Zakia Mrisho wins 7th edition of Courir pour le Plaisir (© IAAF)
A year after playing host to the 2005 Italian national championships, the Vallagarina Cross Country race near Rovereto will return to its international format on Sunday (22 Jan) for its 29th edition.
Women get top billing
The women’s race will feature an east African battle between Tanzania's Zakia Mrisho and Prisca Jepleting of Kenya, sixth and seventh respectively in the 5000m at last summer’s World Championships. Mrisho made an impact on the track last summer, running 14:43.87 in the Helsinki final and 8:39.91 in the 3000m in Zürich, both personal bests. Jepleting also ran her lifetime best of 14:44.00 in the Finnish capital.
Justyna Bak of Poland, a former 3000m Steeplechase World record holder (9:22.39) and European cross country silver medallist in Heringsdorf 2004, leads the European challenge.
The Vallagarina race is the third leg of the new Fidal Cross Country Grand Prix, a series aiming to revamp the discipline in Italy. Rosanna Martin, who finished ninth in the short course in the 2002 World Championships, has recently returned to good form after numerous injuries, finishing second at last week's cross country race in Vittorio Veneto. Other Italians who figure prominently on the start list includes are Marzena Michalska, the National record holder in the 3000m Steeplechas and a Polish-born runner who has become an Italian citizen after marriage; Marathon specialist Silvia Sommaggio; and Italian short course champion Federica Dal Ri.
Men’s race - Can Wyatt challenge?
The most prominent name in the men's field is New Zealander Jonathan Wyatt, the best Mountain running specialist in the world, with five World titles in his collection. Wyatt, who finished 21st in the Olympic Marathon in Athens, has personal bests of 7:54.20 in the 3000m, 13:27.66 in the 5000m, and 27:56.80 in the 10,000m.
The best-known east African in the field on Sunday is Wilson Businei of Uganda. Businei ran a solid 27:29.55 in the 10,000m in Hengelo last May and was 11th in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Olympic Games. Eliud Kirui, winner in the Vittorio Veneto race last Sunday, and Half-marathon specialist Jackson Kirwa are the main Kenyan contenders.
Ukraine’s Vasili Matvichuk, winner of the European junior titles in the 10,000m and Cross Country in 2001, and now primarily a marathoner, is the leading European. Matvichuk lowered his Marathon best to 2:12:34 at the Maratona d'Italia in Carpi last year.
Local favourite Giuliano Battocletti, the 2003 national long course champion, and Luciano Di Pardo, a seven- time Italian cross country champion in the short course, carry the major hopes for Italy.
Di Pardo, who is coached by former steeplechase polish specialist Boguslaw Maminski, hails from the southern Italian region of Molise which has recently produced a group of young athletes who captured headlines in Italy last year, including Adelina de Soccio, the European junior champion in the 3000.
Past winners in Vallagarina include major names in Italian athletics: 1987 World Steeplechase Francesco Panetta, who was a four-time winner; Seoul Olympic marathon champion Gelindo Bordin, a two-time champion; and 1984 Olympic 1500m champion Gabriella Dorio. Others past winners include Kenyan Wilson Boit Kipketer, a former World record holder in the Steeplechase; six-time European cross country champion Sergyi Lebid; and World Steeplechase champion Dorcus Inzikuru.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
