10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The Cinque Mulini

1. Twitter

I think that anyone who has seen the videos of Cinque Mulini couldn’t but want to do this race. It’s that race that you probably saw on Twitter of people running through what looks like someone’s living room. I saw it last year and thought that looks amazing, I must do that, then I forgot about it until I met Trevor Cummins last Sunday at the BHAA XC which was also very good.

2. Trevor Cummins

I think that I should thank Trevor Cummins for reminding me about this race. At the time of the BHAA cross country race last Sunday I had no plans on going to Italy. I was probably going to go to exotic Caherconlish for a 10k on the road. Then Trevor mentioned that he’d love to go to the Cinque Mulini cross country race outside Milan. Just to check the logistics I looked up the flights and saw that there was a €16 flight from Cork to Milan on Saturday evening with a €30 flight back to Dublin Monday morning. Cheaper than a drive to Dublin so I booked the flights and entered the race, sure you only live once and all that. Gruff and John Meade said they’d go too which was great. Trevor said he’d wait for 2024.

3. Well Done John Meade

I think that it was interesting that the races with the highest numbers were the masters races. There were at least 300 or 500 masters athletes, so many that they had to have a separate over M50 race for all the Fr Romeo Sensini lookalikes. John Meade and Gruff went in the M35/M40/M45 race as anyone over 40 wasn’t allowed to run with the big boys like me. After an eventful start where he had to hurdle a faller at the start John Meade worked his way through to 3rd on the M40 podium which has probably cost him a fortune in roaming charges replying to all the Well Done Johns on Facebook while in Italy.

4. Spikes

I think that it was great having Gruff run the race before I had to run. What spikes or shoes to wear was a bit of a conundrum. Sean and Ian from Galway had been at the course the day before and said that it was a mixture of everything and that there was no perfect spike. Meade’s shoe choice was irrelevant to me as he wears extremely old spikes and wouldn’t worry or complain about shoes anyway for fear damaging his reputation. Gruff on the other hand wore Dragonflys with 9mm spikes which seemed to work really well judging by the excellence of Gruff’s performance so I took Gruff’s extra box of 9mm and installed them in my Dragonflys.

5. No Cross Country for Old Men

I think that it is interesting that there were only two M35 athletes in the main race. In Ireland if you ran a senior cross-country race and basically banned anyone over 35 and definitely over 40 you would have no race. In Italy there were plenty of young fellas to bulk up the field although a lot of them looked less Italian and much older than I do.

6. Partenza

I think that the start wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be. There were a few Kenyan’s, Crippa the hometown favourite plus a few other good guys who I’d never heard of but who looked like they run a slick Instagram account. I’d have been more afraid if it was a road race but in a cross country race you can only go so fast so it’s never that terrifying. When the gun went off I held back a little hoping to avoid any fallers like had happened in the old man race. There were no fallers and I wasn’t last, so it was a good start but I was probably a bit too far back.

7. Jumping Ditches

I think that this is definitely the best cross country course in the world. It is amazing, astonishing, better than the Twitter video would have you hope it would be. In a normal race after three 2k laps you just want the race to be over, on this course you get upset after three laps that it is nearly over. There is a little bit of everything, rocks, carpeted concrete, 45 degree uphill and downhill ramps, farm yards, lovely grass straights, ditches, stairs and houses to run through. The ditches were a new one on me, there were three or four of them in a section of about 200m, each ditch was about the same length as my stride so it didn’t really require jumping but it did requiring timing which I’m not great at. Ditches should be mandatory in all cross-country races.

8. Around The Houses

I think that the section through the house is as good as it looks on that video on Twitter. It is a wonderful section, a unique experience in running. To get to the house you have to run up a steep ramp then along a rocky narrow path before swinging right into a farm yard which has been carpeted to protect the Dragonflys. Then you turn left and in through a narrow door that I had to duck under to be sure of getting through. As you approach the door you hear the sound of the faster runners clink clanking up the steps in the house. I loved it but I am far larger than most Italian farmers so I lost lots of ground every time through the house, it was definitely more suited to the nimble footed runner like John Meade.

9. A Feast for the Senses

I think that the sound and smell of the race was wonderful. It is worth going to Italy for a race just to listen to the commentary and the crowds. There was quite a crowd around for the race and all the children stayed around to watch the race after they had run. The children were out high fiving shouting vai, vai, vai and there was noise most of the way around. The sound of spikes on gravel and spikes on wooden stairs is a wonderful sound, add it to the smell of cow dung from the farm yard and you have the perfect mix.

10. Success

I think that when you run in a race like this the most important thing is not to get lapped. I kept up a decent enough pace following a few Italians of similar average to moderately acceptable ability, Crippa and the Kenyans were really motoring so there was a risk that I’d get lapped which would have been terrible and broadcast live on TV for Michael Herlihy to laugh at. Once I made it onto the final lap without seeing Crippa and the Kenyans I was relieved and free to enjoy the last spin through the houses free from worry. I had a great sprint finish for 39th place with an Italian in a yellow singlet which I lost badly. When I got my phone back from Gruff, I saw that I had finished second of two in the M35 category so I went back in to the finish expecting my podium, unfortunately there was no M35 podium so I walked sadly and slowly back to Gruff and John Meade. Ah well it was still great fun.