… and that was just the warmup race – we haven’t even got to the main event. This morning we had to navigate our way to the event centre, on the other side of the main Venice tourist islands.  So glad we have that map from Ian G.  Then we joined the chaos of registration Italian style.   Some time later we’d secured our race numbers for today and tomorrow, and purchased t-shirts (we’ll show them off at streetO).  Then home for a rest, lunch and preparation.

Race time for us was around 2.30-2.45pm, which was among the last starters (remember we asked for “tardi” starts rather than “presto”, a decision we may regret tomorrow as the streets will be much busier at lunchtime than the first starters at 9.30am).  There were 3 mens and 3 womens courses – medium, short, and junior, with about 60-70 competitors in each class.  The mens course was 5.2 km, the womens was 4.5 km.  We had only 13 and 11 controls respectively, so it was not sprint style racing, more like streetO.  The map scale was 1:5000 and it was very readable.

Out of the start, straight along the waterfront across a bridge – the first of many – and the first route choice.  Control 1 was a long way away and the options were many, but of course you had to look for places to cross the canals when planning each leg.  I chose a small street that led to a square, dodging people, stalls and outdoor cafes.  Left down another street and over a bridge, straight north, sight my no 10 for reassurance, bridge crossing, zig zag through more streets, across another square, into a small courtyard and there it was.  No 2 was a short straightforward leg, just to set you up for no 3, which was way over the other side of the Rialto Bridge.  The Venice street map is unique in that they map the busy streets in brown and the others in white.  The area around the Rialto Bridge is one of the most trafficked, but it was unavoidable.  “Scusi, scusi” I kept saying as I dodged and weaved, muttering “bloody tourists” under my breath.  Crossed the bridge and ducked straight into side streets to keep off the brown roads.  Found 3, then a straight run back to the Rialto Market beside the Grand Canal for 4.  Followed the canal back to the bridge – so many steps!  Bemused onlookers cheered as we pushed past.

No 5 was across a couple of courtyards, I thought I was running right through a restaurant but the map said its ok so I pressed on.  The route to 6 required more shoving for the first part, then into a distinctive square with a large statue.  The squares are easy to pick, the shapes match the map perfectly and features like statues, trees and water wells are mapped.  The route to 7 was straightforward but 8 required some careful thought as there was a largish canal with only 2 crossings.  I missed the turnoff to the first one and ended up going a bit far north, but it didn’t  make a lot of difference.  Fatigue was setting in and I was losing my focus, distracted by the crowds.  The rule here is never to move unless you know exactly where you are and where you’re heading – you can’t “wing it and hope”.  9 was easy but it was another long run to 10, with lots of choices and lots of bridges.  The final leg was easy – keep going south to the waterfront, sprint along to the start, scramble over the final two bridges, sharp left and there you are.  Ian was cheering “go team Australia!”  Fifty two minutes, no idea of distance (considerably more than 4.5 km) and I finished with plenty of names under mine.  Ian came 52nd from about 135 starters in open mens and was happy with a very clean run, 38:20 for “5.2” km (probably around 7km if you could get a Garmin to work in Venice).  As you might have seen on TV, when the streets flood from high tides, the locals put out chains of raised boardwalks about half a metre high.  In a couple of places these were still sitting on the pathway so Ian leapt on them to race past bemused tourists, leaping off the boardwalks into the packed crowds like he was in a movie chase scene.