RUN4ROME WELCOMES SAMMY BASSO’S BIG GROUP AND HIS GLADIATORS

The relay is painted with passion for life and love for sport with Sammy Basso and the Sammy runners.

At the start of Run4Rome the special team of “the man who still has a long way to run”, Sammy Basso. Sammy was born with progeria, a rare genetic condition characterized by early ageing that, despite the difficulties, has never stopped him realizing his several goals. Sammy is the President of Progeria Italian Association (A.I.Pro.Sa.B) founded by himself in order to inform about progeria and raise funds for research about diagnosis and cure of this rare genetic condition. He has been usually hosted in many events, and he will be in Rome Sunday 19th Match with his special wheelchair and his Sammy runners. He has a Natural Sciences and Molecular Biology degree and he was knighted by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Sammy has traveled many times to USA to contribute to the studies on his genetic condition and to take part in therapeutic journeys, with the aim of slowing down the course of progeria, a path that represents a small success in his longevity, Sammy is in fact the world’s oldest subject with of progeria. Among all these things, the love for sport and for running, a social mean of the extraordinary power of reaching every runner’s heart and informing about progeria. In 2016 the participation in Venice Marathon with the special Joelette and all the enthusiasm of the Sammy Runners, a journey that went on to Milan Marathon in 2020 and 2022, before coming back to Laguna in October. In the middle of February Sam took part in Giulietta&Romeo Half Marathon as a step towards Run4Rome.