The Ultra Milano-Sanremo (UMS) is an extreme race that crosses three Italian regions (Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria), with a total overall distance of 285 km. The goal, for the runners taking part in the race, is that of completing this race within 48 hours – those who are able to do so gain access to some of the world’s most famous “Ultra” races, such as the Spartathlon and the Badwater. This makes the UMS a very prestigious event, one that runners from across the world travel to Italy to take part in.

The 2019 edition of this race, which took place between Saturday the 27^th and Monday the 29^th of April, saw us directly involved, given the participation to the race of Gennaro “Genny” Battaglia, Ultra Ambassador and semi-professional runner. It is common practice, in fact, for the race’s participants to organize some kind of charitable “sale” of the distance that they are able to cover, with the funds raised then going to a worthy cause. In essence, this mechanism entails a directly proportional relationship between the distance covered by the runner in question and the funds raised for charity. This year, Cieli Azzurri had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with “Genny”, as he ran to raise funds for our Organization.

This collaboration between Cieli Azzurri and “Genny” was only possible thanks to Ms. Gabriella, whose daughter was hospitalized in the Pediatric Surgery Unit of Milan’s Policlinic Hospital for a substantial period of time. In order to express her gratitude, but also to help children who find themselves in situations similar to her daughter’s, Ms. Gabriella chose to organize this initiative with the collaboration of Gennaro, a family friend. After a tough, obstacle-filled race, “Genny” was able to reach the finish line at 5:30 am on the morning of Monday, the 29^th of April, closing the race in the 11^th overall position. A short video capturing this moment can be found here. If you would like a more detailed description of the event, we invite you to read the official press release from the race’s organizers.

It is important for us to underline how gratifying it is for us to be able to count on the collaboration of kind, altruistic people like Genny and Gabriella. Working with people like these makes us understand how important the work of the Policlinic’s professionals is, and it strengthens our resolve to support them. A huge thank you has to go out to Gabriella, for her role in coordinating this initiative, and of course to Genny, whose resolve and strength of will turned into reality what is nothing but a pipe dream for most of us. Finally, we would also like to thank all those who chose to support our cause in the context of this event. The funds we raised will be used in their entirety to support the Pediatric Surgery Unit of Milan’s Policlinic Hospital.