Edwin Soi winning the Boclassic race in 2007 (© IAAF.org)
Boclassic defending champions Edwin Soi and Sylvia Kibet return to Bolzano for the traditional end-of-the year Boclassic Silvesterlauf Road Race on 31 December which celebrates its 34th edition.
This year’s impressive starting-list reads as the “Who’s who” of middle and long distance running with two reigning or past Olympic champions (Gulnara Samitova Galkina and Stefano Baldini), multiple European cross country champion Sergiy Lebid of the Ukraine and reigning Olympic marathon silver medallist and twice World champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco.
Kenyan Edwin Soi, Olympic bronze medallist in the 5000 metres in Bejing and winner at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart over the same distance in 2007 and 2008, will be bidding to win a second consecutive title in the Bolzano race against a strong opposition led by eight-time European cross country champion Sergiy Lebid.
Soi opened his European winter season on 28 December in the Corrida de Houilles near Paris where he finished second behind compatriot Micah Kogo.
Lebid comes to Bolzano two weeks after his eighth European cross country win in Brussels. He will be looking for a sixth Boclassic title after winning five times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and finishing second in 2000 and third in 2005. The Boclassic will be the first of two clashes between Soi and Lebid on Italian soil in just a few days. They will renew their battle on 6 January at the Campaccio Cross Country race.
Another well-known name to the enthusiastic fans will be 2004 Olympic marathon champion and reigning European champion Stefano Baldini who finished his marathon career with his 12th place at the Olympic Games in Bejing and will run some races over shorter distances during 2009. Baldini ran nine times in Bolzano and claims a second place in his magic 2004 season behind Lebid as his best result in the Boclassic.
Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, Olympic marathon silver medallist in Bejing with an impressive 2:07:16 and twice World marathon champion, is the latest addition to the star-studded field. Gharib ran in Bolzano once in 2004 when he finished fourth.
Sale Warga Betona of Ethiopia, second in Bolzano in 2006, should not be written off.
Galkina takes on defending champion
Russian Olympic 3000 metres steeplechase champion and World record holder Gulnara Samitova Galkina is the big star in the women’s 5km race. Samitova, the first woman in history to break the 9 minutes barrier with 8:58.81 will face last year’s Boclassic winner Sylvia Kibet of Kenya and 2006 Boclassic winner Aniko Kalovics of Hungary.
Galkina will be looking to bounce back her twelfth placing at the recent European Cross Country Championships in Brussels running against in-form Kibet who won the Corrida of Houilles on 28 December. Kibet finished fourth in the 5000 metres at both the World Championships in Osaka and the Olympic Games in Bejing. The international field is completed by 2006 European cross country champion Tatyana Holovchenko of the Ukraine.
Local favourite Silvia Weissteiner, “ambassador” of the Boclassic and third in 2006, was forced to drop out of the race in front of her local fans due to a bout of bronchitis.
Italian hopes will be carried by this year’s 800 metres world indoor finalist Elisa Cusma, this year’s Carpi Marathon winner Rosalba Console and two local favourites Renate Rungger and Agnes Tchurtchenthaler.
The Boclassic race will be broadcast live by Italian sport channel Rai Sport Più and by live streaming on the website of the local German-speaking Rai channel Sender Bozen (www.senderbozen.rai.it).
Last year about 15,000 enthusiastic spectators cheered on the top-runners from the stands of the fascinating Waltherplatz and along the fascinating course of the Northern Italian town.
The official pre-event programme offers some innovations. Top athletes will be presented to the crowd during the “Warm-Up” party in the Waltherplatz on 30 December in which they will receive their race bibs. During the pre-event “Warm-Up” singer Martin Perkmann will sing the official “anthem” of the Boclassic.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
