It seems as if Italy is THE destination for Reston Runners this year. Eight members in early September, Five more in late September and another Ten (or so) in early October.
About 20 (+/-) of us (only about half were Reston Runners) had been planning this trip since early in the year. I initially resisted going due to the difficulty of getting away from my real estate business for three weeks. I was convinced to join the group a week late for a shortened version of the trip after several members of RR indicated they planned to run in the Italian Marathon Memorial to Enzo Ferrari. Even though I haven't finished the Fifty States yet how could I resist an international marathon with friends. I signed up and committed to the trip.
At one time or another there were six RR planning/considering running this marathon -Joe Stowers, Jerry Lewis, Jerry Bonnes, Tom Conrad, Fernando Bocenera and myself. As the date for the trip approached Joe, the two Jerrys, Tom and Fernando all were sidelined by some sort of sports related injury and/or other medical condition which prevented them from participating in the Marathon.
Suddenly the pressure was on: It was my sole responsibility to represent the Reston Runners. I knew I had to run well and bring international fame to the Mighty Reston Runners.
I went, I ran, I Brought Home the GOLD! (More on that later.)
Here's a bit about the rest of the vacation. On Saturday, October 8th I arrived in Pisa and was met by Karen, Fernando and Sandra. We toured the sights of Pisa for the day and did our best to straighten the Leaning Tower. It seemed as if our efforts had minimal effect - but we tried!
From there we took the train to the walled city of Lucca and joined several other members of the group (although about 20 of us went together different groups did different things at different times). On Sunday a group of us participated in a 10K TREK in and around Lucca. Although previously reported in 'Stats and Chat' that I "handily beat the locals" this is subject to interpretation. This was a non-competitive event with no official starting time (and their timing system failed to work anyway). Since I, along with Jerry Bonnes & Jerry Lewis were among the very first to start coming in ahead of the locals was not a terribly feat to achieve. I considered it a bit of a training run for my upcoming marathon.
After a few exciting days seeing the sights and learning the history of Lucca. We proceeded by train to Levanto. From there the primary activity is visiting Cinque Terre (chink-way-terra) - Five Lands. This consists primarily of walking the mountain trails (what a FANTASIC ultra-marathon could be held of these grueling trails) between the old towns of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Considering the trail-head begins in Levanto this makes 5 sections of trail between 6 different towns. (Mapquest.com gives a driving distance of 20.94 miles between Levanto and Riomaggiore but I suspect the switchbacks and twists and turns of the trail probably makes the distance closer to 25 miles - perhaps more.) On Thursday, October 13th Jerry B & I set out from our lodging to the trail head in Levanto. The Levanto to Monterosso section is rated as requiring two hours to complete - Jerry and I covered it in 1:20.
I learned that after Jerry & I left Karen had taken the train to Riomaggiore to walk the easiest section of trail from that end. Since she was none to happy that I had decided to do the difficult end with Jerry I decided to catch the train to Manarola and move in the direction of Riomaggiore to intersect with her. I did not find her in the Manarola to Riomaggiore section so I assumed she had beaten me to Manarola. I retraced my steps to Mararola and made a quick check of the shops & cafes there. Still not finding her I began trekking from Manarola toward Corniglia. After maintaining a strong pace and passing everyone along the way I caught up with about halfway to Corniglia.
We arrived in Corniglia just at the beginning of siesta (I never knew the Italians had a siesta time also) but we were lucky enough to find a wine shop/cafe to get a glass of wine. We mentioned being hungry but unable to find anywhere to eat. To or surprise the lady running the place offered to make us Bruschetta. She did and I think it was the best Bruschetta I've ever eaten.
After our brief repast we again hit the trails from Corniglia to Vernazza. Did I mention the trails get progressively more difficult the further north one treks. We arrived in Vernazza around 5:45 in the afternoon. I had no expectation that Karen would even consider attacking the section of trail between Vernazza and Monterosso. Since this was the only section I hadn't traveled I really wanted to run it also. I had planned on giving myself an aerobic workout in order to get to Monterosso before dark. I suggested that Karen take the train to Monterosso and I would meet her there.
To my dismay she said, "I think I'd lake to try it!". I tried explaining that I didn't doubt that she could do it but that there was no way we could make it before dark. This is a very rugged section of the trail with switchbacks and sections of trail only two feet wide with sheer drop offs and the somewhat remote possibility of rolling all the way into the Mediterranean. Most likely you'd stop before tumbling that far but you'd probably wish you had gone all the way so your body would be easier to retrieve! I did my best to talk her out of it but once Karen makes up her mind . . . . . . . ! I used VERY poor judgment and consented
This section is rated a at one and a half hours. Two and half hours later (and long past dark) we were half way to Monterosso. Karen was inching her way along the trail at a painfully slow pace. Often she was walking sideway with her back to the cliff so she could use her butt as a suction cup to insure against falling off the edge.
She wanted to just stop and spend the night on the mountain - which we were not in any was dressed to even think about doing. I said she would have to do that alone since I was continuing to Monterosso. Shortly after that we passed close to a farmers cottage with lights on. She implored me to see if we could spend the night with them. I said, "NO! Poor judgment on our part wasn't reason to inconvenience total strangers in a foreign country. Keep moving!"
A bit later she began insisting that I go ahead and send back an emergency rescue squad to get her. My response was a resounding, "NO! We're not wasting the towns resources to have them send a crew up the mountain. You being scared isn't an emergency! You falling off the edge of the trail would be an emergency! Let's keep going. The only was you're going to get an rescue squad is if you go over the edge.
Well, four hours after leaving Vernazza we arrive in Monterosso. As we walk past a nice restaurant I suddenly think she has totally 'lost it' when she begins beating on the restaurant window with her improvised walking stick. I soon realized she had seen Joe, Marsha, Fernando and Sandra inside finishing dinner and was trying to get their attention.
We went inside and recounted our story to them. When Karen ordered two glasses (at the same time) of wine they explained to the waitress that we had just come off the trail. I still don't understand much Italian so I don't know her complete response but I know what "loco" means in any language.
After a hearty meal and two half liters of wine (that's about 1 1/3 bottles) between us we took the train back to Levanto. One the walk from the train station to our villa we took a wrong turn and wandered the streets of Levanto until after midnight before finally finding our way. Quite the adventure!!! In the end I was able to say that I had traversed the entire trail (and actually did Manarola to Riomaggiore twice) in one day.
The next day was a bit more calm with a pleasant train excursion to Portofino and back to Levanto.
Saturday was a rather grueling day of train travel requiring a total of four trains (the Italians would be totally lost without their train system) to get from Levanto to Carpi where I had to go for packet pickup for the marathon. Thanks to Tom & Joan's planning (even though they ended up not going) we had an excellent room in a four star hotel overlooking the 26 mile point of the marathon. Later Karen was able to photograph me from the fifth floor as I passed by the hotel.
Packet pickup was rather uneventful and their Expo wasn't anything to get excited about either.
Nest morning I caught one of the marathon busses to the town of Maranello for a 9:15 race start. The weather was cool and cloudy and for a while seemed like excellent running weather and remained that way through the town of Formigine. Somewhere between Formigine and Modena the weather began to change - - it began to get warm! By the time I reached Soliera running was uncomfortable. By the time I was approaching the Carpi I was ready to hit the wall (Do you think my adventure on the mountain mat have contributed to this feeling? Or perhaps it was all the great wine I and pasta I had been consuming?) but continued to struggle on.
They placed inflatable arches across the route beginning about a quarter mile before the finish line. Since I have always run marathons with mile markers I didn't really know how far past the 42 kilometer marker the finish would be. And since I hadn't ever seen inflatable arches placed before the finish line I assumed the first arch I saw was the finish line. As a result I began my usual 'sprint to the finish' far to early. Around the 26 mile marker always pick a couple of runners some distance ahead and mentally say, "You're toast!". I then am almost invariably able to dig down deep and pass them before the finish.
Well, I soon passed them only to realize that the finish was still a lot further away than I thought. Soon it was a matter of survival. Don't let them TOAST me! Somehow I managed to preserve my pride and keep ahead of them to the finish line.
I finished and I knew I was going to 'take home the GOLD'!
REALLY!! This is the only marathon I know of where EVERY finisher receives a 14 carat gold medal. Yes, it's about the size of a nickel and thinner than a dime but nonetheless each and every finisher gets to 'take home the gold'!
Actually, the uniqueness of the finisher medal is probably the best part of this event. Compared to the other parts of Italy I had been visiting I found this area rather boring and the course was uninspiring. After the finish we were handed a bag which seemes to heavy to carry after finishing a marathon. It contained an apple, a banana, a bottle of sports drink, two bottles of water and a half liter of milk plus some pastries & cookies. There was also a finishers shirt a hat and some other goodies
The hotel extended checkout until 3:00 Pm for runners and since it was mere blocks from the finish line post race clean up was a breeze which was great since we had to catch a train to Parma and then another to Venice where we reconnected with Jerry L., Ann, jerry B., and Bunny.
Since this article is getting far too long I won't expound too much on Venezia. I could write another entire article on that subject. Old Venice is wonderful city made up of over 100 individual islands and connected by over 400 bridges! There is incredible history, medieval buildings, NO cars. There streets are narrow. Some only 5-6 feet wide and the steps on the bridges make even bicycles impractical. Aside from walking EVERYTHING is done by boat right down to hauling collecting the trash. All I can say is: "If you have the chance GO!"
Reluctantly the six of us caught our flight shortly after noon on Wednesday for an uneventful flight and arrived at Dulles about 7:30 in the evening. All in all a vacation enjoyed by all!