25,000 applications for the Maratona 2010 were received, 1,500 more than 2009. This for the approximately 8,900 slots available. The list of participants that were selected from the random draw can be found here. The "travel packages" are sold out.
For those that were not selected in the random draw there are 150 charity slots available beginning at 6 p.m. (GMT +1) on November 25th.
Last year, with part of the proceeds from the Maratona, a school and dispensary in Burkina Faso were equipped with solar panels which are providing light for the first time. This year the Maratona asked the Association "Insieme si può" Onlus/ONG (www.365giorni.org) of Belluno to suggest a project to finance. The proposed project is called "Clean Water" and consists in helping Uganda to reduce one of its many "evils", that is the difficult access to drinking water which contributes to social, health and economic problems. The project consists of drilling new water wells in the region of Karamoja, located in north-eastern Uganda. For more information see here.
Michil (the well known leader of the Maratona) leaves us with this poem:
This is for you, cyclist,
despite all your efforts,
Fortune has not smiled on you.
Here at the Maratona,
we feel a grain of guilt.
The beauty of the Dolomites
is over and above human beings and partly
to blame.
You will see your companions,
the one who has been kissed by Fortune
then you turn round and words fail you
and you feel fragile, angry and abandoned.
And you remain silent, in amazement.
The hope is that there remains
a skeleton of love,
a beauty that is never dimmed
that nothing ever ruins your great passion
And then and again and now you can
cry and smile
And then you become as immense as the earth
and raise your song of love
The divinity is eternal in you
May you live long, great Man.
This is for you, cyclist
whom the Goddess has kissed
may joy pour from your heart.
Your dedication
for us of the Maratona is love
and for you it becomes reality.
With enthusiasm and effort you will reach
the slopes of the mountains
like a child full of smiles,
who asks for light and walks.
It is our joy to lead you
towards peace, everywhere,
as though it were a mouth to feed,
a merry-go-round to ride.
The song of glory of all of us
goes to you, Pale Mountains:
silent masters, you listen
to the heartbeats of many soldiers,
you watch the gasping mouths
of men of strength,
more sinuous than the Giau Pass
twisting and turning more than the Sella Pass.
They are like the untouchable lips
of the woman they love.
Photo: Patitucci Photo
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,000 stories in this blog; the search feature to the right works best for finding things in the blog.
For those that were not selected in the random draw there are 150 charity slots available beginning at 6 p.m. (GMT +1) on November 25th.
Last year, with part of the proceeds from the Maratona, a school and dispensary in Burkina Faso were equipped with solar panels which are providing light for the first time. This year the Maratona asked the Association "Insieme si può" Onlus/ONG (www.365giorni.org) of Belluno to suggest a project to finance. The proposed project is called "Clean Water" and consists in helping Uganda to reduce one of its many "evils", that is the difficult access to drinking water which contributes to social, health and economic problems. The project consists of drilling new water wells in the region of Karamoja, located in north-eastern Uganda. For more information see here.
Michil (the well known leader of the Maratona) leaves us with this poem:
This is for you, cyclist,
despite all your efforts,
Fortune has not smiled on you.
Here at the Maratona,
we feel a grain of guilt.
The beauty of the Dolomites
is over and above human beings and partly
to blame.
You will see your companions,
the one who has been kissed by Fortune
then you turn round and words fail you
and you feel fragile, angry and abandoned.
And you remain silent, in amazement.
The hope is that there remains
a skeleton of love,
a beauty that is never dimmed
that nothing ever ruins your great passion
And then and again and now you can
cry and smile
And then you become as immense as the earth
and raise your song of love
The divinity is eternal in you
May you live long, great Man.
This is for you, cyclist
whom the Goddess has kissed
may joy pour from your heart.
Your dedication
for us of the Maratona is love
and for you it becomes reality.
With enthusiasm and effort you will reach
the slopes of the mountains
like a child full of smiles,
who asks for light and walks.
It is our joy to lead you
towards peace, everywhere,
as though it were a mouth to feed,
a merry-go-round to ride.
The song of glory of all of us
goes to you, Pale Mountains:
silent masters, you listen
to the heartbeats of many soldiers,
you watch the gasping mouths
of men of strength,
more sinuous than the Giau Pass
twisting and turning more than the Sella Pass.
They are like the untouchable lips
of the woman they love.
Photo: Patitucci Photo
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,000 stories in this blog; the search feature to the right works best for finding things in the blog.
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