The route of Wizz Air Rome Half Marathon 2024
The race starts from Via del Circo Massimo at the municipal rose garden and immediately descends for about 350 meters before turning left towards Lungotevere Aventino. The route then reaches the popular neighbourhood of Testaccio, which is crosses Via Marmorata, Via Galvani, and after passing by the slopes of Monte dei Cocci, along Via Zabaglia.
Leaving Testaccio, the race continues along the flat Via Ostiense until reaching the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul outside the walls just before the 4th kilometer. Here, the direction is reversed to return, still along Via Ostiense, to the homonymous square, passing the famous Pyramid of Cestius in Egyptian style on the left.
Towards the end of the 7th kilometer, the perhaps most challenging section of the race begins: about 1,250 meters to reach Porta Ardeatina, initially covering 650 meters at about a 4% incline, followed by another 600 meters with two slight inclines, first downhill and then gently uphill. The end of the Ardeatine walls and passing through the homonymous gate (the highest point of the route at about 40 meters above sea level) precede a 600-meter fast descent to Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, which is traversed while leaving the splendid site of the Imperial Baths on the left.
After finishing the tree-lined avenue, the route is back near the Circus Maximus, which is now followed along the opposite side of the start, on Via dei Cerchi (750 meters of cobblestones) at about the 10th kilometer of the race.
At the halfway point, Lungotevere De’ Cenci is taken, which runs alongside the Jewish Synagogue, for about 2 flat and fast kilometers until turning left onto one of Rome’s two “English-style” bridges (because they are traversed with reversed driving directions; the other is Ponte Palatino), namely Ponte Umberto, which is crossed while admiring the majestic “Palazzaccio,” the seat of the Court of Cassation.
Crossing Piazza Cavour, the route enters the Prati district, first along Via Cicerone and then along Via Cola di Rienzo to cross the Tiber on Ponte Regina Margherita.
At kilometer 15, the most central section of the course begins, sometimes on cobblestones: Via di Ripetta, Piazza Augusto Imperatore with its Mausoleum and Ara Pacis, Via del Corso, and Piazza del Popolo, then ascending along Via del Babuino to reach the famous Piazza di Spagna, spotting the Trinità dei Monti staircase on the left.
The last 4 kilometers of the race continue first along Via del Tritone and then again on Via del Corso, onto the luxury shopping street, Via dei Condotti, turning left onto the challenging (due to slightly uneven cobblestones) Via del Clementino until reaching the spectacular Piazza Navona just before the end of the 19th kilometer, from which the route exits via the narrow and tricky Via dei Canestrari.
The course now continues on Corso Rinascimento, crossing Largo di Torre Argentina to arrive at Piazza Venezia, facing the monumental Vittoriano, also known as the Altare della Patria.
The last 1,000 meters of the race first cover a stretch of Via dei Fori Imperiali and then along a gentle ascent on Via Cavour before turning right onto Via degli Annibaldi, about 240 meters of light uphill at about a 3% incline to cross the finish line in front of an unusual yet impressive view of the Colosseum.
