WORDS BY LIKE THE WIND – PHOTOGRAPHY BY SKILLY AND LAURA MARCHINI
Venice is a city of many guises. It’s a tourist hotspot, where 438 bridges and a network of canals connect 118 islands characterised by tiny alleyways, ancient courtyards and beautiful palazzos. With a history that extends back to the Roman empire, Venice has been a global force in art, design, global trade and storytelling. (During the 1400s, the city was the printing capital of the world.) But has Venice ever been associated with running? Well, it is now, thanks to Diadora and Mind the Gap, a race with a very special format.
The concept behind Mind the Gap is simple… yet at the same time, highly unusual. Runners are challenged to race between a set number of checkpoints spread out around the city. But there is no prescribed route between the checkpoints. No distance markers. Just the runners’ minds and bodies, testing themselves to get to the end first.
Mind the Gap, powered by Runaway Milano, began as an under-the-radar night race in Milan in 2019. The combination of darkness and the unplanned route engendered a real sense of dangerous excitement. There was no tech at the checkpoints: it was all about getting a stamp on a bit of paper. This old-school check-in seemed to hammer home the physical nature of the event, and also add a layer of secrecy to the whole experience.
By April 2024, eight Milanese editions of Mind the Gap later, the race arrived in Venice. Rather than taking place under cover of darkness, the plan was that runners taking part in the “Venexia” version of the event would tear through Venice’s historic streets alleys as the sun came up. Oh, and the title became “Mind the Canal”.
SECRETS REVEALED
In the early hours of 22 April 2024, the weather was cold. In the pre-dawn gloom, 40 runners huddled at the starting point on the Punta della Dogana , buffeted by a stiff wind whipping off the Venetian Lagoon. Moments before the start, the locations of the checkpoints – until now, a closely guarded secret – were at last revealed. Under pale streetlights, the runners were suddenly compelled to think quickly: what was the fastest, most efficient way to get around all five checkpoints?
At 5.30am, as the sun began to rise, drenching the ancient city in a fabulous pink light, the race began and runners stormed through the streets, their hammering footsteps breaking the silence of the night before.
Those who knew Venice well used their navigational skills to cut through the labyrinth of passages and squares. Others stuck together in small groups. The fastest and strongest pushed ahead, striding confidently over the canal bridges that, in a matter of hours, would be thronged with tourists. Watching the race footage back on Instagram is a real heart-in-the-mouth experience as runners breeze down the side of canals, seemingly with only centimetres of pavement between them and the historic waters. The sight of speedy runners apparently flying over the bridges and up and down stairs makes for a fascinating contrast with the familiar images of a crowded Venice, packed with slow-moving sightseers.
The first male and female runners to finish the race were Romain Wyndaele, the French open 1,500m champion, and Margherita Vitali.
But really the winners were everyone who had the chance to experience such a different event in an utterly unique city. And the city itself, which can now say that it is truly a place where running has found a home.
