I was looking through several listings online for some running events in Rome when I noticed Corri Roma.
Corri Roma is a yearly 10 km running event that is held in the Summer during the evening. The route goes through Central Rome and I thought that it would be an interesting event for Juli and I to participate in as it passes along different historical sites in Rome – a sort of smaller version of the Maratona di Roma.
I’ve never done a night race before so it will be an experience. So I proceeded to sign up through the website thinking that it would be easier this time round as the steps were pretty much the same as when I registered for the Maratona di Roma.
In Italy, races which are 10 km and above are usually categorized under professional runs and there are several mandatory steps in participating in one.
Theoretically it should be easy. You just pay a registration fee and upload a copy of your sports association membership card and your sports doctor medical declaration.
But in reality, I think that it is quite a daunting and costly experience especially for non Italian residents. Juli found out that her doctor’s medical certificate wasn’t valid as it had to follow a specific template. And so when we went to a private sports doctor here, we were quoted 40 euro – not including the urine test.
And then, calling up the organizers to clarify a doubt that we had revealed that they did not provide the one-day sports association membership any more. I suppose that the regulations have tightened since there was an athlete who died during this year’s Roma Ostia Run. So instead of paying around 7 euro for a daily membership, it would cost around another 30 euro.
- 15 euro for registration
- 40 euro for sports doctor certificate
- 30 euro for a sports association membership
85 euro!
It’s not so bad for me as the certificate and membership lasts for a year and I can use them for participating in other races in Italy since I live here. But for a foreigner who is on a short term visiting, paying a total 85 euro for running a 10 km race is ridiculous.
I’ve always believed that running should be free or at the very least just enough to pay for the organizers to deal with the security, refreshments and whatnots.
Suffice to say that Juli and I are not participating this coming Saturday. We’d really love to, but it’s just too expensive.