Marathons in Italy

The Marathon and Italy is a great love story ❤️. Normal for the most romantic country in the world! There is no shortage of 42 km in Italy. One of the very first appeared in 1960 during the Olympic Games Marathon in Rome. The Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won the gold medal by breaking the world record: 2 h 15 min and 16s 🥇. An incredible performance, but even more unique as he ran… barefoot! 🦶

After this feat, the capital did not host another 42 km race, until 1984, the date of the first edition of the Rome Marathon. Nowadays, runners from all over the world come to the City of Seven Hills to run and celebrate 🥳. Even though the year 1984 is frightening (thank you George Orwell 😅), in Tuscany it is a date of joy and passion with the creation of the Florence Marathon! An event that gathers no less than 8,000 people. In the region, you can also make a detour to see the Leaning Tower, during the Pisa Marathon !

If you're the type to want to break your record ⌛, there's a race made for you, the Milan Marathon. It is simply the fastest 42.195 km in Italy and one of the fastest races in the world. The records? They both date back to 2019. For women, it is held by the Ethiopian Hiwot Gebrekidan at 2h 19m and 35s, for men it’s the Kenyan Titus Ekiru at 2h 02m and 57s.

We leave the Lombardy and Milan heading to the “Serenissima!” Venice, city of love and gondolas. You will undoubtedly fall in love with the magnificent buildings dating from the Italian Renaissance. It’s the case for 8,000 runners who travel for the Venice Marathon in October. In Veneto, you’ll also find the Verona Marathon, an opportunity to visit the city of the star-crossed lovers.

Italy is definitely a running country, it is full of beautiful marathons. We overlooked the Bologna Marathon, the X-Bionic Lake Garda 42 at Lake Garda, the Mythos Marathon or even the Ravenna Marathon.