"An easy race," said Stefano Baldini immediately after crossing the finish line. At his first race five weeks after the London Marathon, Baldini, the Olympic Marathon champion, easily won for the second time - the first was in 2004 - the Scalata al Castello, a loop road race held Sunday night (28 May) in Arezzo. Burundi's Anesie Kwizera was the winner of the women's race.
The course was difficult, with a 250m uphill stretch and a 250m downhill on every 830m lap. However, this year the finish line was not at the top of the hill, but at the end of the downhill. The men ran 12 laps, for a distance of 10km, the women 6 laps (5km).
Men - Baldini goes alone at halfway
The men's race started at a slow pace and the leading pack still included about 15 athletes at halfway (15:01 the split). Baldini took the initiative the following lap, with a strong attack in the uphill, that gave him a 20 metre gap on a pack of six Africans. He then controlled the race and closed with a time of 29:36.
"Today it was really hot," said Baldini, referring to the fact that last year's the race had been held on Saturday and later in the night. "After London I have not trained too much and with so many Africans at the start you can't be sure about what can happen. I tried to go after halfway and I got it. I immediately took a gap and then I was able to keep it. I'm satisfied."
"I did not have a very fluid running action, but good power," he continued. "In the uphill I made the difference." On Monday, Baldini leaces Italy's marathon team for the European championships for the first stage of their training in Livigno. "Now we will start to work again, I'm very confident after what I did in London." Even forced to stop training for a month between December and January, Baldini was able to improve his national record with 2:07:22.
The other three marathon runners of the Italian team ran yesterday; Ruggero Pertile (9th), the reserve Denis Curzi (10th) and Danilo Goffi (12th). They will be in Livigno until 17 June, then from June 29 to July 22 in St. Moritz.
Joseph Lomala and Solomon Rotich caught the other two places on the podium, respectively five and eight seconds behind Baldini. Lomala is 24 and last year won the Arezzo half-marathon with a time of 1:02:23. Rotich is 23 and is a 2:11 marathon runner.
Women - Kwizera in "Baldini-style"
Kwizera also increased the pace after the halfway point. Only Italy's Silvia Sommaggio was able to follow her for about a kilometre, but at last she was dropped as well. Kwizera crossed the finish line with a time of 16:33, 5 seconds ahead of Sommaggio and 18 seconds ahead of Gloria Marconi. Last year's winner, Deborah Toniolo, who earlier this year ran 2:28:31 at the Treviso Marathon, took a disappointing 5th place.
Kwizera raced last year at IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, where she was eliminated in the heats of 5000m, though running her PB of 16:06.66. However her international debut was four years ago, when she ran in the short race at World Cross Country Championships in Dublin. The following year in Lausanne she was 8th in the junior race.
Alberto Zorzi for the IAAF
Leading Results
Men's race (10km)
1. Stefano Baldini, ITA, 29:36
2. Joseph Lomala, KEN, 29:41
3. Solomon Kipkoech Rotich, KEN, 29:44
4. Paul Kipkemei Kogo, KEN, 29:48
5. Peter Kiplagat Sitienei, KEN, 29:55
...
9. Ruggero Pertile, ITA, 30:25
10. Denis Curzi, ITA, 30:32
...
12. Danilo Goffi, ITA, 30:37
Women's race (5km)
1. Anesie Kwizera, BUR, 16:33
2. Silvia Sommaggio, ITA, 16:38
3. Gloria Marconi, ITA, 16:51
4. Soumiya Labani, MAR, 16:55
5. Deborah Toniolo, ITA, 17:01
