Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"Tra fiume collina e mare", 10 May

After a long hiatus due to unexpected travel, having missed all of the marce in April, I finally made it to this one that was held in Montemarcello. I carpooled with friends Connie and Franco due to limited parking at the hill-top town. It was a beautiful day, cool and sunny. The course (8, 16 or 21 K) was unbelievable, as reflected by the title of the event, went through river, hills and sea. Franco was set to do the 8K, while Connie and I agreed on the 16K. The first 5K or so was easy downhill, mostly on asphalt from Montemarcello towards Bocca di Magra. I kept reminding myself, what goes down has to come up again. Unfortunately, in my haste to leave the house, I forgot my Garmin, so I was not able to tell the distance nor the time. In fact, after running so long with a GPS, I felt really lost without it; I did not have a regular watch with me either. At Bocca di Magra, the river flows into the ocean and lots of boats were moored along the built-up river banks. A number of fishermen were already positioned along the banks, as luck would have it, as I reached the river, I saw one person slowly reeling in a bent line. Most of my friends know what an avid fisherwoman I am, so I had to stop and watch the action (as did a few others). I have seen people fish in Italy but have never seen anyone land a fish; I was told that there is not much fish around here and it takes a long time to catch one. I tested that information myself and it was true! So I got my camera ready and took shots of a huge mullet being brought in. Show over, we resumed the marcia. I took off running along the flat sidewalk, telling Connie and friends that they are likely to catch up with me on the uphill sections (I don't do hills very well). We turned from the river/ocean towards the hills, turning off on a trail. It was painfully steep and appeared to go up forever (without the GPS I really have no idea). Once at the top, I was up on a road to the historic town of Ameglia looking at Bocca di Magra way down below. From then on, it was a series of up and down trails until we reached Monte Rocchetta. It was grueling and I got slower and slower with each hill.
However the weather was great, it was nice and cool, especially in the shade, despite the bright sun. And the smell of spring flowers was incredible. I was surprised that Connie has not caught up with me since most people I know go uphill faster than I. I tried to call her but my phone was not picking up any signals. At that stage there were few people on the trail. At the Monte Rocchetta drink station there was a split for the 16 vs 21 K, a small group of people there said that they were going on to the 21K route. Then it was back uphill toward the town of Zanego where another drink station was located right next to a bell, and a large group of teenagers gathered. I thought there was a tour group or something but the volunteers signaled to me to come get a drink. As I got nearer, I realised that the group was singing hyms and saying prayers, led by a priest. This was so weird and very uncomfortable to be drinking thirstily while standing next to a prayer group. The volunteers said something to me but I only understood a fraction of it; apparently they too were taken by surprise when the group appeared. Thankfully, after Zanego there was only a small uphill trail, after which it was downhill all the way, alternating between asphalt and trails. At one point the sandy/rocky trail was so steep going down that I had to get down and use my hands to get traction. Later on I found that at least one person fell and scrapped his legs. Towards the end, the trail turned into a jungle which was quite amazing.

After what seemed a long time, I finally made it back to Montemarcello. I had more difficulty finding my way to the finish point through the streets and stone houses than while on the trails which were very well marked (either that or I am getting better at reading the arrows and ribbons marking the trails). At the finish area, a very worried Connie was looking out for me. I was amazed that she passed me on the course, but she said that she decided to do the 8K after hearing from the volunteers at the first drink station that the rest of the course is very tough. That's what happens when one knows the language! The next day, Natalie told me that someone said the 16K was actually 18K (really wish I had my GPS!). But even with tired and aching legs, I did not mind doing the longer distance, the views and the weather were well worth it (not to mention using up the extra calories; I need to get rid of a few lbs). I just felt bad that Connie and Franco had to wait almost 2 hours for me to finish the course, and was worried that I was hurt or got sick on the trail. However they were still smiling at the end of the event so I guess I am still welcomed to their place for dinner on Fridays :). I did not realise that I was on the marcia for over 3 hours! In the end, it may be a good thing that I did not have my GPS with me, it would have been discouraging to know how much more distance I had to cover. But this is one course I would like to do again next year, maybe take on the challenge of the 21K which includes the town of La Serra.

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