La Filippide 2027

Stash your watch at the bottom of your bag 🎒—at La Filippide, the only timekeeper allowed is the sun! 🌅 Set your sights on the south-east of Sicily, in the province of Ragusa, where this point-to-point road race links the heights of Chiaramonte Gulfi, the “balcony of Sicily”, to the beaches of Punta Secca 🏝️. The pack sets off in early August, at dawn, when the Hyblaean Mountains are still asleep. Weather-wise, the most likely scenario plays out in two acts: a start in the relative cool of the highlands, then a finish by the seaside just as the Sicilian sun begins to turn up the heat 🌡️. In the middle of a Ragusan summer, your sunscreen will probably work harder than your windbreaker 🧴.

Called Planata degli Iblei, the marathon course lives up to its name: a long “glide” of 42 km that lets you slip from 833 m above sea level down to sea level, i.e. about 830 m of descent 📉. From the Antica Stazione, at the foot of Monte Arcibessi, the provincial road follows the old track of the little train that once connected, without hurrying, the Hyblaean villages 🚂. The slope, gentle and steady, escorts you to the outskirts of Ragusa between dry-stone walls and cave, those wooded rocky canyons studded with ancient necropolises 🪨. Only two real climbs break the rhythm, including a 100 m ramp at 3–4% to haul the pack up to Donnafugata Castle, a baronial residence that fans of Inspector Montalbano will recognise at first glance 🏰. The final drop then threads between olive and carob trees to the finishing sprint in front of the commissioner’s house, your feet almost in the water 🌊.

Inspired by Philippides, the messenger said to have run from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC, La Filippide imposes total isolamento spazio-temporale: no watch, no GPS, no heart-rate monitor, no phone, no headphones 📵. No kilometre signs line the route and the aid stations pop up a casaccio, at random, to blur your bearings 🤯. You’ll only learn your official time when you cross the line. True to the Olympic spirit, the organising association, ASD Atletica No al Doping, bans commercial sponsors as well as age categories: the first man and first woman receive a cup and an olive wreath; everyone else gets the same medal and the same certificate 🏅. Not as comfortable with the full distance? The Castle format offers 14 km starting from Donnafugata Castle. In the same place, the 15 km walk invites walkers to reach the sea at their own pace, with no ranking or podium, and a medal and certificate at the finish 🚶. The only planned distinction: the oldest participant to cross the line is rewarded—a tasty nod in a race that refuses age categories 👴.

Once the medal is around your neck, head to Ragusa Ibla, a UNESCO-listed Baroque jewel along with the other towns of the Val di Noto ⛪. A stone’s throw from the finish, the archaeological park of Camarina will remind you that the Greeks walked this coastline long before you did 🏺. On the plate, refuel with a Ragusan scaccia, a piece of ragusano and a drizzle of Hyblaean Mountains olive oil 🫒, washed down in moderation with a Cerasuolo di Vittoria, the island’s only DOCG wine 🍷. Readers of Andrea Camilleri can extend the investigation between Scicli, Ragusa Ibla and Punta Secca, key filming locations for the series 🎬. And when the appetite for asphalt returns in winter, the Ragusa Marathon will be waiting for you in January on some of the same roads 🗓️.

At the finish line, only one line fits, runner-style: « Maratoneta sono ! » 🎉