Rome Marathon: Preparation

On Thursday we went to the Palazzo dei Congressi in EUR to pick up Vincenzo's race materials for Sunday's Rome Marathon.

The entry into the Marathon Village

Picking up the race materials for runner 12505.

This is the official gear bag

We are in Rome, so of course there is a Mass for the athletes.

The celebrant is chatting with some of the athletes after the Mass.

By coincidence, Sunday's second lesson is about running a race!

Brothers, I do not reckon myself as having taken hold of it; I can only say that forgetting all that lies behind me, and straining forward to what lies in front, I am racing towards the finishing-point to win the prize of God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

After Mass we had the pre-marathon pasta dinner.

The runners will go over many sanpietrini (cobblestones) during the course of the Rome Marathon.

Here I am with Pietrino,

a walking cobblestone and the race mascot.

Vincenzo's name and number appear on the screen. There is a chip attached to the race number bib that will transmit and record data when it passes checkpoints, including the start and finish.

Vincenzo leaving the Palazzo dei Congressi

and ready for the race on Sunday!

Here are some pictures showing details of this great building designed by Adalberto Libera as part of the 1942 Universal Exposition of Rome (EUR) that never happened. The project was started in 1938 and not actually completed until 1954.

Click here for more information about EUR.

EUR

The Roman neighborhood of EUR started in 1938 as a bedroom community, part of Mussolini's plan to extend Rome to the sea. The plan changed when Mussolini decided to have a "Universal Exposition of Rome" in 1942 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fascism. Because of World War II it never happened, and the project was abandoned. In 1951 the structures that were wrecked by German occupation and then by war refugees were repaired and construction began again. Buildings were added to EUR in the 1950's and 1960's. The neighborhood continues to expand today. It is a major government center and the number of private residences is continually growing. One year ago a large shopping mall was opened. (See my blog posting for EUROMA2.)

Last week I went to a SPORTELLO AMICO (Friend Window) at the Post Office in EUR. I had to sign a couple of documents that are part of the process of obtaining my permesso di soggiorno, the permission to stay in Italy. This gave me an opportunity to take some photos of some of EUR's buildings.

The center of EUR is the Piazza Marconi, dominated by a modern obelisk commemorating Gugliemo Marconi, the inventor of the radio. It was sculpted by Arturo Dazzi in 1959.
This is one of the two symmetrical buildings with large semi-circular porticos inspired by the Market of Trajan in the historic center of Rome. It was designed by Giovanni Muzio, Mario Paniconi and Giulio Pediconi and built in 1937.

One of the most famous buildings in EUR is sometimes called the Square Coliseum. It can be seen when driving from Leonardo da Vinci Airport to the center of Rome. It is the Palazzo della Cività del Lavoro by Giovanni Giurrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano (1939).
The Palazzo dei Congressi by Adalberto Libera (1939) is a favorite of many architects. Libera also desiged the Post Office building at the Porta San Paolo. See the entry of April 30, 2008 on my blog for information about the Post Office.