ROME, March 18– Kenyan runner Asbel Rutto broke the course record at the 29th edition of the Rome Marathon on Sunday in a race disrupted by climate protesters. Rutto, only 22 years old, improved the previous record set two years ago by 24 seconds, crossing the finish line at 2 hours 6 minutes and 24 seconds. Rutto’s compatriot, Ivyne Lagat, won the women’s race in 2 hours 24 minutes and 35 seconds, the fastest women’s time in three years but nearly two minutes slower than the course record set by Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu in 2019. A total of 15,000 runners participated in the race, which wound through the streets of the Italian capital, including many of its best-known monuments such as Circus Maximus, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, The Imperial Forum, and the Piramid of Cestia. The race, which started and finished in the shadow of the Colosseum, was disrupted when protesters from the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) movement blocked a bridge over the Tiber River, the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, just before runners arrived around 15 kilometers into the race. Police were able to detain them from the road before runners passed.
For each of the last three editions, the Rome Marathon’s men’s division winner was from a different African country: last year’s race was won by Moroccan Taoufik Allam in 2 hours 7 minutes and 43 seconds, while in 2022, Ethiopian Fikre Bekele won in 2 hours 6 minutes and 48 seconds, a time that stood as the course record until Rutto’s effort on Sunday. Neither Allam nor Bekele participated in this year’s race. The last time a non-African won the Rome race’s men’s division was in 2005, when Alberico Di Cecco was the second consecutive Italian winner, taking home the top prize in 2 hours 8 minutes and 2 seconds. In the women’s division, Lagat was the 14th consecutive African champion, taking the title from Ethiopian Betty Chepkwony, who had won with a time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 1 second. The last non-African winner of the women’s division was Russia’s Galina Bogomolva, who ran 2 hours 22 minutes and 53 seconds in 2009. In Sunday’s race, Kenyan runners took 13 of the top 15 spots and all of the top 15 were Africans. Italy’s Edgardo Confessa, 46, finished 16th in 2 hours 26 minutes and 3 seconds. In the women’s division, runners from Africa took the top nine places ahead of Denise Tappata, who was tenth in 2 hours 47 minutes and 51 seconds. Tappata, 44, was the top women’s finisher over the age of 40. The Rome Marathon was first held in 1982, but this year’s race was the 29th edition since the race did not take place for three years ending in 1994, and the 2020 race was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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