Mombaruzzo, Italy

Race day

Another early start as we all needed to be at race centre by 7.45, so up at 5.50 for a quick brekky in the kitchen, then off to Turin, again!
No need for the GPS!
We got there by 7.40 and headed to the registration centre to find out where the timing devises were.
Stupidly we asked an official, who had no idea. Then we asked another….”non comprendere”.
Sigh……
Eventually the girls decided to follow the crowd, which proved more helpful, and we came upon a mass of competitors, and a queue.
A queue to get your timing devise! A LONG queue to get your devise!
A queue which eventually led to a trestle table with piles of devises all bundled together willy nilly, and a gaggle of volunteers pushing and shoving competitors around, whilst madly trying to find the devise which corresponded with your number.
No orderly line, just a shitload of frustration masquerading as controlled chaos.
It was like a gaggle of geese, a school of fish, a collective noun for incompetence…..a ship of fools!?
Finally, after being assured that there were no more timing devises, and you just remember your time….the girls emerged from the scrum with their devises.
The land of miracles strikes again!
This shamozzle caused the start time of the race to be put back from 9 to 9.30, even though all initial paperwork had actually stated the start time as 8am.
In reality the reason for the later start time was because no one, officials included, seemed to know where the start/finish line was. There was no indication on the map, no signs up, and the only finish line we had seen was, so we found out later, for the triathlon course.
(There’s a great story about the triathlon, but for another day)
Cars driving thru the crowd, officials yelling and gesticulating wildly, Russians ignoring officials as they run up and down warming up….a true comedy.
Miracle number 2…..we have a starting line.
But some things don’t change….officials still trying to push competitors back behind the line….Russians still bewildered by the Italian language…..volunteers pushing their weight around playing crowd control….a black comedy!
Eventually someone must have realised that there were actually competitors there waiting to run 10k, so without any further ado…..the gun goes off….the race is on…..
5 minutes early!!!
Hilarious.
Except for the poor souls who actually thought it would start on time and were no where to be seen, until they realised what the f##k had happened and took off in pursuit.
Luckily the girls still had their wits about them, and off they went in 32 degree heat, with only one drink station at the 5km mark! It was HOT and unfair on all competitors, ridiculous to be running so late, but everyone battled on and both Rachael & Kate did a great job.
The reason we were all here was to support Maddy, but since she couldn’t run due to her hip replacement, the girls did her proud representing her in the run.
Great effort from both of them.
Race over, we headed back to La Villa via a quick coffee/food stop at Eataly, Sal’s new favourite shop in the world.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around the pool enjoying the sun, reliving the moments of the Italians organisational skills.
It was Kate & Sal’s last night before heading off to Rome so a few drinks were in order with our dinner on the terrace. It was also an early celebration of Maddy’s upcoming 60th, and lovely words were spoken by all about how ridiculously nice she is.
Our English rose!
A long, interesting, and successful day came to an end….Late!