One of the highlight of the national season for the PWT Italia Elite and Junior Team was for sure the Italian Championships; we’ve already ran strongly the middle and relay races last May in Passo Lavazè, so it was time for Long and Sprint.
The races were organized far south of Italy in Puglia, almost 1000 kilometers from home; the team divided upon several travelling options to better acclimatize and adapt to the Mediterranean weather and terrain.
While Alessandro, Noemi and Guglielmo were already enjoying a week of training/holiday in Basilicata and Sicily, Riccardo and Sebastian decided to stop with Gabriele in Vasto (Note. 5+5Days October’s area) for some days before meeting Tommaso in Bari on Friday, and meeting the “new mother” Cecilia Colonna in Altamura 😉
But let’s move to the main course, the races!! On saturday the Sprint Championships w
ere on a very typical sprint map of Puglia, Martina Franca, offering crazy tricky orienteering, narrow alleys, fast decision-making skills and definitely leaving no-room for mistakes. Riccardo and Sebastian
had two good races taking home the GOLD and SILVER medal in ME, while the rest of the team was just so close to a top3 place.. Seconds, but yes, that’s sprint orienteering.
Here some video footage impressions (by @Tommaso Scalet)
The next day a very warm (above 35-40 degrees Celsius) was planned in Crispiano, not far from our accommodation. We all tried to keep good hydratations but no matter what, it was a hot day! And as you can see from the map there was almost no-shadow (aka. no forests ;)), just bushes, stonewalls, bushes, rocks, and… Did we already say bushes? Everyone in the team finished the race with an empty tank, taking home good placements, medals, some laughs and few scratches on the arms.
During this good weekend of competitions we had the honour of being hosted at the Circolo Velico Lucano, in Policoro – Basilicata, right in the middle of the Lido’s forest.
The whole staff guided by Sigismondo Mangialardi treated us like family, we are really thanful and so excited to be back soon again for training camps and SPOILER ALERT: some big competitions in the future!
Check this drone video to see more of our great stay at the Circolo Velico Lucano
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