Strabologna is an event organized by UISP that is supposed to promote getting up off the couch, going outside, and moving your body whether that's walking or running. It isn't competitive, but instead an event just for fun. This year they were raising awareness of diabetes.
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| Strabologna Mascot |
It's an all weekend event with a photo treasure hunt on Saturday and on Sunday the choice of a 3.8 km (2.4 miles) course, a 6.8 km (4.2 miles) course or the longest one 11.5 km (7 miles). I decided that I would walk the 6.8 km course since I'm not a runner and I've already been walking about 5 km in the gardens on the south end of Bologna.
I went with my friend, Giulia, who also decided to walk the 6.8 km course. The "race" beings in Piazza Maggiore and you go all around town weaving in and out of the narrow old streets. I had read that this year they had a record number of people sign up. Which was easy to see from how packed the piazza was.
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| 6.8 km course |
However, to start the "race", someone had the great idea to start with kids, disabled people, and the walkers and have the runners go last. Of course doing so there was a big human traffic jam. It felt like we were cows being herded through the beginning part of the track with barriers on either side. When we finally broke through the barriers and got into the open streets Giulia and I decided to run so we could get beyond the massive crowd of people.
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| Barbara, Luca, Me, Giulia |
It was actually quite funny seeing people jumping overs chains, zig-zagging from under the porticoes, around other people, hopping posts and whatever obstacles there were because you simply couldn't walk or run normally.
In the end, Giulia and I felt pretty good about the running so we set a goal of running the short course, and walking from 3.8- to 6.8 kilometers. We successfully met our goal and at the end we sprinted the last bit.
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