Gorgeous day to run up a volcano. Partly cloudy skies and temps in the 50s. I made sure to secure my national park ticket the day before from this site: https://www.parconazionaledelvesuvio.it/en/visit-the-park/ When buying your ticket, you have to choose a time slot from those available (starting from 9am opening) but can arrive up to 30 minutes before or 90 minutes after your time slot (until closing time). I grabbed a 9:30am time slot so I would have fewer people to navigate around while on the crater rim. That worked well!
The climb up Via Vesuvius road is steady but runnable, as it is paved. Once within the national park boundary, I showed the guard my ticket on my phone. Be sure to have a screenshot of your ticket, as the cell service up there is weak. I hike-ran sections of the final pitch, which is unpaved and at times rocky. But for the most part, the terrain is not super technical. The crater was a fantastic sight to see and worth the climb!
I ran with my hydration vest to carry all eats and drinks I'd need. For fuel, I brought some sugar-dusted donuts from Naples. Fluids were a combo of water and juice boxes from the local grocery store. The turnaround point does have refreshments though, in case you run out of your own.
The run down was fast moving. Upon arrival back in the Torre del Greco Wharf, it was really cool to look back up at the volcano where I had just been.
Happy trails. Feel free to comment on my Strava link if you have any questions.