'Dai' ... 'Dai'

30 June, 2022 - Elizabeth Wheeler

Sunday 26th June 2022 was a long-anticipated date for our U18 athletes as they toed the start line in Saluzzo, Italy for the WMRA International Under 18 Mountain Running Cup. Six Irish athletes competed in 30-degree heat, running 4.35km with a climb of 155 metres. The route started with a 400m lap of the old town, giving the spectators the thrill of watching them pass twice, before climbing the medieval cobbled and stepped streets to La Castiglia, a castle which has dominated the town since the 1200’s, formerly used as a prison, and is now a museum and restaurant.
The course took the athletes up steps and through the museum entrance and through the old prison yard before breaking free to run through vineyards and parkland. Fast downhills with sudden small drops and tight turns made it more like a mountain bike course than a mountain race.
There was nothing technical here and it was clear the pace would be scorching and most suitable to those from a track and cross-county background.

After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, the athletes started their preparations for their respective race starts, the girls at 10:15 and the boys at 11:00. Face paint and kit on, warm-ups, stretches, cold ice packs and a lot of nervous excitement ensued until the gun went off.

The girls’ race was fast and furious, with USA and Italy leading the pack at a blinding pace. Our girls held hard and strong to the rear of the pack alongside their Northern Ireland friends and all of them fought hard for the duration of the race.
The boys were initially more daring, pushing the green jerseys to the front of the start line and leading the race in formation, like a green arrow shooting through the streets. Their tactic was to dominate and make the others nervous from the start. It worked as they said, ‘until the first hill’ and it certainly gave us a thrill to see them storming through the streets looking comfortable and in the lead.
The heat and humidity was severe, and the undulating course and fast pace soon began to take its toll but the support on the course was incredible and spurred everyone on to push to their limits. Although the Italian words of encouragement "Dai, Dai" being yelled at the runners was a little confusing for them.

It was goosebumps and tears for me to see our green jerseys cross the finish line. There was great excitement as Luke produced an impressive sprint finish with England’s Joseph Ormrod, both finishing in 17:59, 23rd out of 48. Ryan came in a fantastic 2 seconds ahead of Hungary’s’ Gergo Balint crossing the line in 18:46. He came through the finish line, and having enjoyed it so much, celebrated that he was young enough to give it another go next year. Mackenzie was having a properly good race until he went over on his ankle. Rather remarkably, and despite the swelling, he made it to the finish line in 21:45 just behind Northern Ireland’s Ethan McMullan. Emily beat Northern Ireland’s Niamh Campbell by 1 second in a time of 23:12 and Laura and Kate both had solid races completing in 23:45 and 23:51 respectively.

Alyssa Sauro (18:03) of the USA took the gold medal in the girls race and Maciej Lachowski (16:16) of Poland for the boys. Team gold for England’s girls and Italy’s boys.
A day of incredible racing in a stunning location, who could ask for more?

I think our U18’s bossed it and each of them should be very proud to have run a race with such a high-level of competition. Each came away with a sense of achievement that they had finished beside the best but, most importantly of all, they enjoyed it.
As Team Manager the thing that impressed me with this group is that they didn’t get angry or frustrated or blame anyone for the results. They didn’t achieve the best results, but they accepted them with dignity, and I think that is just as important as winning. Learning that not everyone gets to win is a valuable lesson. Life isn’t always fair, injuries happen, we have a bad day, the conditions are not ideal. They all showed great tenacity and determination.
Looing forward to future races, they know now what to expect and the commitment, self-discipline and teamwork that they displayed in Saluzzo will stand them in good stead going forward.


Elizabeth Wheeler 30.06.22