The Giro Media Blenio is an annual road running

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 event over 10 kilometres which takes place in April in the village of Dongio

Dongio

Dongio is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.It was first recorded in year 1188 as Deuci.The municipality also contained the villages Marogno and Motto. It had 532 inhabitants in 1682, which decreased to 391 in 1808...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. It was created in honour of Markus Ryffel

Markus Ryffel

Markus Ryffel is a Swiss long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic 5000 metres final in Los Angeles. He set the Swiss record at 13:07.54 min...

's silver medal in the 5000 metres

5000 metres

The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

 at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The event, held in the district of Blenio

Blenio (district)

The district of Blenio is a district of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It has a population of . The capital of the district is Acquarossa.-Geography:...

, is divided into four race types. The 10 km Grand Prix is an elite, open class

Open class

Open class may refer to:*Open Class , an event classification*Open class , a word class readily accepting new items*Open class , a standardbred racing event open to all comers...

 men's race, while the Giro provides an alternate 10 km for amateur fun run

Fun run

A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors providing the revenue to cover organisational costs...

ners. Shorter races are offered for young runners in the Mini Giro section and a separate race is held for people wishing to complete the course by walking and Nordic walking

Nordic walking

Nordic walking, originally known as ski walking, is a physical activity and a sport consisting of walking with poles similar to ski poles.-Origin:...

. The main 10 km race was included on the Post-Cup series of Swiss races for its 25th anniversary in 2009.

The route for the elite Grand Prix race is a 1.25 km circuit around the streets of Dongio, which athletes complete eight times in the course of the race. The fun run is a larger circuit, which passes the nearby settlements of Roccabella, Motto and Ludiano

Ludiano

Ludiano is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Since 15 March 2011, it is part of the municipality Serravalle.-History:...

. A total of 1000 runners (761 men and 229 women) took part in the Giro in 2011, while more than 1500 people participated in the day's other events.

The Giro Media Blenio had its inaugural edition in 1985 and for its first nine years it featured an 11 km men's race and an 8 km race for women. From 1994 to 2006 the distances were set at 10 km for men and 5 km for women, but the women's race was dropped from the programme from 2007 onwards. Winners of the men's elite race include Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon...

, Olympic champion Khalid Skah

Khalid Skah

Khalid Skah is a Moroccan athlete, winner of 10 000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics.Born in Midelt, Morocco, Khalid Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner by winning the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1990 and 1991.His first major tournament on track was 1991 World...

 and World Cross Country Champions

IAAF World Cross Country Championships

IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 Paul Tergat

Paul Tergat

Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan professional long distance runner. He held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time.Now concentrating exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many...

 and William Sigei

William Sigei

William Cheruiyot Sigei is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1993 and 1994. In 1994 he a set a new world record over 10,000 metres in Oslo with 26:52.23 minutes.Today he is ranked eighteenth of all times over 10,000 metres...

. On the women's side, the first edition was won by Ellen Wessinghage, a former mile run world record holder, and she was later joined by 2003 world champion Berhane Adere

Berhane Adere

Berhane Adere is an athlete from Ethiopia.Adere held the African record for 10,000 metres in a time of 30:04.18, set at the 2003 World Championships, where she won gold...

, Olympic medallist Isabella Ochichi

Isabella Ochichi

Isabella Bosibori Ochichi from Kenya was the silver medal winner in the final of the women's 5,000 meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. She finished in a time of 14:48.19, about 2.5 seconds behind the winner, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia.In 1997, aged 17, she competed in...

 and world medallist Priscah Jepleting Cherono.

Past elite winners

Key:

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Women's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )
1st	1985		?		?
2nd	1986		?		?
3rd	1987		?		?
4th	1988		32:36		29:12
5th	1989		31:51		27:10
6th	1990		32:59		27:29
7th	1991		32:21		26:57
8th	1992		33:23		27:26
9th	1993		31:49		26:52
10th	1994		27:34		?
11th	1995		28:02		16:10
12th	1996		28:36		15:48
13th	1997		28:19		15:43
14th	1998		28:30		16:14
15th	1999		28:37.4		16:07.9
16th	2000		29:02.7		15:55.5
17th	2001		28:13.4		15:41.1
18th	2002		29:27.0		16:23.3
19th	2003		28:41.3		16:02.7
20th	2004		28:51.5		15:55.4
21st	2005		28:35.2		15:31.1
22nd	2006		28:27.3		15:54.2
23rd	2007		28:24.8	—	—
24th	2008		28:59.7	—	—
25th	2009		28:52.6	—	—
26th	2010		29:02.3	—	—
27th	2011		28:17.8	—	—