September 28th / 29th – StraLugano

The StraLugano is an event that has quickly gained popularity among many runners, both Swiss and foreigners, and continues to see a numerical growth in participation, whereas other races struggle to maintain and increase numbers.

Naturally, even for this event, the beginnings were not easy. The city was ready to host such an event, but it was necessary to set up the entire organizational machinery, to make oneself known, especially the event had to enter the hearts of the people of Lugano. An objective that in a few years has been fully achieved, thanks in particular to the extraordinary work of the organizing committee chaired, from the beginning, by Vanni Merzari.

An interesting fact...
And it is precisely from Vanni Merzari that we discover that the event, originally, was not supposed to be a running race, but an Ironman! "I like to remember that the StraLugano was born around a table in a bar, evoking how the Ironman of Hawaii had started; we said to ourselves if we couldn't organize something similar in Lugano," Merzari once confided to us. "It was the fall of 2005 and the circumstances of the moment quickly made us scale back our dreams. But by then we were launched, and even though we limited our idea, we proposed the organization of a running race. The idea immediately appealed to the officials of the City Sports Department, and so on September 17, 2006, the first StraLugano was held."

For further information visit stralugano.ch

Registration deadline: closed