Cross della Vallagarina

The Cross della Vallagarina is an annual cross country running competition that is held in mid-January in Rovereto, Italy. The competition derives its name from the Vallagarina valley in which the city is located. It was first held in 1978 following the success of local runner Cristina Tomasini at the 1977 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[1] She was the inaugural winner of the Cross della Vallagarina, which was unusual in being a women's competition only – the men's race was added later in 1981.[2][3]

Cross della Vallagarina
The race is held in the valley around the city of Rovereto
DateMid-January
LocationVilla Lagarina - Rovereto, Italy
Event typeCross country
Distance9 km for men
5.3 km for women
Established1978
Official siteCross della Vallagarina
Participants50 (2020)
44 (2019)

The Cross della Vallagarina is part of the European Athletics permit meeting series,[4] and has also previously been part of the Italian national circuit.[5] It hosted the Italian Cross Country Championships in 2005 and 2007.[6] The race is organised by the local sports club U.S. Quercia Rovereto, which also hosts the city's annual track and field meeting (Palio Città della Quercia) and Giro Podistico di Rovereto road race.[3]

The current elite men's and women's races are held over 8.8 km and 5.5 km, respectively. The women's competition in 1978 began as a contest over 5 km and has remained roughly this distance throughout its history, except for a brief period where it was extended from 2005 to 2007. The men's race started as an 8 km event, but it has been mostly between 9–10 km for the majority of editions.[2] The competition's looped course features a number of uphill and downhill sections along the valley's edge, making it a difficult race for some athletes.[7][8][9] In addition to the elite level races, there are also several races for fun runners and amateurs, ranging from youth competitions to races for masters athletes.[10]

Past winners of the event include some of Italy's most successful runners, including Olympic marathon champion Gelindo Bordin, 1987 World Champion Francesco Panetta, Gabriella Dorio (Olympic gold medallist in the 1500 m) and two-time 5000 m global medallist Roberta Brunet. Foreign winners of the event include multiple European Cross champion Serhiy Lebid, world steeplechase champions Wilson Boit Kipketer and Dorcus Inzikuru, and World Half Marathon champion Wilson Kiprop.[11]

Past senior race winners

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Multiple European champion Serhiy Lebid had back-to-back wins in 2003–04.
 
Rita Jeptoo, the 2006 winner, also won the Boston Marathon that year.

Key:   National championship race

Edition Year Men's winner Time (m:s) Women's winner Time (m:s)
1st 1978 Not held   Cristina Tomasini (ITA) 17:37.0
2nd 1979   Agnese Possamai (ITA) ?
3rd 1980   Cristina Tomasini (ITA) 16:08.5
4th 1981   Albert Rungger (ITA) 25:25.1   Agnese Possamai (ITA) 15:14.5
5th 1982   Gelindo Bordin (ITA) 25:32   Cristina Tomasini (ITA) 16:16.5
6th 1983   Mariano Scartezzini (ITA) 26:39.5   Gabriella Dorio (ITA) 17:10.6
7th 1984   Sergio Pesavento (ITA) 25:59.2   Wilma Rusman (NED) 16:10.0
8th 1985   Gelindo Bordin (ITA) 25:36.2   Wilma Rusman (NED) 16:43.0
9th 1986   Gianni Demadonna (ITA) 25:24.0   Maria Curatolo (ITA) 15:35.0
10th 1987   Francesco Panetta (ITA) ?   Flavia Furlan (ITA) ?
11th 1988   Marco Gozzano (ITA) 28:07.5   Rosanna Munerotto (ITA) 15:42.9
12th 1989   Francesco Panetta (ITA) 27:54.9   Maria Curatolo (ITA) 15:04.9
13th 1990   Francesco Panetta (ITA) 28:25.9   Nadia Dandolo (ITA) 15:46.7
14th 1991   Stephenson Nyamu (KEN) 27:41.0   Nives Curti (ITA) 15:18.0
15th 1992   Jonah Koech (KEN) 28:28.9   Nadia Dandolo (ITA) 15:40.9
16th 1993   Francesco Panetta (ITA) 28:04.6   Valentina Tauceri (ITA) 16:02.3
17th 1994   Richard Kosgei (KEN) 29:10   Roberta Brunet (ITA) 16:14
18th 1995   Umberto Pusterla (ITA) 29:18   Cristina Misaros (ROM) 16:26
19th 1996   Angelo Carosi (ITA) 28:37   Florence Barsosio (KEN) 15:40
20th 1997   Mark Bett (KEN) 28:22   Nadia Dandolo (ITA) 15:22
21st 1998   Umberto Pusterla (ITA) 28:43   Elisa Rea (ITA) 15:48
22nd 1999   Wilson Kipketer (KEN) 27:38   Sabrina Varrone (ITA) 15:02
23rd 2000   Paul Kosgei (KEN) 28:00.1   Valentina Tauceri (ITA) 15:47.3
24th 2001   Paul Kosgei (KEN) 27:57.3   Merima Denboba (ETH) 15:04.3
25th 2002   David Makori (KEN) 29:58.1   Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 17:29.5
26th 2003   Serhiy Lebid (UKR) 26:44.4   Dorcus Inzikuru (UGA) 5:27.0
27th 2004   Serhiy Lebid (UKR) 29:24.3   Anikó Kálovics (HUN) 19:02.7
28th 2005   Maurizio Leone (ITA) 35:52   Patrizia Tisi (ITA) 27:07
29th 2006   Eliud Kirui (KEN) 28:37.1   Priscah Cherono (KEN) 22:02
30th 2007   Giuliano Battocletti (ITA) 30:44   Renate Rungger (ITA) 27:07
31st 2008   Wilson Kiprop (KEN) 26:11.5   Catherine Kurui (KEN) 19:26.3
32nd 2009   Wilson Kiprop (KEN) 25:25.1   Federica Dal Ri (ITA) 19:17.1
33rd 2010   Lema Abera (ETH) 25:52   Asmerawork Bekele (ETH) 18:37
34th 2011   Thomas Longosiwa (KEN) 26:06.6   Birtukan Fente (ETH) 18:58.4
35th 2012   Kinde Atanau (ETH) 25:27   Afera Godfay (ETH) 19:16
36th 2013   Muktar Edris (ETH) 26:43   Silvia La Barbera (ITA) 22:44
37th 2014   Robert Ndiwa (KEN) 27:00   Linah Cheruto (KEN) 21:40
38th 2015   Andrew Kwemoi (KEN) 27:07   Silvia La Barbera (ITA) 22:48
39th 2016   Rodgers Maiyo (KEN) 26:39   Alemitu Hawi (ETH) 21:35
40th 2017   Robert Ndiwa (KEN) 27:21   Sara Dossena (ITA) 22:24
41st 2018   Telahun Bekele (ETH) 26:58   Norah Jeruto (KEN) 21:05
42nd 2019   Telahun Bekele (ETH) 26:12   Moira Stewartová (CZE) 22:41
43rd 2020   Cesare Maestri (ITA) 28:01   Moira Stewartová (CZE) 18:27
2021 Did not held
44th 2022   Tadese Takele (ETH) 27:08   Klara Lukan (SLO) 17:47
45th 2023   Egide Ntakarutimana (BDI) 27:27   Francine Niyomukunzi (BDI) 17:41
46th 2024   Ibrahim Ezzaydouni (ESP) 27:49   Francine Niyomukunzi (BDI) 17:35

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2011-01-17). Longosiwa and Birtukane take commanding victories in Vallagarina XC. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-28.
  2. ^ a b Civai, Franco (2011-01-17). Cross della Vallagarina. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  3. ^ a b La Nostra Storia Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). U.S. Quercia Rovereto. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  4. ^ Results European Athletics Cross Country Permit Races 2010/11 Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  5. ^ 31st Cross Internazionale della Vallagarina. European Athletics (2008-01-11). Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  6. ^ IL GRANDE CROSS IN VALLAGARINA (in Italian). Genova Press (2011-01-11). Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  7. ^ Percorso Archived 2018-10-30 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). U.S. Quercia Rovereto. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  8. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2009-01-18). Kiprop and Dal Ri the winners in Villa Lagarina Cross Country. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  9. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-01-17). Ethiopian sweep at the Cross della Vallagarina. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  10. ^ Il nuovo programma completo Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). U.S. Quercia Rovereto. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
  11. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2006-01-20). International fields return - Vallagarina Cross Country preview. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.
List of winners
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