Mayor Tommasi: “The marathon leads to a beautiful and intense day for Verona, an event that brings the city to life. Verona is a step forward”
Presented the 21st HOKA Verona Marathon on this Sunday November 20, 7000 runners from all over the world are expected, ready to get to know and visit Verona thanks also to free admission to various cultural sites and Civic Museums. T-shirt and medal, tributes to the art of Verona. Verona Marathon supports RoadRunnerHeart to donate prostheses to amputees.
VERONA – Four days to go, adrenaline is growing in the city for the marathon, an event presented today at the Sala Arazzi del Comune in the presence of the Mayor of Verona Damiano Tommasi.
It takes place this Sunday 20 November, three distances to run or walk, there is room for everyone: 21st HOKA Verona Marathon, 8th Zero Wind Cangrande Half Marathon and Avesani Last 10 km, an event organized by Gaac 2007 Veronamarathon Asd in collaboration with the Municipality of Verona.
Over 7 thousand runners are expected with the desire to conquer the finish line and, even before that, to share the emotions of sport by running in the historic center of Verona. Over 1000 are of foreign nationality (15%) from 50 different nations, with Austrians, Germans, French and English, but the 34 Israelis, for example, should also be underlined. 30% are women, the fair sex has always loved running and experiencing Verona. For the past five years, the Verona Marathon has been able to boast the honor granted by the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, which has registered Verona as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The departure from Piazza Bra under the eyes of the Arena is spectacular.
The Mayor of Verona Damiano Tommasi: “It is a pleasure to bring back such an intense day in Verona as when there is a marathon, intense both from a sporting point of view, but also because this is an event that brings the city to life also from within. An event that brings well-being, appreciation of the beauties of the city, a tourist attraction. There will be an ecological Sunday with the closure of traffic and activating shuttle services. I don't know yet if I will participate in the 10 or 21km, but it will be a pleasure to be there, Verona with this and other events, thanks also to the quality of the organizers, is a step ahead of many other cities, have a good run everyone".
Among the speakers Alessandro Chiarini Commercial Director of Avesani, Francesca Vanzo Director of Agsm Aim, Daniela Malusa Fidal Veneto Regional Councilor, Daniele Bonacini of RoadRunnerHeart and Giulio Cavara President of Federalberghi Confcommercio Verona.
THE RACES – Three events kick off on Sunday 20 November. At 8.30 the athletes of the 21st HOKA Verona marathon and the 8th Zero Wind Cangrande Half Marathon will start first. Instead, the start of the Avesani Last 10 km, competitive and non-competitive, is scheduled at 11 in via del Pallone, about 200 meters from the Arena in piazza Bra.
HOKA Verona Marathon is awarded the Silver Label Fidal honor and within the international calendar of World Athletics and Aims, the world association of road races and marathons. It takes place on a measured and certified route, a single lap of 21.097km, also measured and certified, for the athletes of the Zero Wind Cangrande Half Marathon, while the marathon runners will cover the same lap twice.
CHARITY PARTNER - The heart of Verona has always been great, in the history of the events organized by Gaac 2007 Veronamarathon ASD there has always been attention towards the weakest with the development of various projects in solidarity with various charity partners. With the support of "La Diagonale Challenge", this year's event was involved in raising funds in favor of RoadRunnerHeart, a non-profit association born from the commitment of Daniele Bonacini, Mechanical Engineer, whose leg was amputated following an accident road, engaged in the study of biomechanics of prostheses in order to be able to provide them to amputees. Daniele is also a Paralympic athlete who wore the colors of the national team at the Athens Paralympics in 2004.
A CASA LONTANI DA CASA - In the latest edition of the Dermasphere Giulietta&Romeo Half Marathon on May 1st, Gaac 2007 Veronamarathon Asd decided to donate 8 euros for each member of the last few weeks of the race to the A Casa Lontani da Casa - ACLDC Association, supporting an extraordinary fundraising aimed at welcoming sick Ukrainian children and their mothers so that through ACLDC they could find a home in which to stay and enjoy a safe and secure environment for the time necessary to receive treatment. Approximately 3 thousand euros the proceeds of the fundraising that were delivered during today's conference.
MUSEUMS – Verona Unesco world heritage, city of love, Dante's refuge for half of his years of exile, Verona of art and culture, Shakespearean Verona, museum to be experienced in the open air and beyond, for this reason , in agreement with the Municipality of Verona, on Sunday 20 after the event, by showing the race bib, all participants will have free access to various monuments and civic museums including the Arena, Castelvecchio Museum, Juliet's House and Museum Maffeian.
THE MEDAL – Veronamarathon works to ensure that the medal is designed to leave a special memory. The artistic value of an object made to become a baggage of emotions is added to the reward for their efforts that all finishers receive at the finish line. Also this year, Veronamarathon has chosen one of the countless monuments of the city of Verona, revisiting the foundations of the towers of Porta Leoni, a cultural heritage that testifies to the Romanization of the city of Verona. On the median pillar of the gate there is an inscription walled up which is considered the birth certificate of Roman Verona. In continuity with the medal of the last edition, this year too it is made up of a gray and a colored part. The latter is white and represents the top of the tower with defensive battlements. The material effect contributes to a stone effect while the gray part represents the foundations of Porta Leoni in a stylized way as they appear to those passing through via Cappello in Verona where those of a tower are visible. This component of the medal is embellished with a chromatic play which determines the formation of a bas-relief where the levels of the bricks present in the foundation of one of the towers are identified. In analogy with the historical reconstruction hypothesis, five levels have been depicted, of which the fourth is colored white to depict the battlements of the tower. To each his own, matching the T-shirt, the medal for marathon runners will have a red cord, yellow for half marathon athletes and orange for 10 km runners. The medal motif is printed all along the lanyard to further embellish it.
MARATHON AND HALF MARATHON ROUTE - Start and finish from Piazza Bra, under the gaze of the Arena and the Liston, the living room of Verona, from where the route passes from the city center towards Porta Nuova, and then continues towards Castelvecchio (km 3). Another kilometer to admire the historic Church of San Zeno while at km 5 you come to Porta Palio. The athletes take the Canale Camuzzoni up to km 9 before crossing the Adige thanks to the Chievo Dam and reaching the very fast Lungadige Attiraglio, Lungadige Cangrande and Lungadige Campagnola. It is at about km 18 that you leave the banks of the Adige and then cross the Garibaldi bridge and look out onto Piazza Erbe, to immerse yourself in the history and beauty of the city's monuments. You will admire the Torre dei Lamberti, the tallest building in the city of Verona, the Basilica of Sant'Anastasia and Palazzo Barbieri, and finally the Arena, the largest Roman amphitheater still in use, active for 1991 years.
The athletes of the 8th Cangrande Half Marathon will be very close to the finish line which they will reach acclaimed by the cheering of the public along the "Liston" while the marathon runners will pick up this encouragement to get excited and face the second lap.
LAST 10k ROUTE - A special Sunday but for everyone, thanks to the possibility of participating in both the competitive and non-competitive Avesani Last 10k, therefore without the obligation of membership and medical certificate. Departure from via Pallone from which you immediately meet Porta Nuova and share the route with the half marathon athletes up to km 4. Here the Avesani Last 10k participants cross the Catena Bridge and reach the Lungadige Cangrande enjoying the view in the distance of the Lamberti Tower and the Castelvecchio Museum. It is the Garibaldi bridge that acts as a trait d'union and allows the return of these athletes on the marathon and half marathon course.
THE T-SHIRT - To remember the efforts of Sunday 20 November there will be the commemorative T-shirt of the event. A tradition of Gaac 2007 Veronamarathon Asd which, through the T-shirt, as well as the medal, takes the opportunity to tell the beauties of the city of Verona. A technical garment, signed by the title sponsor HOKA, that the runners will find in their race pack, each according to the event in which they will participate.
Red and black for marathon runners, yellow and white for those who run the Zero Wind Cangrande half marathon and orange for Avesani Last 10km subscribers, it bears the logos of the event on the front and the image of a man and a woman running for the city of Verona, the latter narrated by various icons. The skyline in the background enhances the Arena, San Zeno and the Castelvecchio Bridge, monuments that allow you to identify the city of love at a glance. On the t-shirt there is also a stylized Porta dei Leoni, a Roman historical monument of Verona represented through the stylization of the remains of the foundations of the ancient gate. On the back, the auspicious official hashtag Feel The Energy addressed to all participants, so that they can experience their race with enthusiasm and joy.
THE PACER – Verona Marathon supports the athletes with the “Smile Volunteers”, the pacers of the “The Originals” group. Runners like many others but with that generosity that pushes them to share the effort in joy, with only one big goal, to reach the finish line in a set time while maintaining a constant pace with a queue of enthusiastic runners. Yellow tank top and red "pen", there will be more than 50 pacers on the track. For athletes enrolled in the Zero Wind Cangrande Half Marathon available with intervals of 5' starting from 1h30'00" up to 2h07', then again to reach the finish line of 2h15' and 2h30', 2h45' and 3h00'. The group of yellow tanks competing in the 21st HOKA Verona Marathon was very rich, with intervals of 10' starting from 3h00'00” up to 4h00'00” to continue with 4h15', 4h30', 5h00' and then concluding with 5h30'00 ” and 6h00'00”.
Among them there will be a couple of special pacers: dad Paolo Vargetto with his daughter Sara, a teenager like many others, but with an extraordinary verve for that irrepressible desire to live that emanates from every pore. Sara suffers from juvenile idiopathic arthritis, an inflammatory disease that involves degeneration of the joints and which appears at an early age, alternating phases of recrudescence and remission, and which forces her to use a wheelchair in part. Sara's life takes place on the level of normality, that of a teenager who goes to school, plays sports and goes out with friends, but also in a special sphere, made up of the fight against the disease, to the sound of workouts in the gym, swimming, basketball and, for some time now, running. Running is precisely a passion that she shares with her father Paolo with whom she is in full harmony, so much so that they do the 2-hour pacers together for the Zero Wind Cangrande Half Marathon. Sara&Paolo are not new to the streets of Verona, in June 2021 they ran the Giulietta&Romeo Half Marathon, nor as pacers, a role they have already held at Run Rome The Marathon 2022 accompanying the runners to the finish line of 4h10'.
FOLLOW THE MUSIC - During the event, Verona will be filled with music, a precious encouragement for all runners and an opportunity to spread happiness on the streets of the city. To coordinate the project on an artistic and musical level, Maria Teresa De Pierro, Founder and President of the APS (Association of Social Promotion) "Istinti Artistici", also known as a singer-songwriter as Merysse. There will be bands, acoustic formations and DJs that will enliven the heart of the city in the most important points: Piazza Bra, Piazza Erbe, Lungadige Attiraglio and Piazza Corrubbio. Details HERE.
SAN PATRIGNANO - Athletes from the Community of San Patrignano will also be present in the race, with the aim of transforming this experience into a starting point for a new life after so many difficulties.
HEALTH COACHING ACADEMY – Born six years ago from a business unit of the FIPES GROUP company, the Health Coaching Academy (HCA) has always had the mission of making individuals understand how important the concept of health and awareness of it is. The purpose of the Academy is to develop people's potential, performance and improve their psycho-physical-emotional well-being in order to guide and support them in understanding and realizing their personal and professional life project independently and consciously. so that we can become fulfilled individuals. Among the activities, renewed participation, which began last year, in the Hoka Verona Marathon on November 20th.
POKER 10 and 21K - Summer 2022 signed the embrace between the most north-eastern regions of Italy, Friuli Venezia-Giulia and Veneto which gave life to the Fai Poker 10k and 21k circuit with the intention of uniting the cities of Udine, Trieste, Verona and Palmanova. Verona has joined this twinning, made up of the International Marathon of the City of Udine, the Corsa dei Castelli of Trieste and the Half Marathon of the City of Palmanova, with the Avesani Last 10k.
REGISTRATION – Registration is open at the Expo at the AGSM Forum (Palasport di Verona, Piazzale Azzurri d'Italia 1 on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 November 2022. No new registrations are made on race day.