Italian Trail Running Championships stage Saturday 22 September in Gavirate. It was the verdant and picturesque area of the Campo dei Fiori park, together with the 13 municipalities in the Varese area, that served as the stage for the one-off trials for the absolute national titles FIDAL (Italian Athletics Federation) of the Long Trail speciality, with a beautiful late summer day making the atmosphere perfect.
La competition queen left very early from the shores of the Lake Varese, awarding heavy points for access to the international speciality competitions of the’Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc, Lavaredo Ultra trail and circuits Eolo Mountain and Trail Running Grand Prix FIDAL e Circuit Prealpi Varesine.
The best national specialists around, fought step by step, for the Italian title. A large crowd of fans animated the day and supported the athletes along the route, especially at the finish line, where cheers of encouragement were never lacking.
Great success also for ASD 100% Anima Trail - organiser of the event - which far exceeded expectations, reaching 1,200 entries in the competitive races and 300 entries in the youth Mini Trails. Well over the 70% of athletes came from other provinces and from abroad. The foreign component has in fact given a profoundly event, thanks to the 19 nationalities represented.
To welcome the winners of the EOLO 65K could only be Luca Spada - Chairman and Managing Director of EOLO Spa - patron of the event since the very first edition. For him great satisfaction thanks to the Team EOLO composed of Stefano Rinaldi e Andrea Macchi, respectively first and second place in the Italian Trail Running Championships.
The EOLO 65K thus awarded the tricolour to Stefano Rinaldi Varese-based team organiser 100% Anima Trail e Aeolus Team e Lidia Mongelli Lucana of Atletica Correrepollino. Both were already protagonists last year at the Gavirate Lido when Rinaldi finished 2nd behind Fantuz and Lidia Mongelli won the tricolour.
In detail the EOLO 65K (65 km long with 4100 m of positive altitude difference) was really in the balance in the men's field only in the first 12 km when Alpago Torrnado athlete Italo Cassol stayed in Rinaldi's wake. The leading pair thus boasted 2’ on the first of the pursuers, Andrea Macchi. By kilometre 40, the gap had widened considerably, with Rinaldi alone in the lead, Cassol more than 8’ behind and Macchi constantly closing in. In the meantime, Team Eolo retook the lead from an Italo Cassol (7h22’12”) who had entered a slight crisis, but was nevertheless the author of a decisive race. The epilogue was a foregone conclusion with the victory of the home athlete Stefano Rinaldi in 6h51’55” ahead of his Eolo teammate Andrea Macchi in 7h07’09” of Atletica Gavirate. Just off the podium was his twin brother Roberto Cassol also from Team Alpago Tornado Run, followed by another of the big names at the start, Roberto Mastrotto from Vicenza.
In the women's race, no worries for Atletica Correrepollino's Lidia Mongelli from Lucania, always alone from the first to the last kilometre. She finished in 8h34’05” and was 12th overall, keeping the tricolour Long Trail championship already hers last season. A fine sign of continuity for a trailer who is a valuable staple of the Italian national speciality team. Far behind, 9h19’01”, the first of the pursuers, is Anna Conti of Atletica Paratico, third place for Anna Biasin in 9h35’15”.
In addition to the main race, the event on the trails between Gavirate (start and finish location) and the Campo dei Fiori saw three other competitive races on shorter routes.
La VIBRAM 45K (45 kilometres and 2200 m of positive altitude difference) went to Davide Cheraz in 4h07’05” ahead of Maurizio Fenaroli (4h19’00”) and Stefano Redaelli (4h39’38”). Female podium with Enrica Gouthier in first place ahead of Saula Palladini and Matilde Giovannoni.
La GROUPAMA 25K (25 kilometres and 1200 m of positive altitude difference) saw the victory of Gabriele Bacchion over Gianpietro Barattin and Simone Diviggiano. Ninth place for the former cycling world champion, Australian Cadel Evans. In the women's event, Bianca Morvillo won over Elisabetta Di Gregorio and Carla Giuseppina Corti.
Finally, the MORSELLI 11K (11 kilometres and 400 metres of positive altitude difference), the shortest trial, was the prerogative of Jacopo Piazza among the men and Sofia Canetta in the women's section.
Lastly, two non-competitive activities took place during the event: the MORSELLI Trail (11 km route and 400 m positive height difference) open to adults interested in this sport without competitive ambitions, and the MINI Trail open to all children aged 6 to 14, free of charge and organised with the participation of the CAI section of Gavirate, the Oltrona al Lago Primary School and the Gavirate Middle School. The latter, included in the Minitrail Circuit, saw the participation of over 300 children who filled the trail with enthusiasm and sporting passion.
The event Campo dei Fiori Trail 2018 is part of a three-year project that started in 2016 and plans to take the route over the next few years to all the peaks of the Varese Pre-Alps, increasing the distance to be covered beyond the 100 km and transforming the paths into permanent paths available to all enthusiasts in the area. Tomorrow the planning for 2019 starts again, with increasingly ambitious goals to meet the slogan of the event: Dont’ dream it, Trail IT!
Below are the summary rankings of the scheduled events:
Eolo 65k:
Men: S. Rinaldi (Team 100% Anima Trail) over A. Macchi (Atletica Gavirate) and I. Cassol (Alpago Torrnado)
Women: L. Mongelli (Correrepollino Athletics Team) on A. Conti (Atletica Paratico) and A. Biasin.
Vibram 45k:
Men: D. Cheraz (Team Salomon) over M. Fenaroli (Kratos Team) and S. Redaelli (Valetudo Serim)
Women: E. Gouthier (TRM Team) over S. Palladini and M. Giovannoni
Groupama 25k:
Men: G. Bacchion (Tornado) beats G. Barattin (Alpago Tornado run) and S. Diviggiano (Atletica Alto Lario)
Womenwins: B. Morvillo over E. Di Gregorio and C.G. Corti
Morselli 11k:
Men: J. Piazza (Tornado), D. Pedotti (Atletica Gavirate), V. Regia,
WomenS. Canetta, R. Leonardi (Podistica Arona), L. Rodari.
For any information or doubts please write to: info@campodeifioritrail.it
