Fabio Rinaldi of Italy running to a win at the inaugural Treviso Marathon (© A. Zorzi)
2002 Italian marathon champion Fabio Rinaldi and Morocco's Hafida Izem were respectively the men's and women's winners of the 1st edition of the Treviso Marathon, held yesterday (14 March) on a very flat course from Vittorio Veneto to Treviso.
It was an astonishing debut for the race. The organising committee took an innovative choice: free entry for those who can run the marathon in under six hours. It was a big success, as more than 3000 runners were at the start, placing Treviso Marathon fifth in the Italian marathon ranking behind Rome, Venice, Milan and Florence.
Rinaldi benefits as Kipkering runs out of gas
In men's race, the rabbit James Yatich (KEN) set a good pace and the leading pack's splits were 15:19 at 5 km, 30:51 at 10 and 1:05:09 at half marathon, when the Kenyan stopped. At that point just other rabbit Paul Kangogo Kanda and Ukraine's Oleksandr Kuzin were with him, while the Italians Fabio Rinaldi, Denis Curzi and 1999 World silver medallist Massimo Vincenzo Modica had already been dropped during the previous kilometres.
Another favourite, Italy-based Kenyan Philemon Kipkering, who had won 13 of the 17 marathons he had taken part in, at first decided not to follow the first two, then caught Rinaldi, dropped him and tried to join the leaders. It was a really hard effort on his part, because Kuzin and Kanda ran the 10 km between 20 and 30 in a 30:06 split.
At 30 km they stopped, Kipkering surprisingly was leading the race with a 50 seconds advantage over Rinaldi, who probably didn't expect he could win any more.
However, Kipkering suddenly slowed down, as he was "out of fuel". Rinaldi took courage and closed the gap at 38 km. As soon as he caught the Kenyan, he continued pushing the pace in order to drop him immediately.
The numerous people on the streets just outside the city of Treviso shouted his name "Fabio, Fabio". "It was very exciting, it seemed to be like being in a Tour of Italy's mountain stage," he said after the race, referring to the important cycling Italian competition.
Rinaldi's final winning time was a PB of 2:11:48.
Win is dedicated to his 6-month son
In October 2002 he won the Italian title in Carpi and just one month and a half later he ran his previous PB 2:12:19. Last year he wasn't able to finish a marathon (he withdrew in Turin, Trieste and Florence) and for a while he thought about retiring from marathon running. He dedicated the win to his fiancée Tiziana and his son Lorenzo, who was born last September.
Kipkering also set his PB with 2:12:49, but unlike Rinaldi he was not so happy, as he believed to have the win in his hands.
In third place, came Modica who attacked with 3 km to go and with 2:13:02 set his third best career time after the 2:11:39 he ran in Venice in 1996 and the 2:12:53 in Budapest in 1998, when he took the European bronze medal behind countrymen Stefano Baldini and Danilo Goffi. The following year at Worlds in Seville he was beaten for gold by Spain's Abel Anton.
"Here in Treviso I started my career 14 years ago, when I took the Italian cross country junior title and today I showed again the real Modica," he said. "The last 4 years were very difficult for me, as I could not reconfirm the marvellous results of 1998 and 1999."
Di Cecco trains for Turin and dreams of Athens
Sixth place Alberico Di Cecco ran a good race as well. After passing the first half in 1:07:59, he ran easily the second half in 1:06:27, for a final 2:14:26.
He is one of the best candidates for the third Italian place for the Athens Olympic marathon, as Stefano Baldini and Daniele Caimmi have already been selected for the team.
In 2003 he set his PB in Rome (2:08:53), took the 22nd place at the Worlds (2:13:36) and was the first non-Kenyan in the New York City Marathon (5th with 2:11:40). In the last three years he has been used to run a low-pace marathon in the early spring in order to train for his 'real' marathon, and as such he will now try the Turin event on 18 April with high expectations.
Izem's solo and Viceconte's comeback runs
Italy-based (she lives in Matera) Moroccan Hafida Izem easily won the women's race. She is in great shape, as she showed two weeks ago in the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon which she won with a 1:10:39 PB. She had planned a test on the full marathon and she ran a lonely race from the first kilometre, then passed the half marathon in 1:16:49, but after the 36 km she began to slow down because of a hard stomach pain. Her final 2:37:58 was not the time she wanted.
In second place there was a very good comeback by Italy’s Maura Viceconte, the national 10,000 and marathon record holder. After last year Turin Marathon (2nd with 2:29:13) she felt tired and did not want to run any more. She had not been training at all for six months. Last January she was invited to Namibia for a top Italian marathon runners camp where she regained the will to run. After just two months of serious training, her 2:40:29 is not a bad time.
RESULTS (42,195 KM)
Men
1. Fabio Rinaldi ITA 2:11:48
2. Philemon Kipkering KEN 2:12:49
3. Vincenzo Modica ITA 2:13:02
4. Denis Curzi ITA 2:13:21
5. David Kipruto KEN 2:14:18
6. Alberico Di Cecco ITA 2:14:26
Women
1. Hafida Izem MAR 2:37:58
2. Maura Viceconte ITA 2:40:29
3. Francesca Zanusso ITA 2:46:28
