The Udine marathon will return to normal on Sunday 18 September after two difficult and problematic years due to the pandemic. It will be a 22nd edition that will bring back to the streets of the city the warmth, enthusiasm and competitive spirit of our runners but also of those who will come from outside the region and of the formidable athletes of the Kenyan highlands that have always been expected, admired and combative. All of this, of course, with the utmost respect for safety measures.
The curtain of the complex and now established event, spread over three intense days of collateral events, will rise on Friday 16 September with the third edition of the 400-meter climb to the Castle (6 pm) in which about thirty grimpeurs will compete by invitation. Udine and Carnic. The day after, from 4 pm onwards, the dog race and the Despar minirum for children will animate the city center, taking place on a ring through the main streets of the city over a length of 800 meters. Sunday is the key day with the international marathon of 21,097 km (one of 110 on the national calendar) which will start at 9.30 in piazza Primo Maggio and with the StraUdine-mega Intersport, of 7 km, which an hour later will start from via Savorgnana. And both will end in via Vittorio Veneto.
It is a heterogeneous and demanding program under the organizational aspect that the Udine marathon association has been carrying out for twenty years with passion, dedication and prestigious results. «The primary objective of our association – says the president of the company, Paolo Bordon – is to bring world-class champions and marathoners to Udine but also to promote sport at all levels and to set up a second absolute Italian championship».
New this year is that the Udine marathon is part of the “10 k + 21 k” circuit, conceived by Michele Gamba from Trieste together with the former European champion Venanzio Ortis. Projected into the future, this is a circuit divided into four races which in addition to the Friulian marathon includes the Trieste race of the Castles of Miramare and San Giusto scheduled for October 16, the Last 10 km included in the Veronamarathon (November 20) and the half marathon ” City of Palmanova “(November 27). For the story it should be remembered that the Lions club of Udine in 2002 brought running to the Friulian capital, an event that later had the honor and the burden of having successfully set up both the 2002 Italian half marathon championship and the 2008 world championship. .