Brit Jackie Stretton took a surprise win at the X-Bionic Lake Garda Marathon in Italy
Nestled in the northern mountains of Italy, Lake Garda is a spectacular body of crystal-clear water stretching for 52 km from north to south and 17 km from east to west.
Surrounded by majestic mountains and rolling hills, it’s been a popular tourist destination since the renaissance times thanks to its stunning natural scenery, Mediterranean climate and charming towns with their stunning water-facing villas.
The lake offers numerous activities for visitors, including swimming, boating, and windsurfing, but for this spring weekend, it’s the X-Bionic Marathon and Half-Marathon events which take centre stage.
An easy budget-friendly airline hop from the UK makes it a great destination for an early spring marathon and the intimate nature of the event means you avoid the crush of the bigger European city events.
Lake Garda
The course has gentle undulations making it great for chasing a personal best as it follows the lakeside route. The marathon starts on the west side of the lake and heads to the halfway point at the northern tip. Here, the half-marathon follows the same route to the finish heading south along the eastern side of the picturesque lake.
This year’s event was blessed with near-perfect running weather, typical of the time of year in the region, with a temperature of around 11 degrees and only a gentle breeze. The sun made an appearance to spotlight the stunning scenery.
The first of the large contingent of British runners making the trip to Lake Garda this year was Jackie Stretton taking victory in the women’s race in 2:53:46. It proved to be a reasonably comfortable victory for her by the finish, with almost a six-minute buffer over second-placed Italian, Eleonora Gardelli in 2:59:31.
Stretton, of the Springfield Striders RC, ran a solo race and said: “Running on Lake Garda was amazing, one of the most beautiful races I have ever run, it was my first time here and the route was more challenging than I expected with some hilly sections. Next year I will be here again to defend my title.”
Jackie Stretton winner (Wisthaler)
It was a home nation podium in the marathon with Enrico Bartolotti taking first place from Matteo Vecchietti in 2:31:20 to 2:33:40. Third place was a little further adrift with Lorenzo Barconcelli in 2:44:02
First Brit home in the men’s race was Mark Rogers of Cherwell Runners joining the sub-three hour club in 2:59:02.
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