The Giro Media Blenio is an annual

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

event over 10 kilometres which takes place in April in the village of

Dongio Dongio is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It was first recorded in year 1188 as ''Deuci''. The municipality also contained the villages Marogno and Motto. It had 532 inhabitants in 1682, which decreased t ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It was created in honour of

Markus Ryffel Markus Ryffel (born 5 February 1955 in Bern) is a former long-distance runner from Switzerland who won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Biography He set the Swiss record at 13:07.54 min. ...

's silver medal in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. The event, held in the district of

Blenio Blenio is a municipality of the district of Blenio, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous municipalities of Aquila, Campo Blenio, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre of ...

, is divided into four race types. The 10 km ''Grand Prix'' is an elite, open class men's race, while the ''Giro'' provides an alternate 10 km for amateur

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors pro ...

ners. Shorter races are offered for young runners in the ''Mini Giro'' section and a separate race is held for people wishing to complete the course by walking and

Nordic walking Nordic walking is a Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles similar to s ...

. The main 10 km race was included on the Post-Cup series of Swiss races for its 25th anniversary in 2009. The route for the elite ''Grand Prix'' race is a 1.25 km circuit around the streets of Dongio, which athletes complete eight times in the course of the race. The fun run is a larger circuit, which passes the nearby settlements of Roccabella, Motto and

Ludiano Ludiano is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Since 15 March 2011, it is part of the municipality Serravalle. History In 1926 a grave was discovered which contained Iron Age grave offerings. ...

. A total of 1000 runners (761 men and 229 women) took part in the ''Giro'' in 2011, while more than 1500 people participated in the day's other events. The Giro Media Blenio had its inaugural edition in 1985 and for its first nine years it featured an 11 km men's race and an 8 km race for women. From 1994 to 2006 the distances were set at 10 km for men and 5 km for women, but the women's race was dropped from the programme from 2007 onwards. Winners of the men's elite race include

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

, Olympic champion

Khalid Skah Khalid Skah ( ar, خالد سكاح) (born 29 January 1967) is a Moroccan track and field athlete, winner of the 10,000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Born in Midelt, Morocco, Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner ...

and World Cross Country Champions

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

and

William Sigei William Cheruiyot Sigei (born 11 October 1969 in Cheboi'ngong' village, just outside Kapsimotwo village, Bomet, Kenya) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1993 and 1994. In 1994 he a set a n ...

. On the women's side, the first edition was won by Ellen Wessinghage, a former mile run world record holder, and she was later joined by 2003 world champion

Berhane Adere Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in Shewa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champio ...

, Olympic medallist

Isabella Ochichi Isabella Bosibori Ochichi (born October 28, 1979, in Kisii District) from Kenya was the silver medal winner in the final of the women's 5,000 meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. She finished in a time of 14:48.19, abo ...

and world medallist Priscah Jepleting Cherono.Franco Civai et al. (2011-04-25)
Giro Media Blenio 10 km + 5 km

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.

Past elite winners

Key:

References

;List of winners *Franco Civai et al. (2011-04-25)
Giro Media Blenio 10 km + 5 km

. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.

External links

Official website
{{in lang, it 10K runs Recurring sporting events established in 1985 Athletics competitions in Switzerland Sport in Ticino Spring (season) events in Switzerland 1985 establishments in Switzerland