After 10 years, Eyob Faniel returned to win in Jesolo, on the new race course with a time of 1h02’47”. In the women’s field, Kenyan Ruth Gitonga achieved the best performance of the event, running in 1h10’22”.
Jesolo, 25 May 2025 - A carousel of departures and arrivals that lasted over five hours, starting at 5pm with the departures and arrivals of the young competitors of the Alì Family Run and ending after 10pm with the last competitors of the half marathon and then the great celebration of the Pasta & Music Party that continued until late at night: this is the splendid summary of the 14th BMW Ceccato Motors Jesolo Moonlight Half Marathon that took place last night in Jesolo, enriched this year by the successful experiment of the first Rollerblade® Moonlight Half Marathon, by the new half marathon route that passed through the gates of the historic center of Jesolo, but above all which saw over 7,000 people of all ages and abilities cross the finish line in Piazza Milano, of which over 10% were foreigners and 50% from outside the region who will certainly have generated an important economic boost for Jesolo and its territory since the beginning of the season.
The icing on the cake of this splendid edition was the victory of the Italian Eyob Faniel, an athlete very close to the Venicemarathon family and whose career began in Jesolo 10 years ago, who won last night in a good 1h02’47” and the best performance ever, in the women’s field, achieved by the Kenyan Ruth Gitonga.
In the men’s race, Faniel and the Kenyan Castor Mogeni, second at the finish line, immediately took the lead, passing halfway in 29’29”, with an average per kilometer of 2’56”. Eyob’s final push placed him at the entrance to Piazza Milano, where he shook off Castor and went to take his second victory in Jesolo, exactly 10 years later.
“I was hoping to run a little faster but I’m still very happy because it was still an excellent test in view of the goal of the Sydney Marathon on August 31st. There were so many people along the route, in the bars, on the beach and it felt like the New York Marathon where the public is everywhere. I'm happy to be back in Jesolo because it's where it all started 10 years ago. After this race I started running with the Venicemarathon jersey, I won my first Venice marathon in 2017 and then my career began,” Eyob said at the finish line. A career that we remember saw him set the new Italian marathon record in 2020 (2h07'19") and in 2021 climb onto the third step of the podium at the New York City Marathon. “This evening,” Eyob adds smiling, “I lost the challenge with my partner Ilaria Bianchin, who was also competing in the half marathon. We had bet that she would be at least an hour slower than me and instead she took 1h57'08.” Vincent Momanyi climbed to the third step of the podium with a time of 1h03’42.
In the women's field, 25-year-old Ruth Gitonga, making her international debut, achieved the best performance of the event on the new course, running in 1h10'22". Gitonga, before yesterday evening, had never run outside of Kenya where she lives, at the foot of Mount Kenya (the second highest peak in Africa) together with her 7 brothers. "I'm very happy with the time I achieved because I started with the goal of running in 70 minutes and that's what happened and I really liked the course" - said the winner at the finish line. Second, with a gap of over 10 minutes, was her compatriot Cynthia Jepchumba and third Claudia Andrighettoni.
As we said previously, the half marathon was the last race in chronological terms of an afternoon full of events. The day started at 5 pm with the Alì Family Run of about 3 kilometers, which saw the 15-year-old Polish Kasper Szuda, on vacation in Jesolo with his family, cross the finish line first and the 13-year-old from Jesolo, representative of Atletica Jesolo Turismo, Anna Facchin. There were more than 500 registered participants, including many families and foreign tourists on vacation.
The day continued with the start, at 6:30 p.m., of the 10K (9,870 meters) that saw Stefano Gotti, 27, a middle-distance runner from Polisportiva G.B. Vighenzi, cross the finish line, running in 30’40”, the second fastest performance ever of the event. In the women's field, the victory went to Giulia Delgado (Asd Atl. San Biagio) who won in 37'25".
At 7.20 pm, the launch edition of the Rollerblade® Moonlight Half Marathon started, with the intermediate finish line, for organizational and safety reasons, located in Viale Oriente, approximately 16 kilometers into the race. The fastest was Davide Menegaldo (33'37") and the fastest, a few seconds behind, was Ilaria Carrer who completed the race in 33'46".
Finally, at 7.30 pm, the start of the half marathon was preceded by a few minutes by the exciting start of the 'Amici di Diego' association, followed by 10 disabled children in wheelchairs. A delegation from the 'Giulia Cecchettin Foundation' was also in the race, which through uncle Alessio Cecchettin and the lawyer Stefano Tigani want to continue to ‘make noise’ and raise awareness on the importance of the fight against femicide also through running: themes that are very present in the Venicemarathon initiatives.
The sports councilor of the Municipality of Jesolo Martina Borin was present to welcome the athletes and officially start all the races, while the mayor Christofer De Zotti was busy running the 10k. In fact, there were many mayors and administrators who ran last night. In addition to the mayor of Jesolo who completed his race in a time of 1h00’36”, also in the 10K, the mayor of Treviso Mario Conte ran in 1h06’28” while Alberto Teso, mayor of San Donà, ran the 10K as a warm-up and then the half marathon in the excellent time of 1h37’37”. In the 10K, the budget councilor of the Municipality of Venice Michele Zuin was also at the start and completed the race in a time of 1h07’15”.
Also applauding the athletes and congratulating Faniel and the organizers for the excellent success of the event was the president of Fidal Veneto Sergio Baldo.
“We are very pleased to close out an edition of successes both in numbers and content. The introduction of the inline skate race, the change of route, Eyob’s victory and the best female performance are elements that increase the value and quality of this event, which next year will reach the finish line of the 15th edition. I would like to thank all the mayors and administrators who got involved and experienced the race from the inside, all those who ensured safety on the route and all the volunteers who assisted the over 7,000 athletes. We will start working in the next few days to organize the fifteenth anniversary edition.” – these are the words of Piero Rosa Salva, president of Venicemarathon.
Half Marathon Men's Ranking
Eyob Faniel (Fiamme Oro) 1h02’47”
Castor Mogeni (Ken) 1h02’50”
Vincent Momanyi (Ken) 1h03’42”
Hicham Boufars (Mar) 1h05’07”
Alessandro Giacobazzi (Ita) 1h05’18”
Half Marathon Women's Ranking
Ruth Gitonga (Ken) 1h10’22”
Cynthia Jepchumba (Ken) 1h20’32”
Claudia Andrighettoni (Ita) 1h21’00”
Sara Boer (Ita) 1h22’28”
Mirela Djurdjevic (Ita) 1h22’48”
10K (9,870 m) Men's Ranking
Stefano Goffi (Polisportiva G.B. Vighenzi) 30’40”
Giovanni Messineo (Atl. Audace Noale) 31’54”
Diego Casarin (Atl. Audace Noale) 32’17”
10K (9.830 km) Women Ranking
Giulia Delgado (Asd Atl. San Biagio) 37’25”
Suzana Tundzha (Assindustria Sport) 38’56”
Giulia Battistella (Run Card) 39’12”
Rollerblade® Moonlight Half Marathon (16 km) Finish List
Men
Davide Menegaldo 33’37”
Andrea Menegaldo 33’40”
Riccardo Rondina 33’40”
Women
Ilaria Carrer 33’46”
Anna Vallin 33’47”
Marta Sanna 33’57’
The 14th BMW Ceccato Jesolo Moonlight Half Marathon &10K was organized by Venicemarathon, in collaboration with the City of Jesolo and Jesolo Turismo.
The event sponsors were: BMW Ceccato Motors (Title Sponsor), OTSO (Main & Technical Sponsor) Alì (Official Sponsor), Longato Serramenti (Main Sponsor) Porte di Mestre, Rollerblade® (Official Partner), San Benedetto, Palmisano, Bavaria, Dole, I Bibanesi, Gac Power & Eventi, 1/6H Sport (Official Supplier), Body Evolution (Massage Service), Corriere dello Sport, Tuttosport, Radio Piter Pan and Radio Bellla & Monella (Media Partner).
