This weekend the sailing triathletes who are lucky enough to land on the shores of the island of Elba will have to deal with Elbaman. Which for nineteen years now has been a long and very long triathlon challenge but also many other things together beyond the actual races, the distances, the relays. We start tomorrow with the Aquathlon of the Eagles and with Elbaman Kids to continue on Sunday with the main races: Elbaman (3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, 42.2 km running) and Elbaman73 (1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling , 21.1 running). But if the kilometers are those that apply to all triathlon races, in these parts there is always something that makes the difference, that makes this adventure a little special. Elbaman is a challenge in himself. It escapes the conformism of modern times and you realize this when you talk to those who have already raced on Elba and generally return. You immediately understand that there is more, that this is a race that runs under the skin, a challenge within a challenge, often an unfinished business. There is always the story of the effort that holds all the emotions together and that takes on the colors of a dive into the sea at dawn and continues for a whole day until night when even the last one reaches the finish line. There is always the feeling that in these parts we have to deal with the rougher and less pandering soul of a sport that despite everything remains sandpaper. Born in 2004 as a medium triathlon, it has doubled since 2005 even if the 70.3 has remained and is always available for those who have any doubts. And this year, over 850 triathletes are expected to clear up their doubts at the start in Marina di Campo, with a percentage of foreigners of 15 percent representing 13 countries including the United States, Argentina and Australia. This is the highest number of members ever recorded. “We are very happy that our race becomes an increasingly appreciated and attended event year after year – he comments Marco Scotti, patron of the race – Sports tourism is an excellent way to extend the season and to bring more and more people from all over the world to the paradise that is Elba. The next edition will be the twentieth anniversary and we are already working to make it unforgettable.” Because Elbaman for triathlon is a bit like the Eroica for cycling, a challenge that stops time and that describes a territory better than a tourist guide, a Woodstock of triathlon where we often meet but even more often we meet again , where you feel at home and a bit like family. Pomonte, Fetovaia, Marina di Marciana to tell Elbaman you have to do it. Because only in this way can you grasp the emotions of a sport that in these parts returns a little to the old, a true challenge with oneself, without the need to exhibit, to demonstrate, to appear. Marina di campo at dawn, a bike ride on the coast that opens up incredible horizons, a ride until night through the streets of a town that lights up to wait for those who are finishing their effort tell the story of an ironman, written with a lowercase i but in reality capitalized, so much so that in 2010 it was included among the top 10 iron distance competitions in the world by the magazine Triathlete USA. Which is worth, which matters but not as much as the story of someone who has already raced on Elba many times and continues, he can’t stop: “I wake up in the middle of the night, I go down for breakfast, a coffee… and I go out – he says Luca– I take off my shoes and start walking in the pine forest, I look at my feet and magic happens. The pine forest, house, child, recklessness, lightness…And I am in the water, on the bike, on my legs and then at the finish line and then sitting smoking and eating, and as always thinking about the journey I have made, which counts more than all the destinations in the world. That I knew, that therefore I shouldn’t have signed up, that yet another love story would begin…”