FROM CASTELLO TO CATHEDRAL: THE HISTORY OF THE MILAN MARATHON

In the spring of 2021, with Italy still emerging from the most devastating pandemic in a century, a closed loop of 7.5 kilometers around the Castello Sforzesco produced the fastest marathon times in the world. Both the men's and women's races at that year's Milan Marathon ranked first globally. That a major race could run a COVID-compliant closed-circuit format and still generate record-level performances said something about both the depth of elite competition and the infrastructure Milan had quietly built over two decades.

The November Race That Reinvented Itself

In November 2000, the Milano City Marathon Club launched the city's first full marathon, organized under the institutional umbrella of RCS Sports and Events -- the same group that owns Corriere della Sera and stages the Giro d'Italia. Fields were modest: 4,000 to 6,000 finishers. The finishing area sat near the Castello Sforzesco.

The race had elite ambitions from the start. At the 2002 edition, Kenya's Robert Cheruiyot won in 2:08:59 in a three-way sprint. Margaret Okayo, also Kenyan, took the women's race in 2:24:59. These were world-class athletes on world-class times, a signal that race management was chasing quality alongside participation.

For nine editions -- all held in November -- Milan grew methodically. Kenya's Daniel Cheribo set the men's course record in 2004 with 2:08:38. Then in 2006, Benson Kipchumba Cherono pushed it to 2:07:58, the fastest marathon time ever run in Italy to that point.

The April Pivot

After nine November editions, organizers overhauled the race entirely. The 10th edition moved to April and launched with a new course routing through San Siro, the Navigli canal district, and the historic center. The finish was redesigned, eventually settling at Piazza del Duomo -- directly in front of the cathedral -- a visual identity no other major European marathon can match.

The timing shift aligned Milan with the spring marathon calendar alongside Paris, Rotterdam, and London. The effect was immediate. Participation crested 10,000 for the first time in 2011. By 2012, when Barclays Bank came on as title sponsor, the field had grown to 13,569 -- more than double the best November numbers. That same year, a charity program launched that would raise over 7.5 million euros in its first 13 years.

A Race Built on Speed

The course that emerged from the redesign is consistently rated the fastest certified marathon course in Italy. The route runs nearly flat -- roughly 100 meters of total elevation gain over 42.195 kilometers -- across urban asphalt and park paths. April temperatures in Milan typically fall between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius, ideal for performance.

The course passes through the Arco della Pace, the Arena Civica, the modern skyscrapers of the City Life district, the San Siro football stadium near kilometer 20, the Navigli canals, and Parco Sempione. Then, at kilometer 42, Piazza del Duomo -- the largest Gothic cathedral in the world by footprint -- rises as the finish backdrop.

No other major marathon finishes in front of a building like this. Beyond aesthetics, the Duomo finish gives the race a singular visual identity in an era when city marathons compete as much for global broadcast recognition as for course records.

The Titus Ekiru Complication

The 2019 edition produced one of the most significant times in Italian marathon history. Kenya's Titus Ekiru won in 2:04:46, setting what was then the Italian all-comers' record. That same year, Brigid Kosgei -- who would break the marathon world record at Chicago in October -- crossed the women's finish line first. The race was attracting athletes at the peak of the sport.

Then came 2021.

With Italy still navigating pandemic restrictions, organizers ran the postponed 20th anniversary edition on a closed loop around the Castello Sforzesco. The format was pragmatic but the results were extraordinary. Ekiru ran 2:02:57, which would have been the sixth-fastest marathon in history. Ethiopia's Hiwot Gebrekidan ran 2:19:35, a women's Italian all-comers' record. The first seven women finished inside 2:25:00. World Athletics called it the deepest women's marathon field ever held on Italian soil. Both the men's and women's times ranked first in the world for that year.

The men's result did not hold. The Athletics Integrity Unit found that Ekiru had tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide -- a corticosteroid banned in competition -- and had tampered with the investigation by submitting forged hospital documents. He received a 10-year ban. His 2019 and 2021 Milan results were nullified and approximately $60,000 in prize money forfeited.

Reuben Kipyego, who finished second that day in 2:03:55, now holds the effective men's course record. Gebrekidan's 2:19:35 women's course record stands unchallenged.

The episode illustrated a recurring tension in elite road racing: the fastest times on fast courses come with the highest incentives to cheat, and verification often arrives years after the finish.

The Yeman Crippa Moment

Italian athletics has experienced a generational shift over the past decade, and Milan became the stage for its most visible chapter. In 2023, Yeman Crippa -- European 5,000m and 10,000m champion from Trento -- made his marathon debut at the Wizz Air Milano Marathon. He finished fifth in 2:08:56, narrowly missing the Italian national record.

The time was not the headline. The moment was. Crippa had built his reputation on the track, and his debut in a city marathon on home soil drew attention from a domestic audience that does not typically fill sports pages with road racing. In a single morning, Milan had its connection to a broader national story.

Uganda's Andrew Rotich Kwemoi won the 2023 edition outright in 2:07:14, his debut marathon.

2024 and Beyond: The International Turn

The 2024 edition set a participation record: 8,545 marathon finishers, more than 40% from outside Italy. Wizz Air became title sponsor, folding Milan into the airline's European running series. The wider Milano Running Festival drew over 50,000 people to the event expo across four days.

In 2025, the pace accelerated further. 10,250 marathon registrants -- another record -- with 56% international participants representing 106 nations. Race director Paolo Bellino has set a target of 15,000 marathon participants within two years, a figure that would put Milan in conversation with Paris and Amsterdam for scale.

Ethiopia's Shure Demise Ware, racing her first marathon after returning from maternity leave, won the 2025 women's race in 2:23:21 -- the fastest women's marathon time run in Italy that year. Kenya's Leonard Langat took the men's title in 2:08:38, pulling away decisively at kilometer 40.

April 12, 2026

The 24th edition of the Wizz Air Milano Marathon arrives on a trajectory that would not have been obvious at the first November start in 2000. A race that began with a modest city-center field has become Italy's fastest marathon, its most internationally diverse, and the most technically scrutinized -- the Ekiru case made it briefly the most-watched address in road racing integrity proceedings.

All of that happened while the Piazza del Duomo finish stayed the same. The course remained flat. The elite fields kept coming from Kenya and Ethiopia. And the relay teams from France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, and Ireland kept arriving in numbers that no other Italian marathon has matched.

Twenty-six years ago, a few thousand runners finished a November race in Milan. This April, more than 10,000 will run a World Athletics Elite Label certified course, broadcast on Sky Sport, through the fashion capital of Italy, and finish in front of one of the largest cathedrals on earth.

The 2026 edition returns on April 12 with a fast field on Italy's flattest course. See the Milan Marathon 2026 preview.