Yes, I DID IT !!! 

As Zátopek said: "If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon". So I did it. And it was an amasing life experience.

Thanks for all the last support you can give - donations will close soon. Please help these kids and these wonderful families...

Thank you,

Dario

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"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back." (Irish proverb)

So I started 6 months ago to train for the Rome marathon (March 23rd) as a way to find myself in sport again, a way to celebrate my 40th birthday, a way to do something for myself, something that made me feel good again, a way to teach my children that you can achieve anything in life - once you put your mind and hard work into it.

No matter how old, how busy, how tired you feel sometimes.

Katie my wife, my friend, my companion of life has given me the motivation and the support to do it since the first day, when I ran my first 6km in 36 minutes - she welcomed me with the biggest smile, I will never forget it.

Now almost 1,000km later, running four times a week, racing every single Sunday, racing in every single capital I have been to for business, having burned two pairs of shoes... I am ready to take the challenge of my first 42km.

I will run every moment thinking of how wonderful life is, how lucky I am to have a wonderful wife, two gorgeous kids and a family that has been always supportive - even when I lost my dad many years ago.

This marathon is for all of them to say THANK YOU. 

But I want it to also be for a special group of children that are affected by cancer, who have not much more time to live in this wonderful world. For their families who are beside them every day, knowing that the smile will soon fade away. This is why I also run, to give some of them a beautiful and playful home for their last days...

"La Casa a Colori" for Oncologia Pediatrica at Gemelli is a special home that gives a special support to such kids and their family. An environment bright, playful and serene where families can spend the last moments together.

Please help me by donating what you can to this wonderful cause. There is little we can do for these gorgeous children - but at least let us help to make the most of their time left with their families.

Thank you to my family who helped me get where I am, my wife that supported me in this mammoth task, my healthy kids that give me inspiration every day and Granny Sinead, who has been a role model for us all. I will run for you every km.