Zanardi in the New York Marathon

Alessandro Zanardi is ready for another outstanding exploit. It was announced at Monza that he will take part in the ING New York City Marathon on November 4th, riding a hand-bike, and competing in the disabled class.

How did this idea come about?
“I’m a proud ambassador of Barilla, who is also a sponsor of the event. They wanted to involve me in someway in the Pasta Party they organise every year on Saturday night for some fifteen-thousand runners. And I said, half seriously, half in jest, that if I had to be there I might as well take part in the marathon. Their reaction was, are you crazy? And this obviously stirred my competitiveness up and pushed me to decide that I actually wanted to do it!”

Have you ever done anything like that before?
“Actually not, but I have done a lot of crazy things before and always eat and train like an athlete. Therefore I feel like saying that I won’t only cross the start line, but the finish line too. And I hope I can make it to the end in good condition and in a good time, my goal is to finish in less than two hours. I have one month for training and I will take it very seriously.”