Lisbon
Lisbon was where it all began. A city that rises and falls like breath, a half marathon that carries you from the old quarter down to the Tagus. Finishing here made it clear this wouldn't be an isolated episode.
Therapy. Resilience. Connection.
Running is thinking.
"You don't run just to reach the finish line. You run to discover who you are in between."
A project born on the road that reaches people.
Three principles
Therapy
Running is moving meditation. Every step silences the noise of the world and brings the mind to a state of pure presence. It's one of the most powerful tools for dealing with anxiety, stress and mental fatigue — not as an escape, but as a return to oneself.
Resilience
The thirtieth kilometre teaches things no book can tell you. Endurance is built one step at a time, learning to negotiate with pain, to trust your body, not to give up when the voice in your head says to. That same capacity comes back in everyday life.
Connection
Running together is one of the most authentic acts of intimacy that exist. Silences, fatigue and euphoria are shared. A language of breaths and rhythmic steps is created. From those outings come true friendships, solid communities, and the deep feeling of never really being alone.
For others
Every kilometre can be worth more than itself.
Running becomes a tool of solidarity when it transforms the energy of a training session into concrete funds for those who need it. Through fundraising linked to races, group outings and personal challenges, every step gains additional meaning: not only personal growth, but a real contribution to projects that change lives.
AIRC
Italian Foundation for Cancer Research
Mind
Mental health and psychological well-being
Other organisations
Local projects and shared causes
The distances
Each format is a different story.
10 km
The entry point
The distance that changes everything. Short enough to try, long enough to learn something.
21.097
Half marathon
The perfect balance between speed and endurance. Where you find your pace and learn to manage it.
42.195
Marathon
The wall at the thirtieth kilometre is real. Breaking through it is one of the most transformative experiences that exist.
Gran Fondo
By bicycle
Climbs, descents, wind. Cycling adds a vertical dimension to endurance and opens up new landscapes.
Super Halfs Series — @super_halfs
Complete
I ran all six half marathons of the Super Halfs Series. It wasn't a precise plan from the start — it became a goal while I was running.
Cardiff
Cardiff in October: cool air, Welsh crowds, a course cutting through the heart of the capital. The second leg turned the habit into something real — effort as routine, not exception.
Berlin
Berlin in April. The largest city, the densest history, the loudest crowd. Running streets that once divided a country: something hard to put into words unless you've felt it yourself.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen in September. Flat, fast, precise as Scandinavian architecture. A race where pace becomes meditation and the city's bridges pass like frames of a film you don't want to end.
Valencia
Valencia in October. The city of impossible architecture and oranges. A blazing-fast, flat half marathon with the Mediterranean in the air. Second to last — the finish line of the whole series is already in sight.
Prague
Prague in March 2026. The final city. Ancient stone, hidden climbs, a finish line that will close a circle opened two years earlier on the banks of the Tagus. Still to be run. Already in my head.
Six cities. Six starting lines. One thread running through them all: the choice to be present, kilometre after kilometre.
Follow the journey.
Go to Instagram — @mattrunningaround