Venice has been one of the places on my wish list to visit for a long time.
We booked for 4 days over the bank holiday weekend and looked forward to our weekend away.
On hearing that Leon and Judgy were doing the October Marathon, I had a look to see if any running events were happening whilst we were there. Couldn’t believe the Venice Half was being held on the Saturday on an Island off Venice, called Lido di Jesolo, it wouldn’t be too hot either as it was a race in the evening, hence the name, what a coincidence, well it had to be done, didn’t it! It was tipping it down on the day of the race, wasn’t even warm rain, so bag was packed with many warm clothing and water proofing, but luckily it did fizzle out at around 4pm, I was feeling a bit happier.
We took a 40 minute Water Bus ride from Venice to Port Sabbioni on Lido Island, this was the start area, but I had to travel 1/2 hour by bus to Jesolo to pick up my bib number, which required another 1/2 hour bus trip back to the start area, which we were all ferried too. A bit of a rigmarole!
So, we were able to have a walk along the beach before our return journey back to the start at 5pm. The atmosphere here was different, with 6,000 runners it was lively, weather was ideal, it had lifted our spirits and now eager to get started.At 7:30 the race began, with the first 12k along a dyke which boarded a lovely scenic lagoon. This was followed by a marsh area which joined a cycling route with spot lights to lead the way. The only incline was over a large bridge on the River Sile as we approached the road into Jesolo. The final three kilometres are through the main road of Lido di Jesolo to the finish at Piazza Mazzini where cheering crowds lined the route and loud music played.
At the finish we were presented with the commemorative medal. There were plenty of water stations along the way of the race and at the finish a very welcomed fruit juice, fresh oranges and biscuits.
A very nice techno T shirt and lots of goods in the goody bag!
We booked for 4 days over the bank holiday weekend and looked forward to our weekend away.
On hearing that Leon and Judgy were doing the October Marathon, I had a look to see if any running events were happening whilst we were there. Couldn’t believe the Venice Half was being held on the Saturday on an Island off Venice, called Lido di Jesolo, it wouldn’t be too hot either as it was a race in the evening, hence the name, what a coincidence, well it had to be done, didn’t it! It was tipping it down on the day of the race, wasn’t even warm rain, so bag was packed with many warm clothing and water proofing, but luckily it did fizzle out at around 4pm, I was feeling a bit happier.
We took a 40 minute Water Bus ride from Venice to Port Sabbioni on Lido Island, this was the start area, but I had to travel 1/2 hour by bus to Jesolo to pick up my bib number, which required another 1/2 hour bus trip back to the start area, which we were all ferried too. A bit of a rigmarole!
So, we were able to have a walk along the beach before our return journey back to the start at 5pm. The atmosphere here was different, with 6,000 runners it was lively, weather was ideal, it had lifted our spirits and now eager to get started.At 7:30 the race began, with the first 12k along a dyke which boarded a lovely scenic lagoon. This was followed by a marsh area which joined a cycling route with spot lights to lead the way. The only incline was over a large bridge on the River Sile as we approached the road into Jesolo. The final three kilometres are through the main road of Lido di Jesolo to the finish at Piazza Mazzini where cheering crowds lined the route and loud music played.
At the finish we were presented with the commemorative medal. There were plenty of water stations along the way of the race and at the finish a very welcomed fruit juice, fresh oranges and biscuits.
A very nice techno T shirt and lots of goods in the goody bag!
It was a long day, but thoroughly enjoyed the race, bit of a discrepancy with the times, the TDS come up with 2:02:44 (which was the gun time) It did baffle me where the 2:00mins had come from. Didn’t realise for a couple of days the correct time until John Alymer mentioned it on fb. A second email from TDS had confirmed the finish time. Phew!Race report by Sheila JohnsonTime: 1:59:56
Sheila Johnson