News The sun was still rising over Guanabara Bay at 6 15am on Sunday (10 April) when 16 long-distance runners lined up to compete in a test event for the marathon at this year's Rio 2016 Olympic Games The race, which took athletes through some of Rio de Janeiro's most historic districts, gave organisers the opportunity to test signage and new technology and to assess any route changes that might be needed The Rio 2016 Organising Committee said the results of the test were positive and that only minor changes may be made to the marathon route before the women's event on 14 August and the men's event on 21 August "The test event served its purpose of measuring the impact that such a major competition could have on the city The course has been measured and there will not be major changes"Gustavo Nascimento, Rio 2016 venues directorThe race on Sunday tested a system that uses electronic chips in the vests and shoes of the athletes to track their progress and record their time  Local runner Marcio Silvia won the event, coming in ahead of an all-Brazilian field in a time of 2h32m22s  "For me it is an honour to run a course on which the best athletes in the world will compete Everything worked very well  It was well indicated and there was plenty of hydration " Marcio Silva, winner of the marathon test event Preparations for the marathon began before dawn (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)Brazilian athlete Marilson Gomes dos Santos, who finished the London 2012 marathon in fifth place and has already qualified for the Rio 2016 Games, used the event to return to racing afer a calf injury kept him out of competition for almost a year As part of his comeback strategy, the two-time winner of the New York marathon ran only the first 20km of the course The red chip attached to the runner's right shoe measures their time and location on the course (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Múmia)A marathon of sightsThe course of the Olympic test event took runners through the heart of Rio's historic centre, down to Flamengo Park and Botafogo beach and then back to the city centre and the port area After starting in the Sambódromo, home to the world-famous Rio Carnival parades, the race continued on two of the city's most imposing streets, Avenida Presidente Vargas and Avenida Rio Branco Avenida Presidente Vargas, one of the city's main roads, was closed for the event (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)Competitors then raced through the large green area of the Aterro do Flamengo – which includes Flamengo Park, one of the city's most popular leaisure areas – and down to Botafogo beach The Aterro do Flamengo is one of the city's largest green spaces (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)When they arrived at the beach, which has spectacular views of Sugarloaf Mountain, the athletes turned back for the return leg, which took them past the new-look Marina da Glória, the Museum of Modern Art and the city's domestic airport, Santos Dumont The statute of Christ the Redeemer looks down on runners near Botafogo beach (Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)The marathon route then took runners into the Porto Maravilha region, the waterside area which is being regenerated and revitalised ahead of the Olympic Games The athletes ran past the two major new museums that have been opened near the port, the Museum of Tomorrow and the Museum of Art of Rio (MAR) Finally, the runners returned to Avenida Rio Branco and Avenida Presidente Vargas before completing the 42 195km race back at the Sambódromo Competitors said they were pleased with the signage and with the hydration (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)According to Gustavo Nascimento, Rio 2016's venue director, the course is now 95 per cent defined for the Olympic events in August Only small, technical changes to the course may still be made Brazil's Márcio Silva was first to cross the finishing line in the Sambódromo (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Múmia) Check out this photo gallery from the event: (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d getElementById(id)) return; js = d createElement(s); js id = id; js src = "//connect facebook net/pt_BR/sdk js#xfbml=1&version=v2 3"; fjs parentNode insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Do palco do Samba para as ruas cariocas Publicado por Aquece Rio em Domingo, 10 de abril de 2016