SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER THE VENICE MARATHON WILL ONCE AGAIN GO THROUGH ST MARK’S SQUARE

On Sunday 27 October Venice and the St Mark’s area will once again host the Venice Marathon, now in its 28th year. It is an international sporting event that starts in Stra, in the province of Venice, and ends in the heart of Venice on the Riva Sette Martiri, going through St Mark’s Square and, precisely, past the Bell-tower and the Doge’s Palace. The thousands of athletes who have already made sure of their number to take part must cover a distance of more than 42 kilometres. It is a sporting event that also has important economic spin-offs for the city, as shown by the study ‘The economic spin-offs of sports events in the Venice area. Analysis of data from the 2012 Venicemarathon and the 2013 Moonlight Half Marathon and Venice Running Day’, made by the organising body of the famous race with the support of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. The study, presented at a press conference, actually shows that the associated spending generated by the 2012 Marathon was 6,573,000 euros and that it brought 18,509 people to Venice. In the final analysis, every athlete represented spending of 540 euros, between the costs of hotel, meals and transport. Despite the crisis, the organisers confirm that there are large numbers again for this year’s event and so once again there will be many people going through the Square to reach the prestigious finish.