On Sunday, 22nd October the 32nd Venicemarathon from Stra to Riva Sette Martiri in Venice, will take place. Here are 10 good reasons to put it on your agenda.
Venice Marathon 22nd October 2017
The “Start” from a Villa that dates back to ‘700 and running through Piazza San Marco in the shadow of the campanile are already two elements that make Venicemarathon unique in the world. But Venicemarathon is not only this!
Here are 10 good reasons that add value and can give the participants a unique and unforgettable experience.
A Venice Date in Autumn
Autumn is the season of many great marathons, because the climate is still mild, neither too hot nor too cold. Twentysecond October is therefore an ideal date to face the great challenge of a 42 km run, with the peace and the Venetian autumn colors that will accompany the runners along the way. Among other things, summer is precisely the ideal time to begin the preparation for this marathon or the 10K: a perfect timing to try to achieve the goal or prepare the debut.
The Venice Marathon Course
The course of the Venicemarathon is unique, it starts the from the eighteenth-century Villa Pisani in Stra, open to visitors and Runners in the morning of the race day, and arrives in the heart of Venice in Riva Sette Martiri. The course is spectacular even before the start: the impressive interior of Villa Pisani, its magic labyrinth that welcomes athletes at the start, and the first kilometres along the Riviera del Brenta with the wonderful historical villas. After passing through Mestre and the wide spaces of the San Giuliano Park, the athletes will reach Venice where the majesty of the last 2 km awaits them, with the crossing of the Grand Canal on the pontoon bridge specially built for the event, the “lap of honour” in Piazza San Marco, and the finish line in Riva Sette Martiri between two wings of crowd. A public that claps all 42.195 km of the track together with the entertainment of the 30 music groups that “Anima la Maratona” places along the track.
Venicemarathon Services and organization
One of the main objectives of the Venicemarathon Club has always been to provide athletes with the highest quality services and efficiency, reason why Venicemarathon has always been a limited-number marathon. For us athletes’ comfort has always been the highest priority, before, during and after the race, with suitable and free transportation to the start, the efficient management of personal clothing bags, the rich refreshments along the route and after the finish line. But the goal is also the maximum care for participants’ families, friends and travel mates, in order to make Venicemarathon a memorable weekend for all.
The Venice 10k
Another good reason to come to Venice next 22nd October is the chance to run a 10k (competitive and not competitive race), the Garmin 10K. The run overlaps the last 10K of the Venicemarathon, with start from San Giuliano park in Mestre, it crosses the Grand Canal and goes through St. Mark’s Square and the finish line in Riva Sette Martiri, feeling therefore the excitement of the last part of the Venicemarathon. The 10K is also suitable for companions and in general for those who are not ready to take up the challenge of a whole marathon, but still willing to be part of the Venicemarathon celebration.
Venice Tourism …an opportunity not to miss!
Venice and the Riviera del Brenta can become an opportunity for tourism, especially when combined with the Venicemarathon. The organizers, in fact, have prepared special packages specifically studied with athletes in mind for participants, families and friends to enjoy a better stay in Venice or along the Riviera del Brenta, another jewel of Veneto with its villas and its canals, and to match the excitement of the marathon with the beauty of the landscape, art and culture of the area.
They also arrange guided running tours of the Old City to discover, at dawn the corners of the central Venice.
The Alì Family Run
In the rich Venicemarathon program you find place for families, for young people and legged friends with Alì Family Run. Three non-competitive events of about 3 km, the last of which will start from the green boulevards in the nature of San Giuliano park in Mestre on 21st October, on the Venicemarathon eve, near the Exposport – Venicemarathon Village. The other two Family Runs anticipate the running festival of a couple of weeks and will be held respectively in San Donà and Dolo, along the Brenta Riviera.
Venice Marathon Solidarity
Venicemarathon always associates their initiatives to a beneficial purpose, supporting various charity projects. Since a few years back, in addition to raising funds through the Family Run, the organizers have chosen to fundraise through the “Retedeldono”, thus increasing the number of projects to be supported and giving the ability to runners to combine the sport challenge to the solidarity one, creating a network of supporters among friends and relatives.
The great champions
The Venicemarathon is also an opportunity to meet important champions like Alex Zanardi, a former Formula 1 champion and now Hand Bike Paralympic Champion and Giusy Versace. The latter has started this year to join her solidarity activity to our event. She is raising funds through the project “Disabili No Limits” to help unlucky people to have wheelchairs and prosthesis to practice sport activity and give them the chance to have a better life and a new opportunity to face the disability. Alex Zanardi has been for many years testimonial of our even and raised and is still raising funds for disabled children but after the Olympic Games in Rio he has a new goal: he has now launched his new project “Obiettivo3” (Objective # 3) whose aim is to help people with disabilities to keep going, train hard and help three well-determined disabled athletes to reach the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020!
Green Event
This year the Venicemarathon will be also a “Green Event”. As usual, the marathon organizers are deeply aware of the sustainability issue, adopting rules to decrease CO2 emissions, protect the environment, to the utmost cleanliness the course and beyond, encouraging sustainable mobility and the use of public transport.
The Venicemarathon Events
Entering Venicemarathon family means having a full calendar of events and initiatives accessible to all, throughout the year, like the Venice Night Trail and the Alì Venice Running Days (April), the Moonlight Half Marathon (May), the Primiero Dolomiti Marathon (July) and the Venicemarathon (October). With the Fidelity Card is also possible to participate to all events enjoying all the advantages.
Further information on the website www.venicemarathon.it