Now I'm in the company of surely the fittest people on the planet - bronzed Roman gods with muscles you can actually see, who have been stretching for the past two hours. All I've done in that time is sat and willed the sun to go down lower and lower in the sky, wishing Maui was there to help me move the fiery beast.
It is hot in Rome, hotter than I ever imagined and even though the wise race organisers have scheduled kick-off for 8pm, it's still not cool enough for my liking. I'm shaking at the starting line thinking about how I will surely die or melt or fall over. Luckily my boyfriend's sister and brother-in-law are there to calm the nerves. They tell me I'll be fine - there will be so many amazing Roman sights along the way I'll hardly notice I'm running.Olympic legend Carl Lewis is there to do the backward Italian countdown. Oh crap, I've barely got my head around counting upwards in Italian. It's okay though, I get the drift and before I know it, I'm screaming my way to the start line with thousands of excited Italians. I've barely registered I'm running (even on the wobbly cobblestones) when I realise the Colosseum is right in front of us.
Talk about a surreal experience. The sun has almost disappeared and the Colosseum is lit in beautiful yellow and blue light. It is the most incredible structure I've ever seen and I have to concentrate on not falling over as we run up the hill and around the mind-blowing amphitheatre, which was completed in 72AD.The atmosphere is mind-blowing. People are lining the streets and cheering. The other runners are chatting at a million miles an hour which just shows it's a walk in the park for them. I must admit I feel much fitter than I am. The run takes a back stage to all the amazing sights along the way.
It is so hot though, I can barely explain. I'm astounded to see there's only one water stop for the whole 10km. The rest of the time we dive head first into the beautiful carved fountains and soak ourselves in cool water. Before long my fellow runner Katy and I are exposing our bellies to get our body temperatures down and then after a few kilometres I throw caution to the wind and take off my Nike t-shirt. I figure, who cares! I don't know anyone here. So now I'm running the streets of Rome in my bra. I'll put that on my list of things I never aspired to do.
As I'm pounding the uneven cobblestones, I can't help remembering when I ran Round the Bays and struggled. Here in Rome, I have the energy of a madman and I can barely even tell I'm running. It's fabulous. We pass through The Forum, the very spot where Roman civilisation developed. It's like an out of body experience. We pass the Spanish Steps, which I've seen pictured in so many tourist books. I can barely believe I'm doing this.
At the 8km mark there are people high-fiving us and diners along cute Roman footpaths are drinking wine and smiling at us as we pass. I have to laugh at a girl who's downing gelato from a huge cup and screaming at us to keep going. Thanks love.
At 9km the effort of the muggy run hits me and suddenly I'm exhausted. It feels like a cruel joke that there's a solid hill near the finish line but I plod up it, mesmerised by the light and water falling on the ancient fountains and the hoards of people on mopeds. And before long, Katy points out that she can hear crowd sounds and it feels as if I blink and there's the finish line.
We run through screaming and Katy waves her arms around and I try too but discover I don't have the energy. I'm pooped. To our right the stage is set up for the after-run concert and happy people are milling around. I resist the urge to flop to the ground and instead take in the amazing feeling of running such a race in Rome. I can only describe it as epic - just like the Italian city itself.Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.
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