Maratona di Pisa

The Maratona di Pisa is Tuscany's traditional season-closing marathon, run each year on the third Sunday of December. Now in its late twenties of editions, the flat, fast, AIMS- and World Athletics-certified 42.195 km course starts at Piazza Manin, winds through the pine woods of the San Rossore natural park, touches the Tyrrhenian coast, and returns along the Arno River before finishing beneath the Leaning Tower in Piazza del Duomo. With only about 96 meters of elevation gain over the full distance, it is one of Italy's flattest road marathons and a popular target for a fast late-season finish. The race is run alongside the half marathon ("La Pisanina") and a 6.5 km Christmas-themed family fun run, drawing several thousand runners to the historic city center. The marathon has a 6-hour-30-minute overall time limit, with an intermediate cutoff of 4 hours 35 minutes at the 30 km mark. The event is organized by sports associations 1063AD and TriO Events with the Municipality of Pisa, under the patronage of the Tuscany Region, and is affiliated with FIDAL, CONI, and World Athletics.