The Cross della Vallagarina is an annual

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

competition that is held in mid-January in

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The competition derives its name from the

Vallagarina Lagarina Valley (, ) is a valley in northern Italy, used to define the lower mountain course of the Adige River. It is mostly included in the province of Trentino, with the lower section being part of the province of Verona. The largest town is ...

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. 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.Civai, Franco (2011-01-17)
Cross della Vallagarina

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.La Nostra Storia
. U.S. Quercia Rovereto. Retrieved on 2011-01-25. The Cross della Vallagarina is part of the

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for Sport of athletics, athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. E ...

permit meeting series, and has also previously been part of the Italian national circuit. It hosted the Italian Cross Country Championships in 2005 and 2007. The race is organised by the local

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

''U.S. Quercia Rovereto'', which also hosts the city's annual

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

meeting ( Palio Città della Quercia) and Giro Podistico di Rovereto road race. 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. 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. In addition to the elite level races, there are also several races for

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors prov ...

ners and amateurs, ranging from youth competitions to races for

masters athletes Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. C ...

. Past winners of the event include some of Italy's most successful runners, including Olympic marathon champion

Gelindo Bordin Gelindo Bordin (born 2 April 1959) is an Italian former Long Distance Runner, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the first Italian to have won an Olympic gold in the marathon and the only male to win both the Boston M ...

, 1987 World Champion

Francesco Panetta Francesco Panetta (born 10 January 1963 in Siderno) is a former Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of th ...

, Gabriella Dorio (Olympic gold medallist in the 1500 m) and two-time 5000 m global medallist

Roberta Brunet Roberta Brunet (born 20 May 1965 in Aosta) is a former middle distance runner from Italy Biography Roberta Brunet won four medals, at individual level, at the International athletics competitions. She participated at four editions of the Summer O ...

. Foreign winners of the event include multiple European Cross champion Serhiy Lebid, world

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champions Wilson Boit Kipketer and Dorcus Inzikuru, and World Half Marathon champion

Wilson Kiprop Wilson Kiprop (born 14 April 1987 in Soi, Uasin Gishu District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specialises in the 10,000 metres and half marathon. He was the world champion at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2010 and was th ...

.Sampaolo, Diego (2006-01-20)
International fields return - Vallagarina Cross Country preview

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.

Past senior race winners

Key:

References

;List of winners *Civai, Franco (2011-01-17)
Cross della Vallagarina

. Retrieved on 2011-01-25.

External links

Official website
{{EAA Cross Country Meetings Cross country running competitions Athletics competitions in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 1978 Sport in Trentino Cross country running in Italy Annual sporting events in Italy 1978 establishments in Italy Winter in Italy __NOTOC__

Past senior race winners

See also

References

External links