Valentine's Day Marathon 2027

Ohhh, love is beautiful! ❤️ Are you a hopeless romantic? 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 We’ve got the perfect race for you! If every year you don’t know what to do for Valentine’s Day, we’ve found the perfect surprise for you! 🎁 For this gift, you’ll have to travel to the country of love, Italy! 🇮🇹 And not just anywhere, of course. We’ll meet you in Terni—if that doesn’t ring a bell, we’ll explain everything 💌.

The Valentine’s Day Marathon, or should we say the Maratona di San Valentino, offers several race formats in addition to its flagship distance, the 42 km! 👑 For example, you can take part in the half marathon, or the "Family Run" over 8 km 🧑‍🧑‍🧒. There’s even a run organized with your best friend present: your dog 🐶. It’s a short 2 km race, but alongside someone dear to us, like a sweetheart. And to stick even more to the theme, you can also take on the marathon as a couple 👨‍❤️‍👨. Terni is the place that gave birth to the famous Valentine’s Day celebration! 🎆 For the backstory, this tradition comes from the priest Valentine of Terni 👴. This man of the cloth lived in the 3rd century AD and became known for blessing secret marriages 💍. At the time, this illegal activity led to his imprisonment, and then he was beheaded. Many customs begin with the death of a martyr. Although the year of his death remains uncertain, the day has remained etched in time: the famous February 14 📆. And if you’re not in the mood to chase a podium that weekend, you can also line up for the marathon in a "non-competitive" version 🎽.

Don’t worry—the event is more festive and less sad than the celebration it represents! 🎇 Besides being alongside your soulmate (of course you can run as a single person—we don’t discriminate at Finishers), you’ll discover a city full of highlights that will blow you away 👀. The start is in the city center of Terni. Then you’ll have the chance (not the wrong kind of luck, we hope 😅) to cross the Valnerina Valley, which follows the Nera River ⛰️. One of the race’s highlights is of course passing by the Marmore Falls 🏞️. Legend has it that a nymph named Nera fell in love with a handsome shepherd: Velino. But Juno, jealous of that love, turned the nymph into a river, which took the name Nera. Then Velino, not wanting to lose his beloved, threw himself from the top of the Marmore cliff. This leap, destined to be repeated for eternity, is now reenacted at the Marmore Falls 📜.

Since this event is linked to a Saint, you’ll run alongside several very impressive religious buildings ⛪. Among them, the Basilica of San Valentino, or the Saint Bishop of Terni. You’ll also visit Ferentillo, an 8th-century town famous for its mummies, as well as Montefranco and Arrone, an area that brings the Middle Ages back to life with its castles, fortresses, monasteries, and old mills 🏰. At the end of your journey, a lovely heart-shaped arch will mark the end of the effort, and if you’re a finisher (which we don’t doubt), you’ll receive a beautiful medal made by Terni’s art high school 🏅, featuring a heart! 💛

Drop your bouquet of flowers 💐 or your box of chocolates 🍫 and lace up your sneakers to run after love at the Valentine’s Day Marathon! 🥰