4th Annual Trofeo Avis in Todi

This evening Todi hosted its annual road race. I don't have pictures for you, but I think you will enjoy some of the images anyway.

The race came together like most things in Italy. There wasn't a whole lot of central direction, but everyone seemed to know what needed to be done and their part in it. People who needed to set up barricades set up barricades. Posters made it onto walls. An announcer appeared. Tables for food appeared. Police interrupted traffic. The Scouts appeared to act as course marshals. An ambulance showed up.

I know that some of this happened through the hard work of members of the running club, especially Massimo. But lots of other parts happened just because people know this is what they need to do for this type of event. And when things are needed, someone always knows someone who can make those things happen.

The course itself is not one built for speed. It runs through the center of town, with narrow streets, sharp turns, and assorted obstacles. The part through the park is on fairly narrow paths--3 or 4 abreast--with a significant uphill tilt. And a 180 degree turn.


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The map above almost captures the route, but it misses one section because Google doesn't know about that path.

The difficulty of the course is increased a bit by the fact that it is run at night. The competitive race started at 9:00 PM. Well, it was planned for 9:00, but we had to start it later because we could block the road to the theater at the wrong time. In any case, the potholes, dips, and ruts were more interesting in the dim light.

The non-competitive race was held a little earlier, around 8:45. Ashley and Angela ran in that one. It was one lap, 2.2 km. Ashley was the second female to finish. Go, Ashley!

The competitive race was three laps, 6.6 km. I finished in 104th position among the men with a respectable time for me, especially considering the nature of the course.

Now, lets talk about what the Italians do a little differently for their races.

First, you have to know that the entry fee for the competitive race was 7 Euros. That is what you might expect to pay for a charity race in the US, one with no T-shirt and limited refreshments.

Here, there were nice prize packages for the first three overall men and women, for the top 5 men and top 5 women over 40 and under 40, and for the top three in each age bracket. Legs of prosciutto for the top three teams, of course.

All runners got a participation package. It contained a t-shirt, a bag of pasta, a bag of coffee, a pastry, and...a bottle of wine. I don't see that happening at the Peachtree Road Race.

Snacks after the race? Piles of pizza, tray after tray of pasta, all sorts of desserts, a bushel of apricots, water, iced tea, and wine. All served until no one could eat any more.

The local community and sponsors really do step forward here.

Michael