The countdown to the 34th edition of the Valle Intasca marathon has started, a mountain race that once again will also propose the little marathon. The event for runners will take place on the first Sunday in June where participants will have to face a gruelling 36km route with a total rise/fall of over 2500 metres.The race begins in Verbania Intra, reaching the CAI refuge in Piancavallone bringing together the lake and the mountains followed by a descent back to the town. Fatigue filled with excitement, crossing the wonderful landscapes of Valley Intrasca (within the Val Grande National Park) offering breathtaking views of Lake Maggiore and the surrounding mountain peaks. In addition to the long distance run, there will also be the maratonina- a shorter race of 10km.Organisation for everything is already underway. The model for this year's race is based on the tried and trusted previous editions, but the aim of this 34th edition is to make this day a special event for the town, with a great number of participants and a vast public, which will also be entertained by the many other events on offer in collaboration with the marathon. For this reason the race will start and finish in the heart of Intra.But what is the history of the Valle Antrasca Marathon? The first edition, proposed by the Verbano CAI to celebrate its 50th anniversary, was held on 22/06/1924 and was called Marcia di Regolarita Coppa Zanoni, Intra, Pian Cavallone, Zeda, Colle, Intra and covered a distance of 44km leaving from Piazza Teatro at 00.00 on 21st a June and arriving on the lakefront at 17.30 on 22nd. The more recent version was born on 1st June 1975 organised by the Intra periodical La Culona dul Port, CAI and ANA and had rules including: each competitor must bring a personal backpack which will be packed with a weight of 5kg (the weight was given to each runner before the race start) and aupermitted clothing for the race include a shirt of pullover, sports or mountain trousers, mountain shoes of shoes with vibram soles. The following are not permitted: bathing costumes or similar and trainers. The maximum race time is 10 hours. Under these conditions the fastest time by the first pair to arrive was 3 hours 47.37 minutes. Now the times are quite different: close to 2 hours forty minutes and 6 hours for the last to arrive and this data alone gives you an idea of the amount of preparation participant for this race need.

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