By: Brian Jenkins

Race Date: 15^th December, 2024

Venue: Pisa, Tuscany, Italy

I ran the Half Marathon version of the event in 2022. The race report for this race can be found at:

https://www.steelcitystriders.co.uk/2023/pisa-half-marathon-2022-race-report-and-results/

I returned to Pisa in 2024 with unfinished business, and the “Maratona” was definitely on my to-do list. Andy Hinchliffe also fancied doing a foreign marathon, so got himself a place, the Striders contingent size doubled to 2.

Italian races are a bit different, they have two options for entry, the last time I applied the choice was between “competitive” and “agonistic” entry (and this was in the English language version of the form). “Competitive” entry requires a doctor’s note of fitness to run; “agonistic” entry on the other hand just required a self-certification of fitness. As a native speaker of English for some years, I was surprised that I had to look up “agonistic” in the dictionary. For entry in 2024 the “agonistic” entry was renamed as “non-competitive”, a definite improvement (certainly in clarity). We signed-up for what were “agonistic” entries.

We arrived in town on the Friday, a couple of weeks before Christmas, and unlike the last time, with no direct flights at the right time, we flew via Malaga (in Spain). Imagine my surprise when in flight, I bumped into Strider Kate Scott on her way to the Malaga Half, Striders do indeed get everywhere.

On arrival in Pisa Andy and I made our way to the event office, picked-up our race numbers, goody bag and race t-shirt. We then retired to a pizzeria for essential carb-loading and re-hydration.

On race day we made our way, just after dawn, to the race start, just outside the Cathedral grounds (with its famous leaning tower) on the other side of the River Arno.

The weather was warmer than it was in Sheffield, but still chilly so stripping down to a t-shirt and entrusting the warm clothing to the bag drop was challenging, but we learnt from the day before that it would soon warm-up.

We waited behind the start line a short walk from the cathedral, and unlike my previous Italian run, the many pacers (for both the marathon and the half) with differently-coloured balloons, congregated on one side of the road (rather than blocking the road).

The starter set both the marathon half runners on their way whilst Mariah Carey’s Christmas classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” belted out of the race’s PA system.

Once started, we headed to the river, and the other side of the city, the pacers for the slower times were much more easily overtaken than previously (a definite improvement). We crossed the river, followed its south bank and then headed out-of-town, in the direction of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The route then turned rural, and soon it was time for the half marathon runners to turn-off and head back to the finish. The marathon continued west and followed the coast south in the direction of Livorno. The road stopped in Tirrenia and we were sent back the way we had come but on the other side of the road. At the end of the out-and-back section we headed north to the seaside resort town of Marina di Pisa with the sound of the waves breaking on the bright white rocks just yards away.

We went right up to the mouth of the river Arno, and then followed the river back into Pisa using what would become the half marathon’s return route; the route had a few sharp turns before making its way to the cathedral grounds and the race finish, a half-hearted stone’s throw from the leaning tower of renown.

The marathon is flat and far more varied than the half route; the trip to the seaside was a particular highlight, and the citizenry of Tuscany provided warm support throughout.

Marathons will always be hard (I suppose that is kind of the point of them), but many of this race’s characteristics make it a potential P.B. course, and with the offer of some winter sun as well, I’d say it is well-worth considering, whether you are after something competitive, or something more “agonistic”.

The (marathon) race was won by: Luca Parisi (Italy, Etrusca ASD) in 02:21:49 and Tünde Szabó (Hungary) in 02:43:01 .

 

Striders’ Results: