The new Italian champion of the category, registered with Atletica Valdobbiadene, amazed everyone
THE CHARACTER
He had to wait at least forty years to wear the tricolor jersey. In fact, his adventure in athletics began about fifty years ago, when the parish priest of Refrontolo passed him the baton as “coach” of the boys who frequented the oratory. It was then that he actually started training too, following and running with those young people. On Saturday in Pieve, Mario Lorenzon, 86 years old from Solighetto under Atletica Valdobbiadene, who won his first Italian title, master category 85, in the 5 km road. Two children, Gianni and Daniele from his wife Augusta who died 15 years ago, two grandchildren (a great-grandson at the end of the year). In his palmarés also two tricolor bronzes and silver to the European cross masters.
Mario, do you have a secret?
«No smoke, I don’t eat fat, I don’t drink. I have regular hours, I have dinner by 6 pm and a couple of hours later I’m already in bed ».
And then, of course, he trains.
«Eh, once, when I was younger I always ran, at every exit. Now, during the session I run for a while, then I stop to do some exercises, then I resume. After all, as we age we do not recover as before and we need to measure our strength even in training, not only in competitions ».
How did you approach athletics, the world of competitions?
«I started running about fifty years ago. It was just a coincidence. In the sense that it was the parish priest of Refrontolo who got me involved: in the oratory he trained a group of kids, including my 12-year-old son. When they transferred him, he “handed” these guys to me and so I started training them twice a week. Then every Sunday I took them to do the country. And eventually I started racing with them and then I decided to try racing. But I was already 39. And in those days, there were still no amateur categories. In fact, in a cross race I even found myself competing with Venanzio Ortis, the European champion ».
Then he never stopped and today he wins as well.
«Actually I raced for the next 20 years, then at 60 I had groin pain, so I started cycling, both on the road and on a mountain bike, participating in the granfondo. But it was and is dangerous to ride a bike. I tried to get back to athletics: I’ve been back racing for 15 years ».
After so many victories, there is his first tricolor jersey.
«To be honest, I’m not too happy with my performance, in terms of timing. Saturday was so hot, I suffered, I was unable to run as usual. I was several minutes slower than my tests over the same distance. The race that I remember with the most satisfaction is the one that allowed me to put the silver medal around my neck at the European Championships in Caorle, there I didn’t even think about getting on the podium, but I managed to give my best ».
Why is running special?
«It is a wonderful sport, which makes you savor the landscapes, the places. I love natural running, in the woods, on trails, in the mountains and when I was younger with my children between Marmolada, Giau, Pelmo, we used to go on it was a pleasure. But running is beautiful and makes you feel good and healthy ». –