The Wizz Air Milano Marathon 2024 will mark the 22nd edition of Italy's fastest marathon, but above all it will be the climax of a four-day sports event that will turn Milan into the capital of running, with plenty of initiatives and activities starting from Thursday 4 April, the opening day of the Milano Running Festival at MiCo. A true celebration for the city, which will feature 45 thousand runners, not to mention the public, with increasingly important economic benefits for the entire territory.
The first new features were presented today as part of a talk organised at UniCredit’s Tower Hall, in the heart of Milan’s Porta Nuova district. The speakers included Remo Taricani, Deputy Head of Italy at UniCredit, Urbano Cairo, Chairman of RCS MediaGroup, Paolo Bellino, Managing Director of RCS Sports & Events, Fruzsina Polácska, Marketing Manager of Wizz Air, Giacomo Giacani, Marketing Manager of Levissima, and Stefano Baldini, Brand Ambassador of Asics. The talk was moderated by Federica Frola of SKY Sport and Marathon Ambassador Lucilla Andreucci.
After the announcement of Wizz Air as the new title sponsor of the Marathon, the other important news concerns UniCredit, one of the main European groups and leading bank in Italy, which from next year will join the event as title sponsor of the Relay Ma3rathon.
The latter has now reached its 12th edition and has proven to be a successful format capable of involving a large number of people thanks to the possibility of dividing the 42.195 km of the marathon's official race course into 4 fractions, each between 6.5 and 13 km long.
For the 2024 edition of the UniCredit Relay Marathon, further growth is expected in terms of participation, with a target of 4 thousand teams and 16 thousand runners.
Registration for the 2024 Charity Programme, which will formally involve 103 NPOs (Non-Profit Organisations), was in fact closed earlier than expected due to the rapid exhaustion of available places. These are significant numbers for a solidarity project that over time has raised more than 5.5 million euros, thereby confirming the Milano Marathon as the second largest fund-raising sporting event in Europe after the London Marathon.
The title sponsor of the event reserved for families was also presented today: the Levissima Family Run. This is the evolution of the School Marathon, which in 7 years has attracted over 54 thousand children and accompanying adults, of whom 8,500 in 2023 alone. In 2024, the event will open up to families by allowing adults to participate as well.
The target is 20 thousand family runners. The Family Run will be held on Saturday 6 April in the City Life district, featuring the Maspes-Vigorelli Velodrome, an iconic venue for Milanese sport, as a new starting point, and the MiCo as the historical arrival point. The route is about 3 km.
The Wizz Air Milano Marathon, Italy’s best-loved running event by foreigners, is acquiring a new title sponsor, Wizz Air, emphasizing the organiser's desire to further expand the event's boundaries and boost its international notoriety, with a focus not only on sporting results and increased attendance, but also on sustainability. 9,000 participants are expected at the next marathon.
The run-up to the Milano Running Festival at MiCo in City Life and all related events will start as early as January.
Among the upcoming initiatives aimed at enhancing community involvement is the project with the 9 municipalities of the Milan area (or municipal districts) in order to promote the identity of a city closely linked to sport, which is coming together to offer its citizens a day of celebration. Cultural associations, dance schools, music schools and other organisations will be involved in order to give a new and increasingly important space to the Marathon.
The Training Programmes of the local Running Clubs will not be missing either and will allow fans to prepare for the marathon in the most appropriate way by sharing their experience with other enthusiasts. The inauguration will take place on 21 January at the PalaBadminton. Also scheduled are long-distance training sessions: the PAVIA > MILAN The Long Run on 2 March and the so-called Lungo di Monza on 17 March, inside the city Park, one of the largest and most beautiful green areas in Europe.
Also unveiled to the public were the official jerseys of the Wizz Air Milano Marathon, UniCredit Relay Marathon and Levissima Family Run. Designed by Asics, they were presented by Olympic marathon gold medallist Stefano Baldini, Brand Ambassador for Asics. "The jersey is the calling card of a marathon and is what all those registered for the Milano Marathon will take home. Once again this year, the jersey is made by Asics, the clothing brand I have been working with for 25 years and which continues in its activity of technological evolution of clothing and above all footwear, which constitute the fundamental equipment for runners, both for those who only aim to finish the race and for those who are looking for Olympic qualifying times. The jersey is also very important in terms of performance, thanks to fabrics that improve performance according to the climate”.
Main statements
Remo Taricani, UniCredit’s Deputy Head of Italy. “This sponsorship bears witness to our commitment to the communities in which we do business, and to the city of Milan in particular. Supporting the Relay Marathon, the most popular charity relay race in Italy, means promoting a healthy and active lifestyle, as well as supporting a major solidarity project involving ninety non-profit organisations. Also involved in the marathon will be the UniCredit Running Team, a community of UniCredit employees, who will be associated with a Non-Profit Organisation, selected from those participating in the Charity Programme of the Milano Marathon and listed on our digital platform dedicated to fundraising, 'Il Mio Dono'. At the end of the relay, the Non-Profit Organisation associated with the winning team will receive a further donation from UniCredit”.
Urbano Cairo, Chairman of RCS MediaGroup. “The Milano Marathon is a major event for us, which in addition to the marathon includes the Relay Marathon and the School Marathon, now renamed the Family Run 2024. The event is growing in numbers and attracts important partners such as Wizz Air, an expanding international airline company, UniCredit, a large bank that has made a spectacular turnaround in recent years, and Levissima, which has been following us for a long time. Milan has always been a beautiful city, but it is developing into a truly wonderful one, attracting an incredible number of tourists, thus being in the position of organising and enjoying events such as the marathon, which can help further promote tourism. Italy has no raw materials, tourism is our raw material: we have 70% of the world's natural, artistic and cultural heritage. Sport, and I am thinking of the Milano Marathon but also the Giro d'Italia, is a perfect vehicle to promote Italy abroad. We are in fifth place among the most visited countries, but we must have the ambition to become the first. I had promised to participate in the last edition and I didn't, but this year I will be there, I want to take part in one of the first fractions of the relay. Sport is very important. Whoever practises sport has an uncommon determination, constancy and discipline. What counts is commitment, dedication, the will to perform, which lead you to improve results and records. All things that pay off in every aspect of life”.
Paolo Bellino, Managing Director of RCS Sports & Events. “We are running fast. The marathon has 40% more entries at this time than last year, and 54% are from abroad. We already have 4,000 relays registered, so much so that we had to put a limit on their number due to logistical problems. We are the second largest charity programme event in Europe and expect next year to break the fundraising record of 1.5 million euros.
Participation targets are also important, with an overall goal of 45,000 runners. It is an ambitious expectation, but one that is justified by the considerable growth of the event over the years in a city, Milan, that is increasingly turning into a city of sport. Today, the marathon is an appointment loved by all the Milanese and an 'engine' of tourism development, with a remarkable induced revenue. We are working for an increasingly green marathon, a true laboratory of running-related technologies: this is in the DNA of a city like Milan. And we want to bring families and young people to run in their city, in their territory: this is one of the objectives we care most about”.
Fruzsina Polácska, Marketing Manager Wizz Air. “We are delighted that the Milano Marathon has become the latest addition to the portfolio of running events we have been sponsoring for almost a decade. Low cost flying and running improve people's lives by keeping them moving, creating new experiences and being accessible to all. We currently sponsor 8 running events in 6 different countries, chosen on our Brand presence and aimed at engaging local communities. As Wizz Air is the world's lowest carbon intensity airline thanks to a young and efficient fleet, it is important for us to have partners like Milano Marathon that are aligned with sustainability principles. We are happy to share our vast experience in running events to further enhance the sustainability dimension of the Milano Marathon”.
Giacomo Giacani, Marketing Manager Levissima (Sanpellegrino Group). “We are thrilled to renew our participation as Official Mineral Water and Green Partner of the Milano Marathon, as well as Title Sponsor of the Levissima Family Run. Not only because it is one of the most important sporting events on the national and international scene, but also because it is a virtuous example of sustainability and social responsibility, values that Levissima fully embraces and to which it is concretely committed through restitution actions on the ground. Thanks to our active presence at the event, we want to be at the side of all participants – adults and children – for an experience that goes beyond running, by fostering the regeneration of the planet and communities through more sustainable lifestyles and behaviour”.
2024 PARTNERS
The Municipality of Milan, CONI and FIDAL
Wizz Air (Title Sponsor) // ASICS (Technical Partner) // UniCredit (Title Sponsor Relay Marathon) //
Levissima (Official Mineral Water – Green Partner & Title Family Run) // Lenovo Official Partner.
Media Partner: La Gazzetta dello Sport // SKY Sport // Radio Partner RDS 100% Grandi Successi.
