Venice, November 1 2020 – The 2020 edition of the Venicemarathon writes a new page of history. A history of a man, a woman and a Paralympic athlete who faced their adventure, this time under the motto of “Three for all, all for three”. Eleonora Corradini, Gabriele Gallo and Pier Alberto Buccoliero were, in fact, invited by Venicemarathon to run this “symbolic” race to represent all those who would have wanted to take part this year in the Venicemarathon, which could not be held in the classic form due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Symbolic Venicemarathon One for All
This morning the HOKA ONE ONE Venicemarathon One for All, the “symbolic” marathon in time of Covid, took place from Stra to Venice; the Italian ultramarathon runner Eleonora Corradini, the Venicemarathon team runner Gabriele Gallo and the Paralympic champion Pier Alberto Buccoliero run the race.
The race that took place this morning also represents the highlight of a long virtual week, which began on Sunday, October 25 and which will end today at midnight (Italian time), in which marathon runners and simple enthusiasts of all world are competing at a distance of 42 and 10 kilometers.
This morning the athletes, as usual, were welcomed in the beautiful Villa Pisani in Stra.
The start was given at 10 by the mayor of Stra Caterina Cacciavillani and the three marathon runners were joined by the three pacers Giuseppe Bossi, Marco Manucci and Marco Boschi and the two athletes of the HOKA ONE ONE team, title sponsor of the event, Alessandro Degasperi and Elisa Sortini.
The group, rigorously with a mask at the start and finish and well spaced, was escorted by the Traffic Police, by the official BMW cars of the organizing committee, by the Centoallora motorcycle club, by two ambulances of the “Croce Verde” of Mestre and by an array of vehicles and men from the Local Police of the municipalities crossed.
The athletes, who have almost always maintained a pace of 5’20” per kilometer, crossed the Riviera del Brenta and then passed through Marghera, Mestre, along the green avenues of the San Giuliano Park, crossed the Liberty Bridge and finally arrive in Venice, where the caravan stopped at the San Basilio bridge and the Venicemarathon Runnig Team and to the Venice Fire Brigade accompanied and supported the athletes along the Zattere, on and down the bridges. The race ended in about 3h30′ in front of the Basilica della Salute where the arrival arch was set up.
The Deputy Mayor of Venice Andrea Tomaello waited the athletes and congratulated the group of athletes and the organization for keeping a tradition alive in such a complex and complicated moment.
At noon the live streaming of the race also started, curated by PMG Sport and aired on the social channels of Venicemarathon and on the PMG Sport circuit, with commentary by Miki Barone, historical speaker of Venicemarathon, and by Julia Jones, athlete, writer and coach who for many years has held the role of coordinator of the Venicemarathon Pacing Team. During the live broadcast various contributions were broadcast.
The three athletes who have realized the race were enthusiastic to take part in an event that will remain unique in the history of this marathon.
“It was a beautiful, unique and unrepeatable experience, a memory that will be indelible” commented Eleonora Corradini. “Today we have shown that Venicemarathon exists and will continue to be” these are the words of Pier Alberto Buccoliero. For Gabriele Gallo: “It was a beautiful experience that gives confidence for the future, and mine is a goodbye to 2021”.
Moved by a different but still special experience were, also on behalf of the entire organizing committee, the president and founder of Venicemarathon Piero Rosa Salva, the vice president and co-founder Stefano Fornasier and the General Manager Lorenzo Cortesi.
For the president Rosa Salva: “Today we can say that this special 2020 edition has fully achieved the goal because we have given continuity to a project that has existed for 35 years and we have created a planetary message: if until last year the world was running in Venice, this year is the Venicemarathon that runs around the world”.
Stefano Fornasier is also of the same opinion, who also reiterated how the staff managed, in a short time, to reinvent themselves to give life to a completely new and complex project.
Happy and tried by the efforts Lorenzo Cortesi, who thanked the administrations, the police who have set up an impeccable service as if it were a marathon by thousands of athletes, the staff and partners who believed in and supported this idea that opens the doors to the future.
Here are sponsors of the HOKA ONE ONE Venicemarathon Special Edition: HOKA ONE ONE (title & technical sponsor), Garmin ‘technical timekeeper’, Alì (main sponsor), BMW ‘official car’, Pro Action ‘sport nutrition partner’, San Benedetto ‘official water ‘, Bavaria’ official beer ‘, D-Air Lab’ safety partner ‘, 1/6 Shop’ official shop ‘, Nuncas’ official supplier ‘, Méthode’ official partner ‘, Coldiretti Venezia’ official supplier ‘, TDS and RunBull’ technological partner ‘and Virgin Active.
Media partners of the event are: Pmg Sport, Corriere dello Sport, Tuttosport, Corsa, SportEconomy.it and Il Gazzettino.
The event was organized with the decisive support of the Veneto Region, the Venice Chamber of Commerce Rovigo Delta Lagunare, APVI and of course the Municipalities of Venice, Stra, Fiesso d’Artico, Dolo and Mira, the Metropolitan City of Venice, the Prefecture, the Police Headquarters, CONI, FIDAL, CIP, the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea, the Fire Brigade, the State, Road, Telecommunications, and Frontier Police, the Carabinieri, the Municipal Police, the Civil Protection of the territory, of the Forest and Large Parks Institution.