They started in 150 and finished in ninety with arms raised up there, up to 2,600 meters of Passo Paradiso. The winner, among the men, was the Brescian Mark Short of the Zerotrenta Triathlon in 12 hours and 24 minutes while among the women the German arrived first at the finish line Tanja Spielberger of the Dtu Triathlon, who completed his effort in 14 hours and 56 minutes. It ends like this, with the solemn delivery ceremony of the iconic stone, “The Stone” triathlon high altitude extreme on the Ironman distance organized by TriO Events in partnership with the Lombardy Region, the Province of Brescia, the Municipality of Ponte di Legno and the Municipality of Sulzano. Words are not enough because it is difficult to describe such a feat. Or perhaps very easy. Here we go beyond the triathlon. Beyond the effort that is already made, beyond the beauty of many places where you dive, where you pedal, where you run. Beyond the fear of trying. The “Stone” extreme triathlon” that is run in Valcamonica between Lake Iseo, Ponte di Legno, Gavia, Mortirolo and Passo Paradiso was born a bit like this, along this line. It is the dream of those who want to try it at least once in their life, the whim of those who want to put an extreme race on their list. From the Norseman in Norway, to the Celtaman in Scotland to the Escape From Alcatraz in California, there are triathlon races that are also something else, that serve to prove only to oneself that it could be done. That all it takes is the will. More than a race, it is an adventure to discover one’s own limits: “A great emotion – he says, moved Mark Short at the finish line-. It’s my first extreme triathlon: I had fun, from swimming in the dark of night to the particularly tough bike section. The important thing is knowing how to manage yourself. The last 20 km were very challenging. It was a fantastic journey”. Corti was the first of the athletes to conquer the coveted “gates of Paradise”, with a wonderfully snowy finish line. He rightfully enters the roll of honor of a challenge of great fatigue and great emotions with over 6 thousand meters of altitude difference between swimming, cycling and running, which began from the waters of Sebino, at 4 in the morning, up to the 2,600 meters of Passo Paradiso. The StoneMen faced 3.8 km of swimming, 175 km by bike, between the provinces of Brescia and Sondrio with the overcoming of the historic Aprica, Mortirolo and Gavia passes, and, finally, 36 km of running on the paths of the upper Valle Camonica. Ninety-two total finishers of the 150 triathletes at the start, who came from 14 countries, from Germany, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, France, USA, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Great Britain, South Africa and of course Italy. Corti and Spielberger won but, never like in this case, all the Stonemans won because here all that matters is arriving and winning is perhaps really a detail. All those who didn’t make it also won: just for having had the courage to start.