Gara Podistica Number 4

Today a big event in Sarnano, the 4th annual “Gara Podistica” – like a road race. There were races for all, the littlies dashed once around the Piazza Della Liberta, to great cheering on the way over the finish line. The teenagers were few in number, but the lively dash between the first and second places kept the race interesting. The main race set off towards the Hotel Eden I think – it’s a heck of a climb so good luck to them!
As I am typing this so that I can load it later onto the internet, the walkers in the 3 km event are strolling past, and the first placed people are cooling down by the church the other side of the terrace.
Something that I have noticed about Italy is that all the participants in these events have sponsors of one kind or another. The top runners are from organized groups, with branded t-shirts and identical stretchy micro shorts. But even the pedestrian strollers are wearing matching tracksuits, branded with a construction company or butchers or similar. The same is true of the cyclists that you see about – all have their sponsors. Thinking about it, the sponsor in many cases could be the company that the participants own themselves, given that the largest part of Italian business is still family owned. Otherwise I can only imagine the bid for sponsorship – “Hello Mario. Me and my friends are going to walk the 3Km route in Sarnano next month. We are taking the dogs and the kids and making a day of it, with lunch somewhere on the mountain in the sunshine. We won’t come in first or last, and have no intention of appearing in the paper, or doing anything else to raise visibility – its just a laugh.”
“Oh, right then, would 8 branded tracksuits do you, or should I sling in the t-shirts to match?”
Seems unlikely!
Arguably though the most hotly contested moment this morning was between the various Caribinieri and Corpo Forestale who were in attendance to deal with the traffic. Resplendent in their fabulous uniforms – the Caribinieri were in control and the Corpo Forestale there to follow instructions. Except there weren’t really any forthcoming! The Chief, an unsmiling tall thin man clearly had a plan in his head about what to do with the cars, Apes, trucks, tractors and horse trucks that make up the average Sunday morning rush hour in town, but when he left his post to go to check on the other sections of traffic control, the guys in grey from the Forestry Department clearly didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing. Then traffic started to flow – mingling with the teenagers running their carpark circuit. Then the irate mums weighed in, going over with bags of bread fresh from the bakers to harangue the poor guy left in charge. I was interested to see everyone communicating by mobile phone – a few walky-talkies wouldn’t go amiss – especially as they are currently on offer in Andrea’s Comet Shop on the High Street. But they are bright green and would no doubt clash with the uniforms, so that would never do! Needless to say when the boss came back, he was making it clear to the aggrieved mother that if only the guy had followed his instructions… much hand waving and cross gesturing all around.