I MADE THE 100KM OF THE PASSER (BY CAR)

Saturday 26 May 2007 my husband Stefano showed up at the start of the 100 Km del Passatore in Piazza Signoria in Florence.

When I announced my intention to participate in this venture about a year earlier, I had taken this threat very seriously.

In fact, I thought it took a particular preparation to face such a race, but the closer the fateful date approached, the more I became aware that it would not change my mind.

The thing that frightened me most was the fact that I should have assisted him during the race.

Worried I began to have various nightmares such as getting lost on the Passo della Colla or not being able to arrive in time to give him any kind of help…. but I took care not to tell him, I didn’t want to worry him.

However together we studied the map with the route several times and it seemed so easy that it didn’t seem true, however I continued to be worried.

In the meantime Stefano continued the preparation by doing Sunday races and asking for advice from those people who had already raced the Passatore.

One of the many tips that they gave to Stefano and that remained impressed on me was that of Roberta, a top athlete of the Pasta Granarolo, who said that running the 100 kilometers was only a question of the head.

As a layman I thought that it was the usual suggestions given to dismiss the matter quickly but I was wrong.

On the day of the race, with the car we go over the itinerary to the first intermediate finish in Borgo San Lorenzo, which Stefano had established as the place for the first change of clothes, all this always to reassure me.

In the afternoon we are finally at the start, I am very impressed by the quantity and variety of people ready to leave for the race.

I placed myself in a strategic point of departure to take the photo of Stefano’s passage with which I had recommended to be on the right side.

At 15:00 the shot that from the beginning of the adventure many people are running in front of me but Stefano’s not even the shadow, they are all gone, I don’t see him, so I understand that the agitation had made him forget the agreement.

At about 20:00 I am in the vicinity of Borgo San Lorenzo (35 kilometers), along the way I see a snake of runners among them here is Stefano then I look for a suitable place and stop.

The air was getting cooler and required a change of clothing also because the next 15 kilometers would all have been uphill to Passo della Colla, we start again.

I arrive on the Passo which is already dark, the road is narrow and full of cars, motorbikes, caravans following the runners, it is difficult to find a place for the car however I can.

At the time set with Stefano, I positioned myself on the 50 km finish line, in the meantime I had tried to communicate with him with the phone but there was no field.

A lot of people arrive but not even the shadow of him start to worry me, then finally I see him, I’m happy.

Stefano after eating and drinking starts again and we agree to meet again in Marradi, the descent begins in the dark, on the sides of the road there are many lights and a queue of cars that like me go to the next finish line, I too begin to feel tired .

When I arrived in Marradi (65 kilometers) I decided to rest, I closed my eyes for a moment, suddenly I heard someone knocking on the car window, Stefano tried rather than he had reached me.

I look at my watch and see that it is 2:43, I get out of the car and offer Stefano a camping chair that my mother-in-law in Florence had given me to make him rest.

This will be the most critical moment of the whole race.

In fact, when he tries to get up he almost falls to the ground, he resides, drinks a supplement, but does not seem to recover, with a certain apprehension then I tell him that it is better to retire and that he can still be satisfied for having reached the last intermediate goal.

Stefano, however stubborn as he is step by step, leaves the car. After a few minutes not seeing him return worried I call him on the phone.

“To Faenza, let’s go to Faenza” he replies, ok we go on, I’m still very tired.

I decide to precede him only 2 kilometers at a time, often accompanying him, making him understand that I am close to him

Slowly we arrive in Fognano (85 km) it is already day, I have already had breakfast in a bar in the town, Stefano makes the last change of clothes, takes off the heavy ones to put on his shorts and the tank top again, on his face there an expression is printed that is a mixture of tiredness, pain and anger, I’m afraid that at any moment weeds on the ground.