Day 60 - July 9th: Roman History

San Giorgio di Nogaro to Grado: 20.9 miles / total 1,648

What a difference the weather makes. Rain is certainly annoying, and extremely damaging to skin, but the temperature is a huge driver of the entire endurance system. With the cooler temperature not only am I running faster, but I feel a lot better both physically and mentally. I arrived at the hotel after 50k feeling solid and at 4pm, right before the skies darkened with foreboding storm clouds.

After Christina’s surprise draft pint of Guinness in our room, we made our way out to dinner after the severe thunderstorms had arrived. Thankfully, the restaurant was right across the street so Christina, Jax and me had a short dash to it and our booth amongst a full house of locals. After a simple meal of salad and pasta with dessert, we retired to a full night of stormy weather. Come morning when I awoke at 5:30am, the sun was peeking through the clouds after a great night of sleep, the first I can remember.

We could’ve made Trieste today at 50 some kilometers away but decided to take a personal detour and visit Aquileia, famous for its Roman ruins and its basilica, following which we would end at Grado, a village on the Adriatic Sea with a beautiful lagoon where we will stop for the day at a short 33 km. Tomorrow will be a run into Trieste that will be 50 km but a spectacular run along the coastline into town. Finally, about 11k out from the start we would enter the town of Cervignano del Friuli where the Via Della Costa would intersect and the plan was to get Jax out for some trail time together.

Unfortunately, the route Google Maps showed on this first 11k was on SS14, not great for me let alone for two of us. I studied the options and found an alternative route that added a few kilometers but bought us safety. The first few kilometers out of town, as I’ve found are typical in Italy, were bicycle/pedestrian paths until you clear the town. At the end of the path I found the road I saw on Maps, but it was a decommissioned road that was blockaded to vehicles. I could only hope it wasn’t demolished at some point down the line which would force us to double back and take SS14. But it was great as it ran parallel to the railroad on our right with the Alps towering on our left separating us from Austria to the north. The weather was spectacular today, bright sunshine and the morning temperature in the low 60s with very little humidity. Jax and I crushed the first 11k and safely reached our target, Cervignano del Friuli and the Via Della Costa.

I did a quick check on Bob’s progress and was thrilled to see he had moved four places up from last and crossed the 72-mile checkpoint in 20 hours and 49 minutes. Badwater is a race that really demands control as the heat is so punishing.

Jax and I jumped onto the trail and a few kilometers into it I had totally forgotten how wonderful it was to be hearing the wind, the birds and the rustling of the trees without constantly being on high alert for trucks coming at you. The dirt farming road took us through fields of sunflowers, corn, and then vineyards until we could see the famous Basilica di Santa Maria in the town of Aquileia ahead. Jax was in heaven chasing something in the vineyards and I couldn’t hear or see him as I got close to the town. I yelled, "Jax come" as loud as I could with a double clap and a minute later he exploded out of the vines at my side.

We entered a section of town where the Museum of Archaeology is situated and continued on a path through this area until we crossed a main road onto a dirt path flanked by impossibly tall cypress trees. We stopped running as we came upon incredibly preserved Roman ruins that showed the canal-based village that once existed here. Other Roman stones were organized on our left. I felt shivers on my spine as I walked these ancient grounds.

About 500 meters later the path ended at a road we crossed to a trail on the other side. Here there was an old fortress wall on our right and we continued about 200 meters and entered the old city of Aquileia through a gate. The first thing we saw was the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta Aquileia. It was magnificent. Jax and I waited in the courtyard for Christina who arrived a few minutes later. We purchased tickets to go inside.

The Basilica is one of the oldest Christian buildings in the world, originally built in the 4th century. We tried to enter with Jax but he needed to wait outside. Christina was provided a shawl for her shoulders while I was asked to remove my hat as a sign of respect. Inside was a grand chamber with a tile floor that had been discovered under the existing floor and painstakingly excavated to its current condition, now on display while we walked around it. We circled the original floor to the altar, still used today for services. At the back, we followed the tour underground to view the layers of construction that had taken place over the centuries. It became clear the church had been built and rebuilt several times over its long history.

On exiting we met a young Italian working the entrance. I told him our next stop was Grado and he told us that after the church was built, Attila the Hun ransacked the town. The locals fled to Grado because it was across the lagoon where the horses couldn’t follow. Once there, they built another church in the 5th century in the same style as this one.

I left Aquileia just as tourists were beginning to descend on the town. On the way out I passed another excavated Roman village. There were ruins everywhere!

From there it was onto a bike/pedestrian path that looked new or freshly paved and followed the ancient Roman canal that connected Aquileia with Grado and the Adriatic Sea. The path ran about 10 kilometers to a bridge that connected it to a man-made road, reminiscent of the Keys in Florida. Grado is a beautiful beach town. The island has the bay on the north side and the sea on the south. I ran along pedestrian streets a block off the beach lined with high-end stores, restaurants, bars, and more gelato shops than anything else. The beach water was turquoise blue but surprisingly hard to access as beach clubs blocked public access.

I arrived at Hotel Bellavista shortly after 1 p.m. feeling like I had a day off. Christina and Jax were walking toward me, excited about the few extra hours we had today, especially on Grado.

As I write this I received a text from Lisa: "Bob is 16 miles from Lone Pine." He only has a marathon left and plenty of time to break the record. Go Bob and Team!!

Thanks for following along and the support. Cheers, David

Historical Note: Aquileia was one of the largest and wealthiest cities of the Roman Empire. Founded in 181 BCE as a Roman colony, it became a key center of trade, military operations, and early Christianity. At its height, it was home to over 100,000 residents and served as a gateway to the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Aquileia's strategic importance made it a frequent target in invasions. The city's ancient forum, river port, roads, walls, and religious buildings provide one of the most extensive archaeological records of a Roman city outside of Rome itself. The Basilica's mosaic floor is the largest early Christian mosaic still in existence.