Was checking my registration on the Rome Marathon website ,when I came across this blurb.
…..And you thought racewalking or joggling looked a bit odd!
Makes me wanna do the Rome marathon even more……
“
On March 16th we are running backwards!
The 2008 edition of the City of Rome Marathon will be the first big world marathon to hold an official competition for the category of backward runners. Italy is the leading nation in the promotion of backward running (running in reverse) and the AIRR (Associazione Italiana Retrorunning-Italian Backward Running Association) holds more than 20 races a year.
No other nation has witnessed as great a development in backward running, and in the last few years Italy has become an important reference point also for many foreign backward runners.
The best backward runners will meet in Rome on March 16th 2008; among them there will be Claudio Conti from Rimini, who gave the best Italian performance (5:50.07 Rome 2007).
On the streets of Rome many backward runners will run the distance for their first time and some foreign athletes will take part in the race. The best world’s performance in backward running is of the Chinese Xu Zhenjun (3:43.39).
WHAT IS BACKWARD RUNNING
Backward running is a natural (though very unusual) physical activity which is routinely used in many sports such as football and basketball when a player must move backward in defense without losing sight of the game. Backward running can be compared to back crawl in swimming.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.backward-running-backward.com/
http://www.retrorunning.com/(Italian)
http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/backwards-running.html”
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LOLOLOL ahhhh come on I am just learning this FRONTward running…
geesh so much pressure with you bloggers:-)
Hope u had a Good Turkey Day Weekend Bro
Wow! I wonder how many people will trip. I’m sure I would at some point. So, are you going to walk it backwards?
That was great! Actually, fellow joggler Michal Kapral told me he was going to try and break the world record for backwards running a marathon. I don’t doubt he can do it.
I actually tried backwards joggling in the last half mile of the Chicago Half Marathon. It’s quite challenging and you really need a spotter to tell you what’s in front of you.
glad to see you up and about and home again. I read all your recent posts at once and about had a heart attack reading about #88.
Aren’t IVs fun?
Rome, huh? I am so jealous. I’d love to do a foreign race sometime, though I don’t think it’ll be a marathon. Good luck!
I bet backward running presents a whole new set of aches and pains and injuries. Seems so unnatural but I guess the same can be said of long distance running.