'The Most Beautiful Race in the World'

A run along the banks of the Douro River in Portugal’s Douro Valley

Douro Wine Region Half Marathon

Peso de Régua, Portugal | Sunday, May 28, 2023

Billed by its organizers as “the most beautiful race in the world,” this half marathon — whose name, “Meia Maratona do Douro Vinhateiro,” translates to “Douro Valley Half Marathon” — runs largely along the banks of the Douro River in Portugal’s Douro Valley, a place where wine has been grown for some 2,000 years. Along the out-and-back route for the race, you’ll see vineyards on the hills overlooking the river as you run over bridges and along tree-lined roads, at a place that’s so special it’s been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Along the route, you’ll be able to see this region’s famed Hanging Gardens, carved in the side of the Douro Mountains — and it’s open to walkers as well as runners, and may be one of the best races in the world to walk.

€30 and up

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Words to run by

“It was not in my nature to be an assertive person. I was used to looking to others for guidance, for influence, sometimes for the most basic cues of life. And yet writing stories is one of the most assertive things a person can do. Fiction is an act of willfulness, a deliberate effort to reconceive, to rearrange, to reconstitute nothing short of reality itself. Even among the most reluctant and doubtful of writers, this willfulness must emerge. Being a writer means taking the leap from listening to saying, ‘Listen to me.’”

— Jhumpa Lahiri