Marathon runner runs for Mary

This is not the first run for this spiritual marathon runner. At 78, Italian Ulderico Lambertucci is embarking on what he calls his "Thank you to Mary". Lambertucci wants to dedicate this unique pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary, to thank her for "having always accompanied and supported him". Setting off from the town of Loreto on February 24, he ran to Lourdes in stages of around 60 kilometers a day, arriving on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Although it may seem an unusual challenge, Lambertucci has already completed it in 2002. Supported by the ColleMar-athon amateur sports association in Fano, he took advantage of the various stages to spread a message of faith and peace, visiting the major Marian shrines along the way.

This passionate runner discovered his calling to this sport late in life. It wasn't until 1995 that he began his extensive running career. In 2000, he entered his name in the Guinness Book of Records after completing 46 marathons in a single year!

Accustomed to long races, this former bricklayer and building contractor is not one to shy away from a challenge and is keen to combine his faith with his intense sporting practice. In 2006, he ran from Macerata in Italy to Beijing in China, a journey of 12,000 kilometers, as a tribute to the 16th-century missionary priest Matteo Ricci. In 2008, Lambertucci joined the two holy cities of Rome and Jerusalem to deliver a message of peace, with the encouragement of Pope Benedict XVI. Four years later, the tireless runner crossed the United States, running over 4,600 kilometers between San Francisco and New York.

His devotion to the Virgin Mary is also reflected in these running pilgrimages. After Loreto-Lourdes in 2002, he covered the 3,000 kilometers between the Shrines of Fátima and Loreto via Santiago de Compostela the following year. In 2004, he completed the 1,900-kilometer distance between Rome and the Black Madonna shrine at Czestochowa in Poland.

At nearly 80 years of age, Ulderico Lambertucci has put his running shoes back on for an extraordinary Lenten journey.

Adapted and translated from:

Vatican News