A day of celebration, full of sport and fun, like we haven’t seen for a long time. The Notturna di San Giovanni, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary yesterday, preserves the spirit of a boy. Or rather than all those middle school kids who have been warming up their engines since the afternoon by competing in Piazza della Libertà under the aegis of Atletica Endas to hunt for the title of ‘fastest Cesenate’. While they ran along a 30 meter straight line, using all the energy that belongs to teenagers, others walked. The reference is to all those who have decided to cover the shortened three kilometer route in the company of a tourist guide.
In any case, the key moment arrived as usual at 8pm, when the actual race began: 10 kilometers and 800 meters of adrenaline, with the route developing between the heart of the city and the first hills, offering postcard views and decidedly challenging sections, one above all the ‘tremendous’ Ridolfi climb, which from the Rio Marano area leads to Celincordia.
At the event which is worth half a century of history, many athletes showed up, so much so that the sensors on the starting platform recorded 461 competitive runners (the registered runners had reached 500, reaching the maximum number foreseen), to which were added approximately 2,000 non-competitive people, who organized themselves independently, even anticipating the start.
Regarding the competitive race and the medals up for grabs, among the men the winner was Lorenzo D’Altri who in 34 minutes and 57 seconds preceded Giovanni Bianco who recorded a time of 35′ and 27” and Nicholas De Nicolò who arrived at 35′ and 47”.
In the women’s field, yet another success for Martina Facciani, first with a time of 40′ and 35”, ahead of Nausica Barberini Magnani (41′ 56”) and Valentina Landuzzi (42′ 49”).
Luca Ravaglia
