SuperMaratona dell'Etna: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The gun goes at half past seven in the morning on the beach at Marina di Cottone in the municipality of Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, at sea level. The opening kilometres are asphalt through the centres of Fiumefreddo and Piedimonte Etneo, and the first serious ramp arrives as early as kilometre 4.9: 2.6 kilometres at 7.8 percent. Past Linguaglossa at kilometre 14.5, the town that hosts the event, the route joins the Strada Mareneve, where 13.4 kilometres at an average of 6.2 percent gather 831 metres of climbing through vineyards, old lava flows and the pines of the Bosco Ragabo.

At kilometre 33.5, the Piano Provenzana checkpoint at roughly 1,700 metres, the asphalt ends. What follows is the hardest part of the day: 11.6 kilometres averaging 10.7 percent for 1,237 metres of ascent on volcanic gravel and sand, with ramps steeper than 30 percent. Almost 30 percent of the whole course counts as steep uphill and barely 13 percent is flat.

The landscape changes completely along the way. Citrus groves and vineyards give way to pine forest, then to young and old cinder cones, solidified lava flows and finally the pietrisco of Piano delle Concazze, a vast terrace of lava gravel just below the finish. In June snow often still sits in the gullies up here while it is high summer down at the coast. After one last very steep ramp the finish stands at the volcano observatory, with a view out to the Aeolian Islands on a clear day and, the signature detail of this race, back down to the beach you started from.

Pacing Strategy

Forget the marathon time you run on the road. What counts here is how the climbing is distributed: 2,648 metres of ascent over 42 kilometres, more than half of it after kilometre 29. The honest calculation runs backwards. If you want to still be able to climb over the final twelve kilometres, the 33.5 kilometres of asphalt before them cannot be raced, only ridden out at an intensity you can still hold after four hours. Winning times sit around 3:40 to 3:55, a typical age-group runner needs six to seven hours, and the overall limit is 7:45.

The trap is the stretch between kilometre 15 and 29. The Strada Mareneve rises at six percent, steadily enough to be run, which is exactly why too many people run it too fast. Race the clock here and you will reach the Piano Provenzana checkpoint in good shape and stop shortly after. Treat the switch from asphalt to gravel as a deliberate break point: from there, walking briskly on the steepest ramps is not a defeat but the more efficient way to move.

Then there are the conditions. You start in a Sicilian early summer at sea level and finish at 2,650 metres, where it can be windy, cold and still partly snow covered. Altitude costs measurable performance over the last ten kilometres, loose volcanic sand swallows energy with every step, and the two intermediate cut-offs at Linguaglossa (2:30) and Piano Provenzana (5:00) have to be built into the plan. Drink early and generously while it is still hot down low, and put your change of clothing in the drop bag that goes to 1,800 metres.

Training plan for SuperMaratona dell'Etna: 12-week build

Expect five to seven hours of work at a typical age-group level, in a race that only ever goes one way. The demand is a very long, continuously rising aerobic effort that tips over into near-walking uphill running in the final ninety minutes. There is no descent in which the legs recover and no flat kilometres where you can hide in a group.

The race is decided over the final 11.6 kilometres from Piano Provenzana at an average of 10.7 percent. You do not prepare for that with fresh hill repeats but by putting steep terrain at the end of long sessions: three to four hours easy, then 800 to 1,200 metres of climbing in one go, alternating running and brisk hiking. High-cadence uphill power hiking is a skill of its own here, not an emergency measure. Downhill running, by contrast, barely matters for this race.

The conditions call for two separate preparations. Low down you are on asphalt in Sicilian June late-morning heat, so heat acclimatisation belongs in the plan, along with a drinking and salt strategy you have actually rehearsed. High up it turns cold, windy and thin: if you can, do a few long sessions above 2,000 metres, and test the kit you are putting in the 1,800 metre drop bag under load beforehand.

The third emphasis is the surface. The last ten kilometres run on lava gravel and loose sand, ground that gives way underfoot and asks far more of the calves and foot stability than any road. Seek out soft, sliding surfaces in training, run on gravel or dunes, and work deliberately on calves and arches. Train only on asphalt and you will lose the final hour not to your endurance but to your lower legs.