Reigning European under-23 cross-country champion is set to tackle a rollercoaster course that passes through a museum on the outskirts on Turin
La Mandria Park sits in the shadow of the Alps and on the north-west outskirts of Turin. On Sunday the venue will play host to the European Cross Country Championships and the organisers have devised a course that is both challenging and imaginative.
Recent rain means the turf in this Piemonte region of Italy will be heavy going. Athletes will also have to navigate sharp climbs and descents on a twisty, spectator-friendly course. The most interesting section, though, is a short passage of less than 100 metres which passes through an historic building. It is reminiscent of Italy’s famous Cinque Mulini or ‘five mills’ race and, as the competitors glide over the artificial grass, they will run past Italian paintings, artifacts such as replica horse and carriages – and even a snooker table.
It is a far cry from the course that staged the 1997 World Cross Country Championships in Turin. On that occasion the event was held in the Parco del Valentino on the other side of the city and after a two-month drought World Athletics paid an estimated $500,000 to lay down new turf with staff also working around the clock to fill in dangerous potholes.
This weekend’s European Championships is the fourth time the event has been held in Spain following Ferrara in 1998, San Giorgio su Legnano in 2006 and Chia in 2016. The course at La Mandria is set up for a tremendous day of racing with all six reigning champions from Dublin 12 months ago set to return to defend their crowns.
One of these is Charles Hicks, who stormed to victory in the men’s under-23 race last year. The US-based Briton, who is now 21, says he considered racing the senior men’s event in Turin but decided to defend his age-group title and he arrives in Italy in tremendous form after winning the prestigious NCAA cross-country title in Oklahoma three weeks ago.
Charles Hicks (Mark Shearman)
“The focus has been to get as much rest and recovery as possible in the past three weeks,” he says. “I’ve tried to relax and concentrate on the little things and keep my season rolling.”
Hicks was speaking shortly after jogging around the course in La Mandria Park and had plenty of mud on his shoes to prove it. “It’s definitely going to be a tactical endeavour,” he says on the route. “Some courses run themselves. Some need some thinking through….
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