sliding thrust: this new technique, invented in 1993 by Staffan Larsson and still formally considered within the classical technique, consists in repetitively pushing rigid bust legs on parallel skis only with the force of the arms and with both poles (longer than normal ones) also parallel, for all the 70 km of the ski marathon, including the terrible final climb of the Waterfall. To limit the use of the double poling, which in fact distorted the classical technique, in the past the variation of the Marcialonga route has been proposed, including also the very hard climb of the Alpe Cermis (already used in the Tour de Ski competitions); however, this proposal has been very criticized, especially by amateur skier, due its hardness. Winners The first skier to win the Marcialonga in 1971 was the South Tyrolean Ulrico Kostner, ahead of favourite Franco Nones. The athlete who has achieved the most victories in the Marcialonga has been the Italian Maria Canins, who in addition to the 9 consecutive victories from 1979 to 1988 has always inflicted very heavy detachments to his rivals. Guidina Dal Sasso has won five editions. In the men's category, the skiers with the most victories were the Italian Maurilio De Zolt and the Norwegian Jørgen Aukland, with 4 victories each. Moreover, in 2008 and 2012 the Aukland brothers, who came in first and second place, have created a unique "family double win", very rare for this kind of competitions. Tord Asle Gjerdalen is the only man to have won three consecutive editions. In 1994 and 1999 there were two ex aequo winners, with exactly the same timing, and one of them was Johann Mühlegg in both the editions. Men Women Related events In addition to the classic Marcialonga which takes place on the last Sunday of January, other cross country ski events are organized, including: Marcialonga baby, reserved for skiers under 6 years of age who, on the previous Friday, use the classic technique to cover about 100 meters of snow in the center of Predazzo; Mini Marcialonga, for children aged 6 to 12 years, on the classic technique route of 3 km on the ring of the Lago di Tesero cross-country stadium. The race takes place on the previous Saturday; Marcialonga young, for young athletes of the categories boys, students, aspirants and juniors (who, being minors, can not participate in the regular Marcialonga) and who compete