Italy’s Giorgio Calcaterra has a couple IAU 100k World Championships wins to his name, but fared poorly at last year’s event. This year he was patient, working his way up through the race to take the bronze. In the following interview, Giorgio talks about how his race went this year, what happened during last year’s race, and what it means to have ultramarathon experience.
For the rest of the story of Saturday’s race, read our 2015 IAU 100k World Championships results article.
[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]
Giorgio Calcaterra Post-2015 IAU 100k World Championships Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Giorgio Calcaterra after his third place at the 2015 IAU 100k World Championships. Congratulations.
Giorgio Calcaterra: Thank you.
iRunFar: You have a couple world championships, but last year you came to Doha and had a hard race. Were you very pleased to come here and take third?
Calcaterra: Last year, I had some problems, but I finished the competition. This year, it was not so happy for me, because I did the second part of the race slower than the first, but I tried and did my best and I finished in the third place. I’m very happy.
iRunFar: You may have slowed down during the race, but you moved up the rankings through the day.
Calcaterra: Yes, not because of me but the others went more slower than me and someone stopped.
iRunFar: Do you think your experience helped you, even though you slowed down, to improve? Is having so much 100k experience very helpful?
Calcaterra: Yes, in this competition experience is very important. I will take this experience for me and use it for other ones.
iRunFar: Last year you did have a tough race, you finished back in the rankings, but it said a lot. You’d won the race many times, but you kept going last year. Why? What made you want to keep going?
Calcaterra: Last year, my goal was to do 100k, so for me, there was no deviation—100k. Even if it’s 8:30, there are a lot of people that don’t get 8:30.
iRunFar: A lot of people out on the course knew who you were, and they were still cheering for you to finish.
Calcaterra: Yes, the support of people helps me very much to go on and finish the race.
iRunFar: Do you have any more races for this year?
Calcaterra: Yes, I like running. It’s life. I plan a lot of races because for me, it’s a very happy moment.
iRunFar: Do you think your life will bring you back to the world championships next year?
Calcaterra: Yes, if physically I will be well and if I will be called again to take part.
iRunFar: You’re not the youngest runner. How do you keep running so fast as you get older?
Calcaterra: Thank you. I always run and never stop. I’ve run for 33 years and think to run a lot in the future.
iRunFar: And you still love it. You can tell.
Calcaterra: Yes.
iRunFar: Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you.
Calcaterra: Thank you.
