Danilo, Ten Times 100 Kilometers as if It Was a Walk in the Park

EMPLOYED AT THE UNIVERSITY'S HUMAN RESOURCES, DANILO MACCHI, BETWEEN NEXT SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, WANTS TO END HIS TENTH 100 KILOMETERS RUN. HE TRAINS IN LUNCH BREAKS AND ON WEEKENDS, AND EVERY TIME HE CUTS THE FINISH HE MAKES A PROMISE THAT HE NEVER KEEPS

Many of us do not run 100 kilometers in a lifetime. Between Saturday and Sunday, Danilo Macchi will run them ("touching wood") in about 13 hours, completing for the tenth time the Passatore, the most popular 100 km run of Italy, which departs on Saturday afternoon from Florence, climbs up the Apennines and ends the next day in Faenza, after a very long descent.
 
The ultramarathon runner, who works at the Bocconi Human Resources Department, is 54 years old and started running only in 2000. "I was born in a mill surrounded by greenery in a hamlet around Caravaggio," he says, "and physical activity has always been part of my world. As children we used to run around the fields, eat cherries from the trees and drink water from karst springs. Over the years, I have tried many sports, from football to karate, from tennis to swimming, which I loved and which also gave me some satisfaction in terms of results". A sudden and strong allergy to chlorine, however, forced him to stop and a friend's encouragement led him to try, in 2000, a country run. "The first time I ran 6 kilometers," he remembers, "and the sense of well-being, the contact with nature and the first results prompted me to quickly increase the mileage."
 
Improvements must have been remarkable if, in 2004, Macchi was at the Mediterranean Supermarathon in Palermo, the 50 km European championship, and ranked 24th. The following year he concluded his first Passatore, swearing that he would never repeat such an experience. "I had taken too much for granted. Apart from the fatigue, I expected, for example, that the streets would be all illuminated, and instead I found myself in the Tuscan Appennine in the middle of the night, surrounded by darkness and the cries of the animals".
 
"I always repeat the same ‘never again’ promise", Danilo continues, "but the following year I always find myself at the start and today I enjoy the experience much more than a few years ago when I considered the time more important"(his best time was 11h29m in 2008). The 100km is not a race against other competitors, but a shared experience. "You talk, you eat, if someone gets hurt, you wait for assistance with them. It’s a sort of community, so you stay in touch via Facebook with people you ran with along the way".
 
Concluding a 100 km requires serious workout. From February until the eve of the Passatore, Danilo runs 100 kilometers a week - ten a day, Monday to Friday, during lunch breaks, and fifty more divided between Saturday and Sunday, as needed. "It is the minimum required if you want to finish without suffering", he explains, "and I do not go any further because otherwise this passion would upset family life". In the training period he doesn’t follow particular nutritional plans, but such activity needs to be adequately supported, "and then", he clarifies, "I simply eat double, starting with three rolls with jam for breakfast".
 
Sometimes, however, something goes wrong and, in addition to the nine finishes, Macchi's record also includes two withdrawals, one time halfway through because of muscle problems, another time 65 kilometers into the run after stomach problems. "After the last withdrawal, an eighty-year-old with dozens of ultramarathons under his belt gently rebuked me. Staying tough, he said, I could have finished the race. Perhaps he was right and, in any case, we became friends. Saturday I hope to meet him again. "
 
One year Macchi missed the run as a consequence of an ankle surgery – an injury he got playing football and made worse by running a few thousands of kilometres... Many would have stopped, but Macchi continues to run, "because it makes me feel good, relaxes me by breaking my workday in two, keeps me in touch with nature and keeps me from gaining weight". And, you’re tempted to think listening to him, it's as easy as a walk in the park.

by Fabio Todesco