Marcialonga is a cross-country ski race which is arranged for the last Sunday in January in Trentino in Italy. It was first held in 1971 and has been a part of Worldloppet as long as Worldloppet has been around. The run begins in Moena, where the skiers first go further up Fassa Valley and along Canazei, passing Moena on its way alongside Cavalese in the Fiemme Valley. Marcialonga runs in classic style, and is 70 km long, but in 2007, 2015 and 2017, it was shortened to 57 km due to snow problems. In 1975, 1989 and 1990 it was cancelled due to the total lack of snow on the track. A short race, Marcialonga light is 45 km, and goes from Moena to Predazzo. Maria Canins won from 1979 until 1988 10 times the Marcialonga. History In the summer of 1970 four Italian friends (Mario Cristofolini, Giulio Giovannini, Roberto Moggio, and Nele Zorzi) decided to organize in Fiemme Valley a ski marathon that would trace, in some way, the legendary Vasaloppet, historical and well-known Swedish cross-country skiing competition, in which they had participated the previous winter. On 7 February 1971 the first edition of the "Marcialonga di Fiemme e Fassa" was held: the four organizers, who had believed in the project, expected about one hundred participants, instead 1,157 skiers arrived to compete along the 70 km of the route immersed in the Trentino valleys. The first race was won by Ulrico Kostner in front of the favourite Franco Nones, gold medalist at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. First 6 editions of Marcialonga were reserved only to men, even if already since 1972 some women tried to participate in the race, disguising themselves also with fake moustaches or using fake male names. In 1977 there were 14 women disqualified at the finish line, where a banner was displayed with the words "Marcialonga forbidden to women: why?". So, starting from 1978 the cross-country marathon was officially opened also to the female category, in which the French Dominique Robert won. Due to the lack of snow, the event did not take place in 1975, 1989, and 1990, while in many other editions the route was shortened. In 1994 the Marcialonga took place with the shortest route, of only 45 km with arrival in Predazzo: in that edition the German Johann Mühlegg and the Italian Silvano Barco crossed the finish line with