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Traveling Runner
Milan City Marathon: Would I Run Again? Probably Not
By Jerry Lewis
July/August 2010
I had lived in Cairo, Egypt from 2000 to 2003 and joined the Maadi Running Club, with Egyptian and expatriate members. I enjoyed the tradition of doing a different European marathon each spring so I travel back each year to join them. So far, my wife Ann and I have joined the Maadi Runners in Rotterdam, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Vienna, Prague, and Copenhagen. This is our Milan City Marathon experience . . .
The never-ending quest for a flat and fast course made the Milan City Marathon and Half Marathon in Italy a popular choice for the group's 2010 event. Europe's "Fashion Capital" has a reputation for being an expensive city, but a super-low $40 race registration fee was a great deal. Furthermore, Ann and I found a modern Holiday Inn Express Hotel online with an inexpensive double room group rate of $73, including breakfast and taxes. It was another great deal, so we booked 17 rooms for the group.
A modest, well-organized race expo was right across from the Castello Sforezco, a 14th century historic castle and site of the race finish line. It offered a convenient sightseeing opportunity, something that does not often happen at the usually remote marathon race expo locations.
At the expo, I asked the press director why the race calls itself the "World's Fastest," since no major records have been set in Milan. She answered that the course had been modified this year to reduce turns and to make it a flat, point-to-point course.
The Marathon did not have an organized pre-race pasta dinner so we went to a restaurant located a block from our hotel. It was all-inclusive with pasta, salad, bread, plus wine or beer for $20---pretty reasonable for Milan.
RACE DAY
There were two ways to get to the race start in the Rho-Pero area of the city: a 40-minute Metro ride to the end of the line followed by a 2K walk or by taxi. We chose to take taxis even though the cost was about $55. Yes, it was expensive, even when dividing the cost among the riders, but we wanted to get the to the start line stress-free and conserve our energy.
By race morning the weather had changed radically, dropping to the 40s with brisk winds and a light, cold rain. We were happy to see the six small taxis we ordered the night before waiting in front of the hotel at 7:00 a.m.--with the meters running, of course.
With a 9:20 a.m. race start and no pre-race shelter, the mob of runners jammed into the lobby of the only hotel to get out of the wind and cold rain to await the start. Since this was the only place for shelter, many participants had to wait outside, exposed to the harsh elements.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of some runner's woes who encountered a cluster of problems on the race course:
* With a combined half marathon and marathon race start, it is important to note where the race split is. In this case, the dividing point was poorly marked. Only one small easy-to-miss sign in Italian was posted giving direction for the half marathoners. At least two Maadi Runners made wrong turns and lost time when they had to double back.
* Running on uneven ground is a challenge for anyone. Needless to say, the runners were not happy about the potholes, cobblestones, trolley tracks, and having to jump over curbs. However, the poor surfaces were tolerated because the course was so flat.
* Water was available at well-stocked aid stations, but it sure was frustrating to find some aid stations only offered unopened bottles. It was a challenge to not only open the bottles, but also to run over the tossed-away bottle caps.
* Almost all the Maadi Runners said they found the first 15 to 20K terribly boring. It did not get better until the course went by the Duomo (Milan Cathedral) in the city center. The Gothic cathedral is a dazzling sight with its marble wedding cake façade. Then the course went through the city center and made a small loop, bringing the runners back by the Duomo a second time.
* Crowd support was scarce or absent along much of the course. Only a few bands provided a glimmer of spirit and a sprinkling of crowd cheering.
* Police and volunteers made good efforts to keep vehicles off the course, but drivers were angry and irate. They bumped their vehicles against the barricades and gestured at police to open the barriers to traffic. By the time the four and a half hour and slower marathoners came by, some police had given up their valiant efforts to hold back the outraged drivers. Runners were halted, barricades were opened, and vehicles were allowed to pass for a few minutes at a time. I never heard of runners being stopped during an international marathon. That certainly did not happen when we ran the Rome Marathon.
* After the city center came a long stretch of uninteresting residential neighborhoods until the finish at the Sforezco Castle where music, cheering crowds, plentiful snacks, drinks---and a rather plain, uninteresting medal awaited the 3,500 finishers.
In the end, the Maadi Runners agreed none of them would want to do the Milan City Marathon again and the low registration fee and the flat course were its only redeeming factors.
Nevertheless, the marathon was only part of the reason to be in Italy! The Maadi Runners also came for food, wine, sightseeing, shopping, and comradeship.
POST RACE
We recommend seeing De Vinci's, "The Last Supper," and visiting the magnificent La Scala Opera House. Eating at outside cafes in the Duomo's sunny piazza is delightful but expensive. Rice (not pasta) is a mainstay of the Milanese diet. Risotto dishes are made from rice grown in the region. I instantly fell in love with risotto and ate it often. Bad tasting wine simply does not exist in Italy. A quarter liter of table wine costs about $3 and often is less than the price of beer or soda.
We extended our stay in Italy for 10 additional days and traveled quickly, economically, and comfortably on regional trains. We stayed two nights on Lake Como (and, no, we did not see George Clooney). We also traveled to Verona, Venice, and made day trips to the delightful cities of Mantova, Treviso, and Padua.
Rabbit and horsemeat are common in Northern Italy restaurants so be aware of what you order. I recommend you carry a dictionary for menu translation when you travel outside tourist areas although English speakers were there whenever we needed one.
Jerry Lewis has contributed several Traveling Runner articles for WRR. Prior to the trip, he suffered from a severe hip bruise and was advised by doctors not to run the race. He reluctantly agreed but plans to run in next year's spring event, sure to be at some exciting European location.