Maratonina Internazionale Città di Udine: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is on Via della Vittoria in the middle of Udine. The course leaves the city to the north and loops through the comune of Tavagnacco around Feletto Umberto, taking in Via Padova, Via Colugna, Piazza Indipendenza and Via Patrioti. It is plain with gentle undulation, with the Julian Prealps on the skyline to the north.

Back in Udine the race finishes on Piazza della Libertà, the Venetian Renaissance square beneath the castle hill with the Loggia del Lionello and the clock tower: an unusually complete finishing image for a half marathon.

The course is new. The organizer presented it at the end of July 2026 and describes it as faster and more fluid than its predecessor. Older descriptions of this race have it starting at Cividale del Friuli, but that was the 2016 to 2018 route and has nothing to do with the current one. The profile bears out the claim: 95 metres of ascent over the measured 21.3 kilometres, a net four metres between start and finish, and a flat classification. Five separate titles are decided on this one race: the general result, the first national FIASO championship for healthcare workers, the regional absolute and master championship, the Italian LIBERTAS championship and a blood donors' championship. 2026 is the 26th edition.

Pacing Strategy

With 95 metres of climbing over 21 kilometres the terrain gives you no reason to vary your pace, so plan even splits and do not let the city-centre start pull you into a fast opening kilometre. Via della Vittoria is wide, the field is fresh and the crowd is close.

The race is decided on the Tavagnacco loop at midrace. There the course leaves the city, the crowds thin, the roads are open and there is nothing to navigate by; that is the phase where a fast start shows and where nobody slows you. Hold goal pace there deliberately rather than beating it.

The second half belongs to the run back into Udine. The profile rises and falls only by a few metres, but wind across the open Friulian plain can move your splits appreciably while your effort stays the same. Find a group for that stretch, judge it by effort, and save the kick for the last hundred metres onto Piazza della Libertà.

Training plan for Maratonina Internazionale Città di Udine: 12-week build

For most age-group runners the Maratonina di Udine takes between an hour and a half and two and a half hours. The demand is steadily aerobic close to threshold: 95 metres of ascent over 21 kilometres, no categorised climb and no section that breaks your rhythm from outside.

Threshold work is the backbone of your preparation: tempo runs of 8 to 14 kilometres at goal effort and long intervals of 2,000 to 4,000 metres with short jog recoveries. Because the course gives you no terrain excuse, your ability to hold one pace for over an hour decides the finishing time almost on its own, with a weekly long run of 90 to 120 minutes as the base.

Course-specifically what counts is the open middle. Put some of your tempo work on straight, unsheltered country roads rather than a varied city loop, so that holding pace with no external stimulus and in wind is something you have practised. That is exactly what the Tavagnacco loop asks for.

On conditions: mid-September mornings in Friuli are still mild to warm, and the plain outside the city offers neither shade nor shelter. The organizer publishes neither a start time nor a cutoff for 2026, so plan your fuelling for warm rather than autumnal conditions. The surface is road asphalt throughout, so put your key sessions on asphalt too.