Michelle & Andy's Rome Marathon story

​Veni, vidi, vici

Andy and I headed to Rome for a weekend of sun, sightseeing, eating (yummm gelato) and, oh, we squeezed in a little marathon so we could sweep up any bits we missed on the tours!

Our pre event carb loading was taken very seriously with the local delicacies of pizza and pasta aiding our preparation. I swear that gelato is also a carb and ensured it played a starring role in the menu choices🐷

The pre-race organisation left something to be desired so it was with some trepidation that we left our hotel at some insanely early time on Sunday morning (seriously, who steals an hour of sleep from athletes the night before a marathon 🤬?) Feeling less like gladiators and more like plebeians we gathered under the colosseum to await our destiny...

We had already decided to run our own "race" and split up ready to see what the Parcae had waiting for us...

I think Andy rather hoped that the streets would be lined with Cognac like the last Marathon he ran but it wasn't to be... it was lined with cobbles 😱

It appears that Jupiter took pity on the plebeians and sent them some celestial help!

Andy came in with an excellent time of 4.33.07, a 16 minute marathon PB and after 23 further attempts (at marathon and marathon + attempt 24) Michelle finally broke her PB set in her first ever marathon by 22 minutes coming in at an unexpected 4.08.44!

Michelle intends to start Paris next weekend with an éclair in one hand and a bottle of sprite in the other and take it easy sightseeing and eating en-route!

Written By Michelle Grudzinski