GIORGIO CALCATERRA’S NINTH SYMPHONY
Faenza, 25 may 2014
PRESS RELEASE NO. 18
42nd 100 Km del Passatore
GIORGIO CALCATERRA’S NINTH SYMPHONY
The athlete from Rome has confirmed his place as the “living legend” of the “world’s most beautiful race”. Second place to Hermann Achmueller from the Alto Adige region and third place to Daniele Palladino from Regigo Emilia.
In the female category, victory to Marija Vrajic from Croatia. Enrolments: 2,245, started: 2,198, finishers: 1,738
Giorgio Calcaterra continues to astound. At a full 42 years of age the athlete from Rome won his ninth consecutive victory in the “Passatore” with a time of 7:05:06, finishing for the first time over the seven hour mark. With this victory he confirms that he is still the best Italian and world exponent in the specialty of 100km road racing. With these victories he has become the true “living legend” of the “Florence-Faenza” in which he has competed for the last nine years, the same number as his victories, as well as the number of years he has dedicated to this extreme form of athletics. With the nine consecutive victories, a feat never before achieved in any ultra marathon ever raced, Calcaterra increases the distance between he and the other great “myth” of the “100”, the Russian Alexey Kononov who won the “Passatore” six times in 1993, 94, 95, 97, 2000 and 2001.
Calcaterra finished 3.34 in front of the second placed Hermann Achmueller (7:08:40), from Brizen-Bressanone in the Alto Adige region who finished third on his debut in 2013. Behind them was a splendid third place for Daniele Palladino (2nd in 2012) from Reggio Emilia.
In the female category Marija Vrajic from Croatia scored her second consecutive victory in a time of 7:51:43, improving her personal best by 15:07. She finished in front of her fellow Croatian Veronica Jurisic, second in 8:13:10 and Neza Mravlje from Slovenia, 3rd in 8:30:51. The best placed female Italian athlete was the 4th placed Francesca Canepa, from the Val d’Aosta region, with a time of 8:38:51.
The 42nd “Passatore” began in Florence’s via dé Calzaiuoli at 3.00pm yesterday, Saturday May 24th with the starter’s gun being fired by Eugenio Giani, Chairman of the city’s Local Council and also regional president for Italy’s National Olympic Committee and Elio Ferri, president of the “100”. This year the race was also as the 10th round of the 2014 IUTA Ultra Marathon Grand Prix and the CSEN Italian National Open title.
The race took place in bright summer weather, lights years away from the cold and rain that marked the 2013 edition. The weather brought out thousands of spectators for the first time in years that lined the Florence part of the route, at the Passo della Colla (at 913m the highest point of the race), in the final kilometer and at Piazza del Popolo in Faenza. Without forgetting the long queue of passionate cyclists present almost uninterruptedly from the climb at Florence’s Fiesole hills to the Bocca dei Canali at the entrance to Faenza on the road from the Tuscan capital.
Calcaterra’s rivals tried everything to defeat him, but once more they did not succeed. The first to try was Evgeni Glyva from the Ukraine who attacked the long ascent from the Fiesole (the 7.5km mark) where he ran with a27 second lead which he maintained at Vetta le Croci. But this lead was cancelled at Borgo San Lorenzo when the two crossed together in 2:03:36. Glyva tried once more to break away from Calcaterra just before Ronta (38km). The Roman felt the blow and was also overtaken by Achmueller who came up from the rear, but Calcaterra never surrendered. Glyva reached the Passo della Colla first, thus winning the “Francesco Calderoni” trophy for the GMP with a lead of 40:30 on Achmueller and another 7’ from Calcaterra.
However, the race changed once more in the long descent towards Faenza. At Fantino (60km) Glyva paid the price for his efforts, and maybe the heat, and he was joined once more by Achmueller who made his first attack on the athlete from Rome. After this it was Calcaterra and the other athletes who found during the descent a terrain decidedly more favourable for making up time.
At San Cassiano (76km) Calcaterra reduces Achmueller’s lead to 4:11, which became 2:20 at Fognano (84km). On the 94km mark at San Ruffillo Calcaterra completed the operation and overtook the man from the Alto Adige region. He led Achmueller into the finishing line at Faenza by 3:43, to the joy of the crowd present. Third place went to the brilliant Daniele Palladino of the Atletico Scandiano Club, 7:30 later in a time of 7:12:29.
Behind the three front runners there were many changes in the race order amongst the athletes, some of whom suffered more than others the heat and the fatigue and were forced to retire.
But this was not the case for the Russian Dmitry Pavlov (4th in 7:22:08). Following him were, in order: 5th place to Andrea Zambelli, also of the Atletico Scandiano Club in 7:12:24, Paolo Bravi (6th in 7:22:02), the already mentioned Glyva in 7th place in 7:26:24, Marco D’Innocenti (8th in 7:33:02), Massimo Poggiolini, the first place athlete from the Romagna region 9th in 7:42:01 after his 7th place in 2013 and 10th place to Silvio Bertone in a time of 7:50:13.
As at 11.00am today, Sunday May 25th 1,728 athetes crossed the finishing line at Faenza (1,451 in 2013). Amongst these were 11 disabled athletes the first of whom was Italian champion Paolo Cecchetto who reached Faenza on his “cyclone” in a time of 3:50:17, 15:40 faster than last year when he finished equal first. The finishers also included a number of younger athletes such as the Russian Tatiana Moskaleva (born in 1990) in 8:82:55 and the Florentine Andrea Marcaccini (born in 1992) in a time of 11:20:00. Race veterans who finished included the “legendary” 89 year old Walter Fagnini from Verona who finished his 41st edition in 17:24:40 (28:39 faster than 2013) and 62 year old Marco Gelli from Sesto Fiorentino in 17:50:07 who time was a surprising 1:36:53. Also across the finishing line was the 32 times female veteran Natalina Masiero from Padua who arrived in Piazza del Popolo in a time of 12:54:12, she 36:59 faster than 2013.
Finishing the race was also the don Luca Ravaglia, the runner priest from Faenza who raced in honour of Pope John Paul II in a time of 18:57:22. The first athletes from Florence were Timothy Chaplin (52nd in 9:13:51) and Tiziana SPortelli (25th in 10:34:09). Other finishers in the race were the ex basketballer Gabriele Rusin (over 2m in height) who finished in 14:45:02 and Claudia Zivieri, Faenza’s local councilor responsible for the Budget in a time of 15:55:05.
The ultra marathon, is promoted and organized by the ASD 100km dell Passatore of Faenza with the collaboration of the FIDAL (Italy’s national athletic federation), the administrations of the local councils of Faenza and Florence, the Province of Ravenna, the Wine Consortium of Ravenna, the Society of the Passatore, UOEI, ADMO, CSEN, the local councils of Fiesole, Borgo San Lorenzo, Marradi, Brisighella, and also benefits from partnerships with the Banca di Romagna, Banca CR odi Firenze, Fondazione Banca del Monte e Cassa di risparmio di Faenza, Antarex, Coop Adriatica, Friliever-Bracco, Decathlon, Gruppo Hera, Moreno Motor Company, Natura Nuova and, as the race technical sponsor, Saucony.
The enrolments to this year’s race numbered 2,245 athletes which included 305 female athletes and 98 foreign athletes from 28 countries outside Italy. These countries are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Capoverde (with its whole national team, the ::best of which was José Daniel Vaz Cabral in 7th place with a time of 7:50:13), Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, the Ukraine and Vietnam.
The race saw the usual efficient organization and assistance to the athletes that was guaranteed by more than 500 volunteers from 40 associations and groups in all the localities along the route. The medical-sanitary assistance was assured with great efficiency and timeliness by the Coordination of the Confraternità delle Misericordia of the Province of Florence (along the Tuscan section) and by the Red Cross of Faenza and the school for non medical sanitary operators of Faenza (for the section within the Romagna). There were no problems of note. Nor did any problems occur in relation to security which was assured by the Provincial Police of Florence, the Municipal Police forces of Florence, Fiesole, Borgo San Lorenzo, Marradi, Brisighella and Faenza, the “Cimmarrusti” section of the National Association of Carabinieri of Borgo San Lorenzo and the Associations of Retired Carabinieri and of Alpini of Marradi.
We also wish to point out the “great celebration” of the school relay teams in which took part the students, teachers and parents of the “San Rocco” Comprehensive Institute, the “Paolini” Superior Institue of Imola and the lower high schools of Marradi, Reda and Faenza in the historic “50 x 1,000”, Passo della Colla that was organized by the CSI and Gioca Faenza Tantisport.
Press Office
P.S.: all the race rankings (absolute, regional, etc.) they can be consulted on the sites: www.sdam.it and http://gestione.100kmdelpassatore.it/classifiche.cfm?anno=2014
