Campaccio XC 2026

10 Things I Think About The Campaccio XC 2026

1. €1 Espresso

I think Italy is great, what a great country, a country where coffee isn’t out of control. €1 for an espresso at a café just outside probably the best running park in a city anywhere, Parco Sempione. There was no Trevor to run with this time like I had done before Cinque Mulini, although he was still in Milan, managing a team of Great Islanders and introducing them to the joys of Hotel Poli and The Birra. I should be getting commission at this stage.

2. Straight Down Rain

I think that the rain in Italy is much better than the rain in Ireland. Italian rain comes straight down because there no wind, also because there is no wind it’s not even cold. The weather for the Campaccio weekend was nothing like the almost summery weather we got for Cinque Mulini in November. I was hoping for enough rain to turn the course into a mucky swamp like last year but unfortunately all we got was enough rain to make the course a little mucky and a little soft in places.

3. How Dare You

I think that I was horrified to see M40 on the envelope when I went to collect my number for the race. The Italians do things differently, along with banning juvenile athletes from wearing spikes, age categories are based on the year of birth not the actual date so being born in 1986 makes me M40 already which is terrible as I’m still only 39 and a half. The only good thing is if they let me run this year I still have 5 more years left which is great.

4. Burundian Warm Up

I think that it is worth going to these Gold Label XC races just to see how the real athletes prepare for the race. An hour before the race just as Rhona was getting ready for her race, the Burundian ON athletes were warming up with a most impressive, synchronized skipping routine. I can do the skips but not this type of skipping, this was next level skipping, no wonder they are so much better than us.

5. Zero Craic

I think that the best level of running is my level, the level where things like results and times don’t really matter and it is just from fun. There was very little craic in the warm up pen before we were brought to the start line. I tried talking to the Burundians in the ON kit but I got no response. So I moved on to David Nillson a Swedish runner with Puma who was probably the second oldest man in the race after me albeit with a slightly faster 2:10 marathon time. He was a little bit more responsive than the Burundians, then we were called up to the line for the real craic.

6. Lesson Learned

I think that the most important thing with running these cross country races in Italy is that you have to get out fast at the start otherwise the race is over. I think I learned the lesson a little too well though as after a few 100m in Campaccio I was not far off the top 20 and ahead of my Swedish 2:10 marathon runner friend. This didn’t last long and as soon as we hit the twists, hills and turns of the middle bit of the 2k lap I began to be passed and passed and passed some more until it felt like I was last.

7. Turn Right then Turn Right

I think that I need to remember that the Campaccio course has some unique challenges that other cross country courses don’t have, the middle of the 2k lap is a mixture of almost all right hand turns which is a terrible thing when you have a very bad right ankle like I do. It didn’t seem so bad last year when the course was 95% muck but in this less mucky edition it was proving very difficult, a difficulty that was amplified by my poor choice of footwear in the Dragonfly 2 instead of the Dragonfly XC although it’s almost a course where a trail running shoe would be the best choice.

8. Backwards

I think that it is an awful feeling to be passed by loads of runners. Everyone in Campaccio is really good at running, most of whom are probably doing double threshold and stuff like that, so any mistakes like going out too fast will be punished badly. A lot of people passed me over the first three of the five laps. The only advantage of going out fast was that it seemed very unlikely that I would end up lapped which is my main concern at these races anyway.

9. Francesco Meade

I think that I have done enough of these races now to have some enemies. It took until the second last lap for my enemy from Cinque Mulini, Francesco, to pass me. I had just beaten him back in November so I decided that he was going to be last person that was going to pass me. As I got to the end of my fourth lap I saw the Burundians on the other side of the course heading out on the last lap so I was sure of not being lapped which made me happy.

10. Hot Lemon Tea

I think that the best part of the Campaccio is the hot lemon tea in a special Campaccio mug with the masot on it that you get after finishing the race. I didn’t manage to catch Francesco but I did hold off everyone else by sprinting as hard as I could on the track which makes up the last 300m of the lap. I collected my hot tea said well done to Francesco and walked back over to my shoes where I explained to an women in Italian that her son would be fine with 9mm spikes. Then I went back for a second cup of tea.

Capodanno di Corsa San Giovanni Valdarno 2026

1. 49th Capodanno di Corsa

I think that it is great to do new races, it is also great to do new distances. I’ve always liked the races where it is just whatever the loop around the town is so I was delighted to find a 13.5km race on New Years Day about the same distance from Florence as Mitchelstown is from Cork in a town called San Giovanni Valdarno. The ideal race, no expos, no queues, no sold out 12 months in advance, sign up on the day if you like, perfection.

2. Sub Zero

I think that it has been over 15 years since the last time that I ran a race in sub zero temperatures. That time was the All Ireland XC in Derry when there was a thick layer of snow on the ground for the race. There was no snow in Italy but it was ridiculously cold. Dry cold, cold which is good for running fast but not for standing still.

3. Music Hall

I think that the registration and number collection was very efficient. I had been in contact with the race organisers on Facebook to send them our medical certificates. All we had to do was queue up in the music hall, collect out numbers and the generous goodie bag which contained all my favourites, wine, coffee and pasta. We even got a running singlet all for the very low entry price of €10, yes €10 for a race.

4. Partenza

I think that the start line was very atmospheric. The advantage of having a loop or two loops of the town is that the start line can be in the best spot possible which in this case was the centre of the town in front of the main square framed by a large old building with impressive arches that you only see in Italy. I warmed up by jogging up and down the main street in my Pumas as it was too cold to be changing shoes. A local club seemed to have exactly the same purple and white singlet as my Glanmire A.C top so I exchanged confused salutes with my new clubmates. Before the start we were all huddled together like penguins before being walked up to the start line where the mayor fired the starting pistol to get us underway.

5. The Man in The Van

I think that races with a man in a van are my favourite. This race had a very excellent man in a van, the van drove off in front of us with the man in the van with the boot open videoing and doing commentary on the race. We would occasionally get too close to the van at which point he would shout at the driver to go faster. We followed the van for about 2km until he pulled over to video the rest of the field, before overtaking us and resuming the coverage. I made sure to make my move to the front every time the van appeared as it is the age of social media and it’s important to be seen.

6. YouTube

I think that this must be one of the most well televised races in the world. After entering the race I found the videos of the previous editions on YouTube. Before Covid the race seemed to have a contingent of Kenyan runners who would dominate. This years race was the 49th edition making it the longest running race in the locality. Luckily for me I appeared to be the only foreign athlete on this occasion.

7. Podium

I think that my favourite thing to do on holidays is to get on the podium in a local road race. After the first 5km lap around the town I knew I was in with a great chance as the group at the front had been whittled down to three of us, me and two athletes from a local club with green singlets. I led the race going through the line for the first time as it isn’t too often than you get to lead a race in Italy while running over a red carpet. The second lap was a larger lap of the town to make up a total of 13 km or so. With 3km to go the man in the van was back to see the group further distil down to just me and one of the two green singlets.

8. Sprint

I think that I knew I was in trouble if the race came down to a sprint finish. I have never out sprinted anyone so I decided to try and go from a kilometre out. I picked a point just before a sharp right hand turn into the long finishing straight. Initially I had some success but I knew from the lack of heavy breathing from the pursuing green singlet that it was only a matter of time before I was defeated. Sure enough with 100m to go the afterburners were initiated and I was left to sprint home on the red carpet happy enough in second place four seconds behind the winner.

9. Hot Tea

I think that one of the best things about racing in Italy in winter is that once you cross the finish line they always have hot lemon tea as a post race drink. There is no better post race drink. I think it is just the Lipton stuff warmed up but it is so good in sub zero temperatures. I had a nice cup of hot lemon tea while I discussed the race with the winner who is aiming for a 68 minute half marathon in Florence at the end of the month. I warmed down by running out to Rhona and finishing the race with her. I told her they had the hot tea at the finish to motivate her.

10. Spider Baby

I think that the local organisers were delighted to have an Irish person on the podium. They were very interested in interviewing me. I had learned some Italian sentences quickly from google translate so that I could make some attempt at an interview but they also had an excellent translator who had spent two months working in a hardware shop in Cork. It was great fun and a great way to spend New Years Day. After the interview we had a nice coffee and vegan croissant in the local bar. The Italians know how to organize races to perfection, I suppose after 49 previous editions they have had plenty of practice.

Padova Marathon 2025

10 Things I Think About The Padova Marathon 2025

1. Football Italia

I think that if it wasn’t for watching Football Italia on Network 2 back when I was 10 years old I wouldn’t have been so keen on running the Padova marathon. 1996 was a great year, I was 10 which is probably one of the best numbers to be, Padova were in Serie A and there was the perfect amount of Football on TV not the incessant unfollowable amount there is now. Fast forward to 2025, Serie A is not on RTE, Padova are in Serie C and I prefer running to football.

2. B Here Now

I think that it was fitting that my arrival in Padova coincided with the promotion of Padova from Serie C to Serie B. We arrived on the Friday evening from Venice oblivious to the important football match that was taking place at 4pm. Rhona and I went for a jog around the Prato delle Valle only to have our planned route blocked by a flash mob letting off flares and smoke bombs, we diverted through the city streets where we saw lunatics on scooters and a gravel truck full of jubilant Padovans touring the town celebrating promotion.

3. Training Marathon

I think that aside from football the other reason I wanted to do the Padova marathon is that it is five weeks before the Cork Marathon and I don’t like doing long runs so it was the perfect way to get a good long run in. While Strava stalking I’ve noticed that the new trend with the young fellas who watch YouTubers is 23 mile long runs at about 6 minute mile pace, sure why not just do a marathon at 6 minute mile pace, same thing really plus it would be warm and sunny in Padova just like Cork.

4. Trams and Buses

I think that Padova is very similar to Cork, it has a very old university, a population of about 250,000 and a boom and bust football club. Unlike Cork it has a nice new tram system which we used to get to the Marathon Expo which was very like a big marathon Expo with lots of stalls. It was very straightforward to pick up the bibs and nice t-shirts although they did look for Rhona’s medical certificate again which was fine as I had it on the phone. There were doctor clowns for Billy so a very good expo.

5. Logistics

I think that it is very important when you are doing marathons abroad to look up the logistics of the event. Unfortunately I got a bit distracted before Padova and hadn’t a clue where the race started, all I looked up was the finish so that I could book accommodation by the finish. At the Expo I discovered that the marathon started at the Padova Football ground which is sort of like if they built the Bertie Bowl but maybe say in Curraheen, to complicate matters Rhona was doing the half which started in Abano Terme about 13 miles away. Luckily we had a car and the football stadium had a huge solar panel covered parking lot so we could park there and then there was a bus to take Rhona to the start of the half. It all made sense when we got there and was exceptionally well organized which is the great thing about Italian races.

6. Il Canto degli Italiani

I think that if there is one thing that we should do at races here that they do in Italy is that we should start playing the national anthem before race starts. The marathon started on the road outside the parking lot for the stadium. There were two or three elite men and women introduced. Then we had a minutes silence for Papa Francesco followed by the Italian National anthem. Then we were underway on a road not too dissimilar to if you started the Cork marathon in the car park of the Grehound stadium at Curraheen.

7. Tranquillo

I think that I will do more marathons like I did Padova. It was great not to have the pressure of holding some silly pace for a sub 2:30 marathon that no one cares about except yourself and your huge ego. I was aiming for somewhere between 2:38 and 2:44 depending on the weather so I started at about 6:05 minute mile pace and eventually after about 5 miles found myself in a nice group with the lead Italian lady, her male pacer and most likely her coach on a bike. The race route was mostly on country roads with nice green fields, there were no hills, there was no wind and it was a little warm and sunny.

8. Bravo! Brava! Bravi!

I think that the training marathon plan went excellently until about halfway. I went through halfway with my group in exactly 1:20. I wore the AlphaFly 3 because while they are not very fast they are by far the shoe that results in the least post-race badness which was my main concern. I continued to bounce along with my group listening to the bravas for the lady and the bravis for myself and the pacer. It was all good until we ran into the back of the half marathon at around 16 miles, there was a slight headwind and I found myself getting distanced from the bravas and having to make do with bravo.

9. Nuns, Run

I think that the support on the route was great, there were crowds out in every little town we ran through with water stops with bottles every 5km. Padova is a very religious place with the Church of St Anthony in the last kilometer of the race route so it was no surprise to see lots of nuns out of the course supporting the runners. The last two miles of the race were almost entirely on cobbled streets with spectacular architecture everywhere if you weren’t too tired to look around. I seemed to be very good at the cobbles so I caught back up to my initial group for the finish and an encore of the bravis that I had become used to.

10. Sister Event

I think that the finish of the race on the Prato that had been blocked by the Padova supporters on the Friday evening was very nice. There was a big gantry like in an big city marathon and a huge crowd out watching in the sunshine. I ended up finishing in 18th position and 3rd moderately old man. There was even a prize for the third moderately old man but I didn’t get it because I forgot to look up the details of the prizegiving assuming that I wouldn’t be anywhere near a prize. So if you like the Cork marathon, the Padova marathon is basically the sister event, very similar but with added nuns and Italian flair. I’d recommend it.

How to Get There:

Fly from Cork to Venice Marco Polo with Ryanair, 45 minutes from the airport to Padova.

Rented a car from Sicily by Car.

Parked at the Parcheggio Prato della Valle, parking was a bit hectic during the day but loads of places at night. It was €15 for 24 hours.

Where to Stay:

We stayed at the Padova Suites C20. The room had a fabulous view of St Anthony’s Church. Our room didn’t have a kitchen which would have been handy but the beds were wonderful and it had blackout blinds. There was a nice cafe downstairs.

Where to Eat:

Pizzeria Al Borgo had wonderful pizza just across the road from the accommodation.

Campaccio XC 2025

10 Things I Think About The 68th Campaccio XC 2025

1. Italian Races

I think that Italy might be my favourite place not in Ireland for doing races. They really do races excellently. Everything is wonderful, the registration is cheap, €12 for an international cross-country race, the courses are imaginative, and the races are packed with elite athletes and lots of “sub elite” Italian fellas like me who like running. They even have squirrel dragons as race mascots.

2. Capital of Cross Country

I think that Legnano might have the two best cross country races in the world. It is a very small place to have both the Cinque Mulini and the Campaccio races. We stayed at the same hotel as we did for Cinque Mulini, Hotel Poli because it was excellent and near the squirrel park for Billy. All of the elite athletes also stay in the hotel so you get to see how they get treated and how early they leave for the race, 12:30 for a 2:30 start which is approximately an hour earlier than me.

3. Irish Weather in Italy

I think that it was great for the race to be held in conditions so wet and cold that it was almost like being in Ireland. The only thing that was missing from an Irish race was wind, there was absolutely no wind, but the thick continuous wet rain that we get at home was there along with 4 to 5 degree temperatures. Perfect for cross country and slowing down the track runners.

4. Rhona Recce

I think it was great that Rhona’s race was on earlier in the day so that I could get an idea of what sort of spikes would be needed. Rhona ran in Dragonflys with 6mm spikes which she said were fine but with the continuous rain I was pretty sure that 9mm would be perfect by 2:35pm by which time a lot of rain and a lot of races would have torn up the course.

5. If Only I Had 9mm Spikes

I think that I was lucky that the box of spikes that said 9mm actually had 12mm spikes in it. I am slightly obsessed about spikes as they are very important. I was slightly worried that the Italians wouldn’t allow me run with 12mm spikes as some of the course was on the track so I got to the call area very early so that I would have time to change the spikes if a man deemed them too long. Luckily no one looked at my spikes so I had to stand in the call area for about 10 minutes waiting for everyone else to finish their elaborate technical warmups. I asked one of the On sponsored Burundian runners what spikes he had, he said 9mm which was probably the safest option given the sections on the track.

6. Penguins

I think that I should have gone further up towards the front of the start line. I was very cold after standing around in the call area so it was nice to be bunched together on the startline like a bunch of penguins sheltering from the cold. I was a bit worried about falling so I took it handy off the start which was a big mistake as the course was quite narrow so I ended up miles back after a few 100m.

7. 93rd

I think that I did well to recover from my slow start. The race was televised live on RAI as Italians don’t have GAA so this is the equivalent of the National League GAA matches. According to the TV coverage I was 93rd after the first of the ten kilometres which was quite near the back. It took me a while to figure out the twisty turny up and down course but after a lap I had it figured out and I started to make progress.

8. Habemus Grip

I think that it was only after a lap that I realised that all of the Italian runners had the wrong length spikes on. It was like in a Formula 1 race where one driver has wet tires on and everyone else has slicks. Any bit of muck and I would fly by the Italian fellas slipping and sliding while I was nailed to the ground in my 12mm spikes. It was great fun, I was passing what felt like the whole field, although when you are 93rd after a kilometre there are a lot of people to pass.

9. Fanclub

I think that it was great to have my own fanclub on the course. A group of Italians who were standing with Billy and Rhona started cheering for me every time I went passed which was a lot of times as the course looped back on itself a lot. I think they thought I was called Dada not Donal because of Billy but sure what harm.

10. Pointless

I think that I did very well to get from 93rd to 53rd by the end of the race. I was actually in 52nd just before the line but an Italian destroyed me in a sprint so I lost one of my hard earned places. I didn’t get lapped which was great but I didn’t get on the TV as much as I would have liked as they were doing the podium when I finished 5 minutes behind the Ethiopian winner Bekele. In addition to the nice cup of warm sweet tea in a branded squirrel dragon cup I also collected some world ranking points which have now put me 299th in the world athletics cross country rankings which is utterly pointless but for some reason makes me very happy.