La Mandria Castle (ph. Damiano Benedetto)

J Medical Cross Country: emotions!

Wonderful weather today at La Mandria Park. Clear sky that show the public the amazing skyline of the Piedmontese mountains, the sun, the carpet of yellow leaves to highlight the colors with which nature is dressed in autumn. These are the colors and atmospheres of the J Medical Cross, run through for the European Championships on 11 December in Venaria Reale (Turin). The first races started at 9.30, with the cold of the early morning and the frost making the blades of grass crystalline; the last race was the men's cross, with the sun at 12.30, unusually hot, guiding the athletes, and with mud in the field. Lots of public, over a thousand people, to attend the races where the big italian athletes competed for the call-up to the national team for the continental championship and were able to test the route. Among them the local athlete Anna Arnaudo (Battaglio Cus Torino) and Iliass Aouani (Fiamme Azzurre), winners of their respective tests in the long cross country races.

The flat start, then the demanding climb that leads to the Castello della Mandria: an important slope with some bumps "that need training", as Arnaudo says, "but which is great fun". Which will certainly, in the European Championship, make a selection. Then, on the occasion of the championships, the wonderful Galleria delle Carrozze will be crossed, at the top of the climb: the athletes will take it sideways and then present themselves to the public from the marvelous main door. The route and the natural landscape satisfy everyone. An Anglo-Saxon cross country, as it is defined by many athletes, with a few flat sections and many ups and downs, with mud, grass and dry leaves to get caught in the athletes' nails. Important numbers those of the J Medical cross country, with over 700 athletes at the start, including the very young, U14 and U16 categories, leading the Mandriadi. Nice for them to see their idols race, and take the ritual photos together, being able to tell their friends that they raced on the same track as the champions.

PH. (Damiano Benedetto/Piemonte2022)

Race day at La Mandria Park (ph. Damiano Benedetto)