Corsa del Ricordo - San Felice Circeo

The Corsa del Ricordo - San Felice Circeo is the seaside Lazio stage of a national road-running circuit created by ASI (Associazioni Sportive e Sociali Italiane) together with ANVGD, the national association of exiles from Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia. Born in Rome, where it is run every February around Italy's national Day of Remembrance, the Corsa del Ricordo uses sport to keep alive the memory of the victims of the foibe killings and of the exodus of Italians from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia after the Second World War. It has since spread to around ten cities, from Trieste to Catania, and San Felice Circeo has hosted a stage every year since 2023, somewhere between late summer and early autumn.

The main event is a competitive race of about 11 km, starting at 9:30 am from Piazzale Gianpaolo Cresci on the Lungomare Circe seafront. The course links the town centre with the waterfront, entirely on tarmac and with no significant climbing: a fast, rolling route that suits club runners and recreational athletes used to 10K races alike. Alongside it, a 4 km non-competitive "metabolic walk", open to everyone, follows the new cycle path laid out along the seafront, so families and walkers can share the morning without worrying about results.

Technical organisation is in the hands of the Fitness Montello Running club, which also runs the Latina stage, with support from the town of San Felice Circeo. Timing is by chip and medical cover is provided along the course. The top three men and women overall receive prizes, as do the leading finishers in each age category, with local produce on offer. Check-in and bib collection take place on Piazzale Cresci from 7:30 am. Entries are taken online until a few days before the race; on-the-day entry at the race office is still possible, though the race pack is not guaranteed.

The setting alone is worth the trip. San Felice Circeo sits against Monte Circeo, a limestone headland rising above the Tyrrhenian Sea at the southern end of the Pontine Plain. Tradition places here the home of the sorceress Circe, who held Odysseus captive in the Odyssey, hence the name. The headland, the coastal forest and the lagoon lakes make up Circeo National Park, founded in 1934 and one of the oldest in Italy. The historic hilltop village and the old watchtowers dotted along the shore complete a landscape that runners take in just as the beach season draws to a close.

Beyond the stopwatch, the race carries a message of remembrance, as part of a circuit that each year links towns from the north to the south of the country. In Lazio it comes before the Latina stage, held in November around Lake Fogliano, allowing local runners to tick off two rounds of the circuit just a few weeks apart.