Chiara's Running diary

Date: 19th November 2023 Location: Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain Race Distance: 42.195Km Dear Reader,  This race as well as the story behind how and why I signed up to this event has been full of twists. From beginning to end, I have been through many ups and downs. I can definitely say to be proud to finish this 2023 season with still plenty of passion for this sport. Now, I want to take you back to the beginning, when the Marathon idea started shaping in my brain. … First days of April 2023 … One year ago, I was just starting walking again without crutches, my knee was finally healed from the fracture, and I was responding well to the physiotherapy sessions. Today, I am about to start the half-marathon peak training week in preparation for Vienna HM on the 23rd of April. Thinking back to what I have done in one year, it seems incredible. Since my injury in Jan ‘22, I have run the StraMilano 10km in May ’22, my first HM in Málaga in December ’22, and I am now getting very close to m

Date: 15th October 2023 Location: Ürgüp, Cappadocia, Turkey Race Distance: 63Km …THE BEGINNING: Spring/Summer 2023… Before jumping into the report, I will share the behind the scenes that took me to this unforgettable run. For every race I sign up for, there is a story behind, and this one started at the end of April 2023 when I met Yunus. I already knew who he was, but that was the first time that we met in person. After re-introducing myself, my first thought was “he seems an ok guy”, my second thought was “I love his jacket!”. You may not know Yunus, but one thing is certain here, he’s not famous for his highly fashioned outfits. However, that day combined with his typical WWF t-shirt he was wearing the Cappadocia Ultra Trail finisher’s jacket. Of course, that detail didn’t go unseen, and – very typical of me - I started asking questions curious to know if Yunus really ran the race. I discovered that he did for real and that he will run 3 more big ultras of >100km each this summe

Date: 19 th August 2023 Location: Tuz Gölü, Turkey Race Distance: 40Km Everything started on what was supposed to be a usual Friday afternoon at work, on the 28 th July 2023 to be precise. By that time, I had already changed my summer plans at least 3 times and on that 28 th July, in the morning, my upcoming working travel planned for August got cancelled. Well, I was (again) in the typical “Chiara never has a plan” situation. I was about to get my flight tickets to go back to Italy, I thought of spending a couple weeks in my home country, but then my friend Yunus called me. Before telling you, what happened during that call, I will spend a few words talking about who is Yunus as he played a huge role in this adventure (and much more). Well, now it’s hard to be concise, but I promise I will do my best. Before I met him, I used to run half marathons and back in June 2023 I had just signed up for my first full marathon (that I still have to run on the 19 th November 2023) – wha