From Ken:
Hello fellow runners,
I've been reading all the reports of your activities & applaud you all for your efforts. I've been training regularly, usually every 3 days. I've changed my routine of late & run 8km, then 10km, then 12km which usually gets me about 100km a month, Yah, I realize there's some of you "Ultras" do this in one race.
I've been in 4 competitive races & one social run. Hopefully will include a few pics. My first in Floridia, a Strada 10km which I came 2nd in 1.10.33 which I was very happy with, as there was a temp. reading at a pharmacy sign that said 27 C. & yes, there was more than 2 people in my age group ( 80 - 84 ).
Next race, Oct. 23rd was at Augusta also a Strada run in which I also came 2nd. Next was the Catania marathon, Dec. 11th, which has a Half & half of a Half ( 10.5 ) which I ran & came 3rd. It took us through some of the historic places & monuments in the city, Piazza Duomo, Bellinni theatre, a beautiful fountain much to the disapproval of a lot of drivers as the streets were closed for our safety.
The next race Dec. 18th was in Avola, famous for it's almonds & also a famous wine called Nero D' Avola, which has an interesting story behind it, maybe to be told at one of our meetings in Sooke. This race started at Piazza Umberto & we ran about 1km to the outskirts of town where we picked up a medical & police escort, from there it was 7.5km uphill with switchbacks until we got to Cava Grande on top of one of the Iblean mountains. This was one of the hardest runs I've done. I came in 1st of 2, there was one other runner in the age category above us, Bravo to him.
This is getting a little long winded, so will close for now. Stay hungry, Stay foolish,
Ken Pungente
P.S. A lot of these races or monitored by a company called TDS ( Timing Data Services ) & can be found on-line for results, videos & photos, also the club who sponsors the race will have videos & photos on their website. My club here Pachino Running can be found on WhatsApp for videos & photos.
