Matti per la corsa

Matti per la corsa is a running event held every year in early October, on a Sunday morning, in the Caffarella park in south-east Rome. It is run by Si può fare di più, a volunteer association set up in 2014 by mental health service users, their families and care workers to fight the isolation faced by people living with mental illness. The race is the closing event of Romens, the mental health festival of the ASL Roma 2 health authority's psychiatry department, and shares its aim: breaking down prejudice by putting club runners, patients, care staff, families and local residents on the same start line. Technical support comes from the ASD Caffarella Runners club and Polisportiva Borghesiana.

Two formats start together at 10 a.m. and cover the same 8.7 km, two laps of a 4.35 km loop inside the park. The competitive race, chip-timed, is open to runners aged 16 and over who hold a licence with FIDAL or with a sports promotion body recognised by CONI, as well as Runcard holders, in line with the federation's medical rules. The non-competitive run follows the same course and is open to anyone aged 13 or over, with no licence required; a reduced fee applies to family groups of three or more. The first three men and women in the competitive race take the podium, along with each category winner.

At just under 9 km, the distance sits between the classic 5K and 10K. Trained runners can hold a strong pace throughout, while newcomers can take it steadily, with the halfway lap offering a drinks station and an easy marker. The spirit of the morning matters more than the clock: many people run in groups, alongside a day centre, an association or their family.

The setting adds a great deal. The Caffarella is part of the Appia Antica Regional Park and fills the valley of the Almone, a small tributary of the Tiber, between the Via Appia Antica and the Via Latina. Runners pass broad meadows still used for grazing, patches of woodland and Roman and medieval remains such as the Nymphaeum of Egeria, the so-called Tomb of Annia Regilla, the Torre Valca and the Vaccareccia farmstead, all a few minutes from the apartment blocks of the Appio-Latino district.

The meeting point is the park's large lawn, reached through the Largo Pietro Tacchi Venturi entrance. Bibs are collected on site on race morning between 8:30 and 9:30. Entries are taken online or by email, and on the day while bibs remain. They include a souvenir, bag storage, assistance on the course and at the finish, a drinks station at the end of the first lap and another at the finish; timing chips must be handed back afterwards. The day carries on with the Villaggio del Fare, where day centres, social cooperatives and associations present their work, followed by a show combining theatre, song and dance staged at the Casa del Parco by the IncontrArti Lab workshop. Any surplus goes to fund the association's activities.