On 7 February 1971 the first edition of the "Marcialonga di Fiemme e Fassa" was held: the four organizers, who had believed in the project, expected about one hundred participants, instead 1,157 skiers arrived to compete along the 70 km of the route immersed in the Trentino valleys.

The first race was won by Ulrico Kostner in front of the favourite Franco Nones, gold medalist at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.

In 1994 the Marcialonga took place with the shortest route, of only 45 km with arrival in Predazzo: in that edition the German Johann Mühlegg and the Italian Silvano Barco crossed the finish line with exactly the same time and were therefore both declared winners on equal merit.

[4] On 22 February 2003, the Autonomous Province of Trento awarded the four "founding fathers" of the Marcialonga with the seal of San Venceslao as a sign of gratitude and homage.

The race starts from the so-called "plain" of Moena, located at an altitude of 1,150 metres (3,770 ft) above sea level, at the gates of the town near the municipal stadium.

The morning start is one of the most spectacular moments of the competition and it takes place in line and in steps: the first to start are the "senators" (those who have participated continuously in all editions since 1971) together with the strongest professional athletes; at the center, the skiers who in previous editions have obtained a good placement; at the last, all the remaining amateur sportsmen, affectionately called "the bisons".

After the start, the track goes on the right bank of the Avisio stream: the skiers face the first ascent towards the Moena Alpine Training Centre of the State Police and go up the whole Fassa Valley.

After passing the "Giuseppe Dal Ben" Ski Jump Arena, skiers reach the town of Predazzo, where there is the finish line of the half race (Marcialonga light) near the former railway station.

Arriving in Ziano di Fiemme there is a short climb called Diaol del Gaso, where athletes are warmly encouraged by the public.

Returning to the "Cascata" (waterfall), it is where the stretch considered the hardest and most selective of the race begins: from there it starts the last 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) of the challenging final ramp, called "Full Gas" or simply "ascent of the waterfall" (salita della cascata), which with its 144 meters of elevation gain (with slopes of up to 12%) leads to the arrival in Mendini boulevard in Cavalese.

In the same year, however, the Auckland brothers introduced for the first time in Italy the so-called "hybrid style" of double poling,[10] the evolution of the sliding thrust: this new technique, invented in 1993 by Staffan Larsson[10] and still formally considered within the classical technique, consists in repetitively pushing rigid bust legs on parallel skis only with the force of the arms and with both poles (longer than normal ones)[9] also parallel, for all the 70 km of the ski marathon, including the terrible final climb of the Waterfall.

The event is followed by many sports journalists and is broadcast in Eurovision and live by Rai and other international television channels, thus also contributing to the promotion of the territory.