First run of 2009, 11 Jan

We did our first marcia of 2009 in La Spezia, 11 Jan. It started out flat but as normal for these events, the course quickly went uphill. The summit of the route offers a great view of La Spezia port. Weather was cold and sunny, great for running. Was supposed to do the 7K route but got lost (they need to paint more arrows on the route, esp. for us "stranieri"). Somehow I met up with the 14K participants and went down with one gal I know. It was great meeting up with the marce regulars despite the language barrier. We got a pack of coffee each after finishing the marcia!

Note: "Marcia" is an Italian term for a walk/run non-competitive event. The ones we attend are organised by local sports clubs in the Liguria and Lunigiana area almost every Sunday. Each club hosts an event on its home turf, the course may run over paved roads, streams, steep/rocky/wet hillsides, paths behind homes, villages or farms. Normally at least two distances are offered with a few routes as far as 40K. Some "marce" (plural of marcia) are special or commemorative events, a few are held in towns outside the region. The local clubs organise buses or people carpool to these "gita sociale" events, scheduling lunch at a restaurant as part of the trip. Marce go as scheduled, even during the rainy winter or hot summer Sundays. Participants find out where a marcia is held, show up at the starting point at 8:30 or so, register by paying a small fee and then follow arrows painted on the route. Most participants are regulars and are familiar with the routes, so hapless newcomers like us have a tendency to get lost since the arrows don't always show up at intersections :). The hosting club have members stationed every 5K or so to supply refreshments, water or hot tea. At the end of the marcia, snacks and drinks are offered. Participants turn in their registration stub to collect a souvenir which may be T-shirts, coffee, a bottle of wine, jar of honey, etc. depending on the hosting club. There are trophies for the club with the most participants, the oldest participant, youngest participant, and so on. One finds a spirit of comradeship at these events, and a good place to interact with Italians of all ages who are into fitness.