C^ Giro Podistico Int.le di Castelbuono

The Giro Podistico di Castelbuono is a road race held annually on July 26 in Castelbuono, a hill town in Sicily's Palermo area. It coincides with the Feast of Sant'Anna, the town's patron saint. This city-center race, with origins dating back to 1912, is a strong contender for Europe's oldest road race. The local Gruppo Atletico Polisportivo Castelbuonese organizes the event, which attracts serious middle-distance and road runners rather than a large mass-participation field. The race begins and ends in Piazza Margherita, winding through the historic center via streets such as Via Roma, Piazza San Francesco, Via Cavour, Piazza Matteotti, and Corso Umberto I. Initially the "10-lap marathon" with ten 1,130-meter laps, it later adopted a 10 km format over nine laps to align with international road-racing standards. Totò Spallino contributed to its prestige by attracting top Sicilian, then national, and finally international athletes. Since the late twentieth century, it has been listed on the international road-race calendar, and Italian fans recall Salvatore Bettiol as the last local winner.