8.30 in the morning.
In front of my eyes, a long pavement road.
On both sides, the lagoon comes to life.
Above my head, few rays of sunlight make it through the gray sky.
All around, the energy of the people running and walking beside me.
Destination: Venice.
This is just one of the visual you can experience along the last 10,7 km (6,6 miles) of the Venice Marathon.
The event, gathering athletes and amateurs from all over the world, was now into his third edition; last Sunday (October 26th, 2016) we were among the thousands of people ready on the start line at Parco San Giuliano.
While I was chewing my miles – just walking, eh – I shot some videos to show you what it is like to be part of this extraordinary event.
Maybe I am against the tide, still one of my favorite moment while marching is the Ponte della Libertà, in other words, the first part of the total almost 7 miles, a long narrow and gray stripe stretching out in the lagoon that seems endless.
Among the participants somebody’s running, someone else is walking and you can still feel the excitement of the countdown echoing at the start. People are chatting, laughing and watching cars driving slowly in the near lanes.
Few airplanes fly above our heads preparing to land at Marco Polo’s airport.
And then, the most anticipated – at least, by me! – part: the floating boardwalk connecting only on this one day Punta della Dogana and the Giardinetti di San Marco. It’s a bridge made out of boats, very similar to the one built during the Redentore’s festival, that enables runners and walkers to go through the Saint Mark’s basin and reach quickly the most famous square in the world.
The moment when you cut the finish line on Riva dei Sette Martiri, after having cheered the crowd leaning against the crush barriers in Saint Mark’s square, it’s a great sensation; but I felt even more excited thinking at the real runners who were about to follow our footsteps after 42 km (26 miles) of continued run.
The superheroes of that day.
Enjoy the video!