Trofeo AVIS Sarzana, 17 May

This morning's marcia started from the Fortezza Firmafede Sarzana (the Castle near the town center), with distances of 6, 14, 28 or 60 K. There were a lot of participants this sunny morning, including groups from out of town and school groups (apparently this is a competition for the groups). On arriving at the castle, I waved to Kimberly taking off with a group of friends (this is her first marcia), and met Connie and Franco who were also just setting off. Franco went on his 6K course, while Connie waited for me to sign up since we were both doing the 14K (or so we thought). We started walking, but after 500 m or so I decided to jog since the first few K were quite flat. The course initially followed a stream and went gradually uphill, but it was mostly on asphalt or not as steep as the last week's marcia, passing houses with small farms. However it was quite humid and I was got very sweaty and thirsty, wondering where the first "ristoro" (drink station) was.

At almost 7K, there were more signs of civilization -- the drink station was someone's garage on the top of the trail in the town of Carignano (house on top of hill in the middle of left photo). And what a spread! This is the first time I've seen so many varieties of food and drinks. I was offered water, hot tea, fruit juices or wine (only in Italy one gets wine at a drink station, although I read that wine is also offered in the Marathon du Medoc in France). As for food -- there were cookies, sgabei (fried pizza dough), panettone (bread with fruit), torta di riso (custard over rice, sweet), torta di faro (sort of barley pie, savory), torta di zucchini (zucchini pie), torta di fruita (fruit tart), pieces of chocolate, cut fruit, and get this, porchetta (slices of whole roasted pork) and panini (sandwiches with the same porchetta). I may have missed a few other dishes -- pretty amazing. If not for the fact that there are still another 7K to go, I would have sampled everything. I had a few glasses of water, hot tea and grapefruit juice plus a few slices of oranges, and regretfully passed on the porchetta (tried a small bite of barley pie out of curiousity, definitely not something I like at first bite). Some of the other participants sat down in the chairs provided and had a proper rest with food!

While I was checking out the food and snapping a few photos, Connie made it to the ristoro. After she had her drinks, we walked on together. The course split after the ristoro, the 28 and 60K routes continue on to more hilltop towns while the 14K course went downhill back to Sarzana. Connie took the opportunity to continue Italian conversation lessons on the way back (she teaches me Italian every Friday evening). Because we were talking, we did not feel the distance and before too long, my Garmin displayed that we have completed 14K with no castle in sight. Turned out that the course was 16K, at least according to my GPS. Nearer to town, we saw a sign that said "KM Ultimo" (last KM), and as we crossed to a pedestrian walkway along a path, someone has spray painted a sign on the path which translated to "tired?" which we thought was amusing. We finally made it back to the castle after 2:36 hrs where Franco was waiting. The courtyard of the castle grounds was filled with people collecting their goodies (a bottle of wine with the label of the running club and the event, there is a choice of red or white), and receiving trophies. Participants also received a lucky draw chit for a free gift. Franco gave me his for a music cassette while I got a very nice pair of shorts which were too small, but will probably fit Connie or one of her granddaughters :) There were more food at the finish but I still could not eat any of the panini (with mortadella) or pastries (more sgabei, torta, etc), although I had a hard boiled egg. There was also ice cream and yoghurt. I will always remember this marcia for the food!

"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.