone please think up a solution how to bring the use of plastic bottles in marathons to a minimum to save the environment?

When I had passed another what looked like a sea of plastic bottles, moist sponges were offered for a cooling effect, which also ended up on the street after a few of minutes. I wonder, how large is the ecological footprint of a single marathon?

There’s no avoiding of writing about outdoor toilets again. I can’t figure out what the southern people have against portable toilets because similarly to the Athens marathon, they were scarce along the route. To keep away from long queues, I once again had to relieve myself in the purity of nature. When in Athens most runners used olive groves as toilet stops, the cactus alleys in Rome were a perfect match for the same purpose.

Save for a few environmentally unfriendly choices, the Rome Marathon was really enjoyable even though the Old Town's cobblestones made the last kilometers challenging, and I witnessed a couple of pretty bad falls. At the end of the race, both the body and mind are so exhausted that it only takes the briefest moment to lose attention, and then bam, you’re face down on the ground. Although I came close to falling at one point, I managed to stay on my feet.

This time I also noticed a lot of ambulances helping the runners along the marathon course. When I arrived at my hotel, there was also an ambulance in front of the entrance, from which a white-faced male runner in his fifties got out. Do you really have to leave everything on the track when running? We should take care of our health even more, if it’s still hard and you can’t run, walk. Lose a minute, win a life!