Skip to main content

The 2011 Venice Marathon in Video and Pictures


by Brett Larner

photos by Mika Tokairin
elite race video by Alberto Stretti
running video by Brett Larner

For the third straight year JRN was on-hand to cover the Venice Marathon, this year helping to host Courir Magazine editor-in-chief Yukiya Higuchi who ran the race for a feature article in the November issue of Courir.  After several days of rain the entire race weekend saw excellent conditions on the cool side with sunny skies at the start outside Villa Pisani on the banks of the Brenta in Stra.



The excellent weather was conducive to good times in the elite races, where Kenyan Helen Kirop took nearly four minutes off the Venice record with an outstanding 2:23:37 and Ethiopian Tadese Tolosa Aredo led three men under 2:10 with a 2:09:13 win. Defending champions Harun Makda Haji (Ethiopia) and Simon Mukun (Kenya) both finished 2nd.





At last year's 25th anniversary race the Venice city council had for the first time granted permission for the race course to pass through Venice's most famous landmark, the Piazza San Marco. Unexpectedly high water forced organizers to use a backup course which bypassed the piazza, leading the council to grant permission again this year to make it up to all those who came last year in the expectation of being the first to run San Marco. Nature cooperated, and this year's marathoners were rewarded with a scenic dogleg through the crowded square with just over 1 km to go.  JRN's Brett Larner ran the marathon with a video camera to capture the fourteen bridges in the last 3.5 km and the first-ever running of the Piazza San Marco segment.



The course proved very popular with both runners and spectators, with tourists adding to the cheering crowds. It wouldn't be surprising to see the San Marco course become a regular feature, an essential attraction of the Venice Marathon even if the 7000 available places already sell out six months in advance. JRN's Mika Tokairin focused on photos in and around the Piazza San Marco. Click any photo to enlarge.

In high spirits just before heading into the piazza.

Two-way traffic amid thick crowds at the entrance to the piazza.

Turning around at the Museo Archeologico end of the piazza.

Higuchi hard at work in the turnaround with the camera he carried while running.

Supporters in front of the Torre dell'Orologio.

Passing the Basilica di San Marco with 1.2 km to go.

Almost out of the piazza, in front of the Palazzo Ducale.

Out of the piazza and heading along the waterfront to the finish near the Giardini Pubblici.

Post-race pasta and pie in the Giardini Pubblici.

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
photos (c) 2011 Mika Tokairin
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Looks like a lot of fun!
I refer, of course, to sitting at an outdoor cafe next to the water with a cappucino and watching the runners go by.
October 28, 2011 at 9:39 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n
1 comment
Read more

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el
Post a Comment
Read more