The race itself would have been wonderful if it were not for the 40 degree weather with rain, sleet, wind, etc....

The 'free' vaporetto ride back to the bus back to the start had a 40 minute line, so we hopped on one right next to the free one. It saved time, but even that was a nightmare given how cold we were. Vicious shakes for 2 hours due to no heat/shelter at the end of the race.

Venice is one of my favourite cities but having to catch a bus at 6.45 to get to the marathon start shows some commitment or do I mean that I should be committed?

The majority of the race especially if you're near the back isn't a good experience as clearing up seems to take precedent over the slower runners especially if you pull a muscle in the first mile due to being so cold waiting for the Italian TV company to say it's okay to go!

Having said this, I've now completed this course twice and may try it again, it's not my favourite of my 24 marathon courses but I do love running across The Grand Canal although I did miss our on St Mark's Square due to flooding.

I hope everyone enjoyed today, I will admit that the 25th T-shirt and medal are just brilliant.

Given the 7000 entry cap, I had quite low expectations of the expo. However, I was pleasantly surprised despite the lack of any gels available. The event t-shirt was the nicest I've ever had! Good quality, technical Asics, and most importantly, nice colours! The timing chip was very odd, it was attached to the race number by an elastic band! It didn't feel especially secure, although that said, it stayed in place throughout the race.

To get to start on the morning of the race was a bit of a palaver. I was staying in Venice itself and had to set my alarm at 5am to get the boat to Piazzale Roma, then walk to Tronchetto (one of the 2 pick- up points) where the free bus took you to start. After the 20 minute bus ride to Stra, the hot tea and tents in the runners' village were a welcome relief from cold. The queues for the toilets were very long (not enough loos provided) and resulted in me rushing to the bag lorries and nearly missing them!

The route is predominantly flat and well supported when you run through the villages every 5km or so, but pretty quiet in between. The first 20km of the route is very pleasant countryside, much of which is along a very pretty river. Around the half way point, you run through an industrial area which is obviously the least scenic part of the course. Around 30km you do a loop through San Guiliano Park (where the expo is held) and then head towards the long bridge which takes you into Venice itself. There are ample water stations (every 5km) and Gatorade is provided at certain points. In the second half of the race there is also fruit and biscuits if your stomach is up to it! The last 4km is the reason for doing this marathon, when you hit Venice itself. The 14 bridges you cross have all been ramped so are not too much of a concern. One bridge which crosses the Grand Canal is actually constructed on the eve of the race and dismantled the next day! This year was apparently the first time the course got to run through St Mark's Square which was great. The weather had been perfect all day, apart from first thing when it was pretty cold. But throughout the race, the sun shone but it never got too warm.

My partner, who had to withdraw from the race at the last minute, did his best to support me on the route, although this proved to be somewhat difficult due to road closures and subsequent lack of accessibility to the course.

The end of the race is really well organised. First you're given your medal and a goody bag (fruit, water, Gatorade and biscuit). Then you get a space blanket and follow the route through to the bag collection area. Gender specific changing tents are available if you require them and then there is a massage area. There were about 6 masseurs available, free of charge. I decided to avail myself of this but due to the fact that they spend a good 15-20 minutes on each athlete, I had to wait over an hour for the service. The massage was a little deep considering the 26 miles I had just run, although I felt great after it, but maybe that was because of the PB I'd just achieved!!

I loved Venice before coming to the city to run its marathon. Having knocked 12 minutes off my previous PB, I now have another reason to feel a special affinity to the place. Would I do it again?
Definitely. It was only 60 Euros when I joined last New Year's Eve in a drunken stupor whilst skiing in Andorra and was given a 20 Euro discount coupon for next year in my goody bag!

Overal this is a great marathon experience but there are a few negatives with the organisation. The expo is basic and the offical merchandise isn't worth buying. The race T shirt in the goody bag is technical and quite nice but is a mans fit so it's not the best for women. The lack of toilets at the start is the worst thing. I counted 14 portaloos for the 7000 runners! The queues were horrendous and of course the men were just lining up by the wall to go. By the time runners were dropped off by the start there was only about 1/2 hour to put the bags in lorries to be ferried to the finish so lots of people missed this and lost their stuff. On the offical map there showed toilets along the route every 5k but I did not see any. However the race itself was very good for a small field it had a big race feel and lots of support. There were 26 bands of all genres along the route. The first 10 miles or so followed the river from stra and was pretty running past some grand homes. It was mainly flat and fast. There is a killer hill at about mile 18 going through san gullino park. The road bridge into venice itself is quite a tough 5k as there is nothing to see apart from road and sea. The last 5k are the best - running through venice itself is unforgettable. There are 14 bridges to cross in the last 2 miles but the organisers put ramps on them for the marathon so they are fine - they have signs on them counting them down which is a nice touch. The markers are only in km so as I'm used to miles I was trying to gauge my time every 5k. The water & gatorade stations are good & efficent and the medal is nice. Overall it is great - the best marathon finish ever!

See the previous comments re: this race. I love Venice and when I decided to give marathon running a try, this had to be the first one. Only the last 4K or so are actually in Venice, but the preceding 36 are mostly in pleasant Italian countryside, apart from an unavoidable couple of kilometers through the industrial area of Maghera. The crowds along the route are enthusiastic and vocal and everyone seemed to enjoy the spectacle, runners and spectators alike. Organization is top-notch, and I had only a couple of quibbles: For those staying in Venice, there is a 20-minute walk from the bus station to the shuttle bus pick-up point to the race start. The new People Mover cable-car covers that route but doesn't open until an hour after the shuttle buses are gone. The race organizers have promised to ask the Venice Authority if they can open up the People Mover early next year.

At the race start, it was quite cold this year, so a lot of runners elected to wait or even start in cover-ups, but the official manning the corral entrance wouldn't let them through, thinking they still had to change. For the Italian speakers, they could explain and that was ok, but for some of the foreign competitors, it got a bit confused. This year's race (the 25th) was scheduled to take a loop through St. Mark's Square for this year only, but at the last minute the organizers had to change the course due to a flood forecast. I was right at the back of the start corral and I missed the announcement, so the route change came as a bit of a surprise.

Minor quibbles aside, the race was a total delight for me and I can't wait for next year. Typical of the entire experience was when I was sitting at the vaporetto stop post-race, waiting for the boat back to my apartment and munching through the contents of my goody-bag: an old lady came in and I got up to offer my seat. Seeing my track suit and finishers medal, she smilingly insisted that I stay seated and rest my weary legs.

We stayed in Mestre, which made it much much easier to get to the race start on the day and for getting to the expo and airports. On the morning of the race, it was a bit chaotic getting to the race start town, more so from Venice itself. Once you got there, there wasn't a lot of time to get ready. The queues to the toilets (too few) were very long. There wasn't much time to drop bags at the lorries, so that people had to strip off while waiting to go to the toilets while others volunteered to go to the bag-drop/lorries (which left half an hour before race start) People were in a panic trying to get their bags on before they drove off. Then you had to join back in line for the loos.

The route was lovely and there was plenty of space to be able to run smoothly at your own pace. Lots of pace balloons, which were easy to follow for those who wanted them.

Great crowd support through the towns with traditional drumming and flag throwing as well as rock bands every 5 miles or so.

If you have a dislike of bridges, this is not for you. I have a bridge phobia and had a nightmare time. I had asked a previous poster about this and he said I would be fine. But the bridge across the grand canal is like scaffolding and fireman's ladders and it moves a lot. The smaller bridges were ramped, and as it was raining at the end, it got quite slippery, so you need to be careful. The race leader slipped on the third to last bridge and ended up coming second overall as a result.

We didn't get through St. Marks Square because it was flooded but the course had been adjusted through the park earlier in the route.

Medal was huge metal piece shaped in a "25" for the anniversary. Well organized at end of race. Hot tea and hot pasta and drink available after the clothing changing area.

Bring money or a travel card and pay to go on the usual vaporetto to your destination. There is free transportation but there were quite a number of people queueing for the free boat and many of them were shivering severely with cold in the wind and rain for over 20 minutes before they got on. Get on far more quickly on the regular service and get back to somewhere warm promptly.

My finishing time was texted promptly to my phone.

Overall, the crowds were very supportive and all aspects of organization - from well stocked expo to any questions - were promptly answered. My medical form did not arrive so I just signed a form when picking up my number. NO problem.

Very good marathon overall.

Flat course in a nice environment. This was my second marathon, so I'm not experienced, but what I liked more is that the number of runners is limited to 6,000, so everyone can easily get his pace from the beginning. I ran with the pacer for the entire course, and they brought me just below the target time (3:50).
The end in Venice in the last 2 KM is spectacular, and pays back all of the pain. The 14 small bridges at the end are not an issue, as you are at the end inside Venice, which will give you the extra energy you need. Also, the final 2 KM are on a narrow path, and also the bridges are very narrow, which brings you very close to the supporting crowd.

If you have accommodations in Venice and aren't staying with family, be sure that your credit card is fully loaded - it's very expensive (but worth it).

Venice 2009 was a point-to-point race, starting in Stra on the mainland and finishing on the islands of Venice. Only the last 5 KM or so are in Venice itself, which is probably for the best, Venice being what it is! The course was beautiful and mostly flat, the spectator support was intermittent but enthusiastic, and the organization was excellent. Overall, this is a race well worth running. I managed a PR despite not running my race as planned, so I was very happy with the experience. Some details:

The race expo was held in an inflatable building at Parco San Giuliano in Mestre, right at the foot of the Ponte della Liberta (the causeway to Venice). It included a smoothly run race-kit pickup with excellent goody bag and various vendors and advertisers for other upcoming races. The park is easy to reach by bus from either Venice or Mestre and there seemed to be plenty of parking.

On race day there were buses to the start from the Troncheto area of Venice and from Mestre. If you're staying in Venice, you'll want to make sure you have a good water-bus connection to Tronchetto or you could be facing quite a pre-race walk. Then there's the wait for the bus, about a 70% chance that you'll end up standing on the 30-minute bus ride, and the usual standing around at the start. In total, I was on my feet for almost three hours before the gun which made for tired legs; however, I'm not sure how it could have been organized differently.

The starting area was very well structured - get off of the bus, use the change room if necessary, go through the toilet line (plentiful toilets), drop off your bag at the trucks, and enter the (controlled access) race corrals. There were lots of signs and continuous announcements in Italian, English, German and at least one or two other languages in case you weren't sure what to do next.

The start itself was about 20 minutes late. Apparently the entire race is broadcast on Italian television and the start is at the mercy of the TV crews; this was explicitly mentioned in the race info packet, so it wasn't a surprise.

The first 28 KM or so ran through a succession of towns and semi-rural areas, mostly along the Brenta River. This part of the course is almost completely flat. There were plenty of spectators in the towns, but few between. There were bands playing every kilometer or two - mostly rock oldies, but also some punk, some rap, and some high-school brass.

Refreshment stations were as advertised: every 5 KM, bottled water and cups of PowerAde, plus fruit and cookies at later stations.

At around 29 KM, the course did a loop through Parco San Guiliano, and then navigated the on-ramps to the Ponte della Liberta. This section includes some mild hills and was where I fell completely off my planned time; however, seeing the Venice skyline in the distance did give a big boost and made it easier to struggle across the causeway.

Once into Venice itself, the course wound initially through a near-deserted industrial area (which was a bit disconcerting) before eventually coming out onto Venice's southern waterfront. There's nothing like this in the world, and even through the pain in my legs I could really appreciate the unique and beautiful place I was running through.

As advertised, there were 14 bridges to cross in the last three kilometers. All of these had been fitted with ramps at an eight-degree (or less) incline, so they weren't too difficult to navigate. Most impressive was the enormous pontoon bridge that had been put in over the end of the Grand Canal just for the marathon. The "N bridges to go" signs in front of each bridge were either helpful or maddening, depending how your legs were doing by that point.

The finishers' area was also very well run with minimal congestion. The medal was a bit disappointing; an interesting, uniquely Venetian design, but a bit on the lightweight side with a very skinny ribbon. One thing I did particularly like about the finish was the feeding approach: rather than scrounging in boxes or having to queue, every finisher was handed a plastic bag with a bottle of water, a bottle of PowerAde, a small carton of chocolate soy drink, and several pieces of fruit. There was also hot sweet tea and pasta available just past the finish area.

Would I do it again? You bet!

This is one to make sure all marathon runners tick off.

I booked a small hotel in Mestre on the mainland just around the corner from the train station. Good place, as it is much cheaper and easier to get from the airport and where the expo is. On race morning, buses picked us up from the station and took us to the start in Stra (approximately 20 miles away). With a 6,000-participant cap and six starting corrals, it never was too crowed. Running back along the river Brenta is flat, and then a bit up and down through Parco San Giuliano. It all starts to happen when you hit the 3840 meter causeway bridge to Venice. Looking at Venice getting closer is exceptional, but it's not until you finally put a foot on the island that it really begins to happen and massive support starts. With the sea on your right, and ramps of eight degrees erected for runners over 14 canals and a pontoon bridge over the Grand Canal with people in gondolas giving support, this is not the atmosphere of other marathons. Phenomenal support is received past Piazza San Marco, the basilica and onto the finish at Riva Setta Martiri. At the end there was a free water bus and bus back to the station in Mestre.

Well organized, and a finisher medal that is not like any other that I have, with a nautical Venetian theme.

This was an easy and beautiful marathon! I was delighted to run the '08 Venice Marathon for many reasons - especially because it's very flat, the organization is very good, and the Palladio Villas are great (even if I was too tired and concentrated to see them during the race). I also had the chance to spend a few days in the Venice area after the marathon. I was was lucky to sleep in the countryside, close to the race start. I'd like to improve my time (3:25), maybe in two years' time.

Good luck, guys! Have fun! Viva Venezia!!

- Rob