\n\t\t\t\tToday, with the tiredness really setting in, I can finally say it: I am very satisfied. It has been an extremely difficult edition in terms of promotion, communication and marketing planning. Finding our way through a market dominated by giants while keeping the identity of an event like ours is no small feat, and neither is keeping the sponsors in balance and managing to satisfy them all. Added to this was the complexity of roadworks, crossings and diversions, which we resolved and which I now consider a closed matter. The weather tested us too, with catastrophic forecasts that weighed on all of us psychologically after four editions blighted by bad weather. All this is now behind us. What remains is the satisfaction of a day that went very well and that satisfied almost all the competitors. The safety operation worked flawlessly, with 14 call-outs in total: 12 handled by the S1 team in collaboration with the Italian and Slovenian Alpine Rescue and the Motorbike Rescue, coordinated by the operations room under Adriano\u2019s responsibility, and two handled directly by the local health authority (ASL). A system that responded well and, fortunately, did not have to deal with any life-threatening emergencies. My journey began at Al Dolina, after eating a pizza together with Marco Gubert and the others of the organisation – it must be said that the good Gubert, before leading the way in a 100 km race, wolfed down a beer and a giant pizza and was off again inside 30 minutes. No comment! At Al Dolina I met Francesco and Eddy busy delivering bread and refreshments at night. That was where the first idea for improving things in future was born: to strengthen the logistics with more people, especially for night management. Peter\u2019s support was important, but it was more than he could humanly cover, and it is not fair that Francesco and Eddy have to take on this burden in addition to their responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Contovello I found Roby\u2019s usual smile and Neva\u2019s enthusiasm: she was busy setting up a refreshment point with every last detail taken care of, bright and welcoming. That stop, which on the previous course was little more than a place to pass through, has finally come into its own: it has become the organisation’s real calling card, the first warm, human contact for those taking on the long races. From there I ran on to the Obelisco (Obelisk), managed with passion by Alexa and by the coordinator, Andrea, who proved enthusiastic and extremely helpful, together with the venue manager, Luca, who over the past few years has turned it into a real gem, offering runners a heated, decorated space. My run then took me on to Bagnoli, where music and good cheer reigned. Carlotta and the lads of the Comunella (the local commons association) ran the refreshment point with a gentle touch but a military bearing, switching between the little oven and the pellet stove. For the future, the idea is to add a generator, so that the electrics are even less of a worry. At Basovizza, on the other hand, I found the drop bags piled up: Peter, Francesco and Eddy had done everything they could, but it was there that I got my second confirmation that we need dedicated night-time logistics. I started sorting the bags at around two in the morning, until Miha and Michele arrived, full of energy and ready to welcome the first runners at half past four. The Center Hotel is a splendid venue, but the layout of the bags outside will need rethinking. Next year we will strengthen Basovizza, both in staffing and in layout. At Repen I found the bags under the church portico, later sorted out by Fabrizio and Pierpaolo. I didn\u2019t manage to see the start of the 80 km because the runners were already climbing towards Aurisina, but the morning starts were a success. The motorbike rescue team was indispensable support, both at night and as lead riders out of PortoPiccolo: next year we will extend the service to the 57 km as well, to avoid the minor problems that occurred this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the incredible wind, which stopped us from putting up the arches and tape at the start of the 21 km and the 15 km, we got everything up and running in the end. The Repen refreshment point proved itself a vital hub: a close-knit team born of the friendship between Pierpaolo and Fabrizio, who radiated incredible enthusiasm despite the tiny space. At San Pelagio, in Gruden\u2019s large space, things were complicated to manage because the runners arrived tired and hungry. We missed Andrej\u2019s physical presence, as he was unwell, but his organisational support never faltered. Cristiano, Alexander, Nina and Matteo, along with the newcomers \u201cle Alici\u201d (the Anchovies), coordinated a difficult situation with great skill, even overcoming problems with the transport of the pizzas. For the future, taking Carlotta\u2019s suggestion on board, we will try to improve the logistical planning still further, asking those in charge of the refreshment points to plan ahead. Carrying on with the story, we come to Medeazza, the \u201cfamily refreshment point\u201d of the de Mottoni and Marussich families, who delighted everyone with ham baked in a crust and cotechino sausages. It was a formidable hub, as was the new refreshment point at Sela na Krasu, where the local community and Kostanjevica welcomed the runners with fantastic warmth. At Crociata, too, Dario and the Go For Trail group bravely threw themselves into a frantic refreshment point, where more than 2,300 people came through in under an hour. The same heavy pressure was handled superbly at Santa Croce by Ivana and her association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Duino, the \u201cred ties\u201d led by Ciro prepared the pizzas with almost maniacal precision, measuring the pieces to the centimetre to get the perfect balance between warmth and efficiency. And finally the Bora Village, where Enrico welcomed everyone with his proverbial unflappable calm and a smile that warmed hearts. For 2027, Enrico, we want you in swimming trunks: the aim is to raise the temperature with patio heaters and infrared heaters, so that the experience is less freezing for those who work there. A special thank you goes to those who handed out the medals: you smiled at every single runner as if they were the first, making that moment unique. The same spirit came from the speakers and prize-giving team, with the long-standing Gilberto and Gianpietro and newcomer Daniele; from Ronnie\u2019s video direction, with Nicola and Alessandra; and from Thomas and his LED screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had a live broadcast of television quality, worthy of the Italian state broadcaster RAI, and a prize-giving that finally ran smoothly, thanks to Gilberto, who managed to switch from great motivator to clear-headed strategist and to act as the link between the prize-giving and the finish. The timekeeping, handled by the S1 team together with the timekeepers from Pordenone, was impeccable, supplying announcers and refreshment points with real-time data as never before. Behind the scenes, Tatiana and Stefano\u2019s communications work conveyed the event’s enthusiasm on social media and in the press, while the video team led by Matteo Indri\u2019s Urban Group and by Jaka captured every nuance, from artistic portraits to landscapes. At the registration desk, Susanna, Anna and Ester and the irrepressible Yarina coordinated a team that handed out complex race packs with greater speed and precision than any machine could manage, always with a human smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A thought also goes to the catering. This year Federico and his team served food of a higher quality than at the average sporting event, coping with incredible volumes and serving more than 150 meals for staff and volunteers alone in just a few hours. Finally, the backbone of the race: the courses. As I write, snowflakes are falling outside and Matteo is out there with the lads, clearing up the last sections. It is an immense job that runs from planning the routes to the sweepers closing the course. Thanks to all the course markers, and to people like Roby, Giorgio, Emanuele, Davide and Serena, who keep telling us about new paths or problems such as the collapses at Miramare. A special thank you to Matteo, who like me lives the event all year round, looking after the technical side, and to all the old hands such as Adriano, Giorgio, Emanuele, Lorenzo, Valentino and Giuseppe Sponton. Satisfaction, of course, but also bitterness over a few incidents: it is unacceptable for a participant to try to run over a parking attendant, and we will consider legal action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At PortoPiccolo too, although our cooperation with NH and Baia di Sistiana was excellent, the attitude of the PortoPiccolo residents\u2019 association was disappointing and unhelpful. It is a shame that a venue with such great potential is presented this way. The local authorities backed us: the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region with its “Io sono FVG” brand; the municipalities of Trieste, Duino Aurisina, Sgonico and Monrupino; and the municipal police forces of Duino Aurisina and Trieste, who supported the event and kept disruption to residents from the heavy traffic to a minimum, always with a smile. Always on hand to help residents and runners, pointing them the right way, giving information and watching over their safety, were the members of the Civil Protection, the volunteer Carabinieri and the volunteer firefighters. Thanks also go to the Karst village commons (comunelle), first and foremost the one at Bagnoli, which make up for the absence of administrations such as that of San Dorligo della Valle, which still does not grasp the value of this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, a thank you to companies such as Civibank, Roncadin, Radenska and Frutta Friuli, who make all of this possible. The tiredness is still there, and so is the cold, but above all we are left with the knowledge that we have created something extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This adventure has been going on for more than a decade. New friendships are made, others fade away, and as time goes by this race takes on an identity, a spirit and a soul of its own, of which we are all part and from which all of us volunteers draw pleasure and satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personally, I also have to thank (or maybe not?) my closest friends, who have always been by my side even when they were not there, like Francesco, my sister Susanna, my parents, my whole family and my Federico, who put up with me every day and talk me into carrying on whenever I am too tired and want to give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: last year I named everyone, almost 400 names. This year I have only mentioned group leaders and people who work on their own, but my deepest gratitude goes to those who, as part of a group, decide to spend a Sunday with us, amid fatigue and stress, but also great satisfaction.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During the afternoon yesterday, many people approached me asking if I was happy. Perhaps they did so because I had a bewildered look on my face, I was pale and walking unsteadily, speaking with a slurred mouth like a drunk. In addition to the chronic lack of sleep, I felt terrible: I had accumulated stress from this year's preparation that was making me... <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[787,195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.s1trail.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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