The Garda Trentino Half Marathon gets a makeover and changes course

08 April 2023

After celebrating its twentieth anniversary last autumn, the Garda Trentino Half Marathon for the 2023 edition, scheduled for Sunday, 12 November, will take place on a new race course, as far as the classic 21-kilometre challenge is concerned, changing both the start and finish locations and above all offering runners the opportunity to run along the lakeshore to a greater extent than in the past. 
The start will be in Arco and no longer in the Baltera area in Riva del Garda. The runners will start from the former Casino to head north, on the right side of the Sarca river, crossing the Ponte Romano in the locality of Ceniga and then returning towards Arco on the cycle path to the locality of Prabi, then, as in the previous route, they will continue in the direction of Lake Garda. 
And here is the second important change with the arrival at the mouth of the Sarca River, crossing the bridge over the river, passing along the lake as far as Torbole, near the Casa del Dazio, then passing along Via Strada Piccola and turning onto Via Strada Granda, entering the Gardesana road for a few hundred metres to turn onto Via Lungo Sarca as far as the mouth of the river, and following the lake along the cycle path as far as the finish line, which will be set up in the spiaggia dei Sabbioni locality at Riva del Garda. 
The reason for the significant change in the route is explained by the President of the Organising Committee Sandro Poli: "After twenty successful and prestigious editions, with important numbers in terms of participants that led us to reach almost 6000 registered participants, for logistical and economic reasons the time had come to change and we did so, together with my staff, after closing a cycle of 20 organisations. Compared to the previous one, two locations will be enhanced, namely Arco and Riva del Garda, but also Torbole, and the competitors will be able to enjoy a section of the final route next to the lake, which we believe represents an added value to our event. We are ready for the new challenge and I would like to thank all those who have collaborated in the realisation of this new race course". 
Changes in the final part with the identical finish line for all challenges on the Sabbioni beach also for the other three running proposals of the Garda Trentino Half Marathon, namely the 10K, which will reach eight editions, with departure from Arco and arrival in Riva del Garda, as well as the Run 4 Fun recreational-motor run from Torbole to Riva del Garda, while the Kids will have a course set up near the Sabbioni beach, reduced in length compared to the previous one.
Although taking place over an identical distance, the challenge on the new routes also becomes interesting in terms of records to be broken. The records to be improved are those of the Kenyan Elijah Kiplagat Kurgat, who in 2005 took 1h01'10" to cover the 21 km course, while the women's record belongs to the Italian Ivana Iozzia with a time of 1h12'55", obtained in 2009. 
Over the 10-km distance, the records are held by the Burundian Jean Marie Vianney Niyomukiza, who took 30'17" in 2019, including winning the half-marathon version last year, and then by Silvia Weissteiner from South Tyrol, who took 37'01" in 2018.
The change in the development of the event also included a new entry management policy. In the sense that it was decided to apply a closed number on the 21 km race to ensure quality in services. The quota has been set at 2700 bibs, including packages from tour operators specialising in the sector, who are always sensitive to the Garda half marathon. 
Registration has been open for a few weeks now and can be submitted using the www.trentinoeventi.it website: the cost is 27 euro (or 29 euro for those who wish to participate in the solidarity initiative for needy local realities) for the 21K, the cost for a 10K bib is 15 euro (17 euro in solidarity mode), while for the 4Run Fun the fee is 12 euro (14 euro). These prices are valid until 31 May, with a progressive increase until the date of the event. 
As in past editions, there will be no lack of attention to solidarity, a dimension that has always been close to the heart of the Organising Committee of the Garda Trentino Half Marathon. Together with the registration fee, a "Charity Program" with an important solidarity purpose will be proposed, developed on three separate initiatives: support for Ail Trentino in the field of children's oncology and scholarships for the Don Bosco hotel school in Cambodia.

(From: GardaPost of 7/4/2023. Full article here)