Second running in Sienna/ITA on 11 April, 2021

Tuscany Camp is an elite athlete training centre in the hills surrounding Siena. On 28 February a half marathon event was held there in which some world-leading times were set by Felix Kipkoech (59:35) and Lonah Salpeter (1:07:09).

On 11 April a similar multi-lap elite-only event will be held to offer athletes a chance to post qualifying times for the Tokyo Olympics.

To give the full title the “European Olympic Marathon Qualification Race – Xiamen Marathon & Tuscany Camp Global Elite Race” will be held on a flat (+/– 10m/lap) 5km lap on roads surrounding the Airport of Ampugnano, in Siena. The event will be delivered under strict sanitary protocols to mitigate any COVID risk.

Pacing will serve multiple objectives aimed at the men’s all-comers Italian record (2 pacers to halfway in 62 mins), a 2:08 time standard, the men’s Olympic qualifying time (2:11:30), 2:22 – 2:24 for the leading woman, a 2:26 time standard and the women’s Olympic qualifying time of 2:29:30.

36 athletes are at the start with PBs of under 2:10 hours. Will we see a marathon with a similar performance range in this race in the vastness of Tuscany as recently in the Lake Biwa Marathon in Otsu, Japan? The race will start at 7.30am local time, and to ensure that there are fast times at the end, two pacemakers are expected to start the race in 62 minutes for the first half.

Leul Gebresilase (ETH) is the man with the fastest preliminary effort, setting a time of 2:04:02 at the 2018 Dubai Marathon. In the same year, the 28-year-old Ethiopian won the Valencia Marathon in 2:04:31

Top domestic talents entered are Daniele Meucci and Valeria Straneo.

Source: Distance Running – AIMS