As featured in Women’s Running magazine February 2023

Have you ever considered combining a race with a holiday? It’s the perfect way to combine a challenge with exploring a new place and rewarding yourself with the local food and wine post-run! When I heard there is a half marathon in Marsala (on the west coast of Sicily) which also boasts the word wine in the title – I signed up!

To address the wine link first: there is no wine during the race (!!) however there is a delicious bottle from a local winery in the goodie bag and you can attend a cellar visit the day after. Marsala is famous for its production of sweet Marsala wine and wine production in general is still huge in this part of Sicily; you can visit many vineyards and wineries, large and small.

Anyway, back to the race: it starts just outside the old city walls, under the ‘Porta Garibaldi’ where around 700 runners congregate. The atmosphere before the start was very friendly and talkative – running clubs from all over Sicily (and the rest of Italy) were represented and there were only a few runners, like my husband and I, not in club colours and club tracksuits (this is clearly a thing in Italy!), not that this made us uncomfortable; the atmosphere was very relaxed. We also found it mindblowing that there were only four portaloos at the start and at no point was there ever a queue – simply unheard of at a race in the UK!

The course heads out of the old town, through a park area and then along the coast to a residential area where you turn around, following the sea the whole way (past sailing clubs, an archaeological museum and bars and cafes) then in towards the old town again where you run through the start/finish line and head out for two more laps. Each lap is 7km, flat and on pavement. It starts to get warm in Sicily at the end of April, with a cooling sea breeze but there were plenty of water stations (and marshals on bikes handing out water) and sunscreen is definitely needed (plus hat and glasses as the sunlight is very bright). Being flat and fast, the course is competitive and on the Sicilian ‘Gran Prix’ circuit, with the winner coming in at 1.15.10 and the first woman at 1.27.59.

There was a good amount of support on the way around and the atmosphere continued to be very supportive and fun, with plenty of marshals and monitoring. A grasp of basic Italian is useful as minimal English was spoken by organisers and runners but for me that made it a great opportunity to take part in a very local event with a friendly vibe. The goodie bag was exceptional; adding to the wine was a choc ice as soon as you were over the line (which I didn’t fancy but turned out to be a perfect post-race treat!) a fresh ham roll, fruit, cakes and juice. Arm warmers replaced a t-shirt which made a nice change and there were thoughtfully designed chunky medals.

I suppose the clue is in the name – this race has a focus on conviviality, food and wine and I would highly recommend to runners of all levels!

The race this year is on 23 April 2023. Do message me if you’d like more information on signing up to run it as it’s a little complicated. Here is the website: https://asdmarsaladoc.jimdofree.com/

P.S. There are also several Park Runs in Sicily - we really enjoyed one of the three which take place in the capital city of Palermo, this one is right on the sea front of Palermo and in the city centre!