Newsletter Toro 2007 Official bulletin of the 14th SPAR European Cross Country Championships # 01-16th OCTOBER 2007 SUMMARY CONTENTS 30 countries to take part in Toro.page 1 Monte La Reina gets ready...page 2 Interview with Mo Farah...page 4 PUBLISHED BY Organising Committee Toro 2007 COORDINATION Marco Alonso Ignacio Mansilla 30 countries to take part in Toro The countdown is finishing and in less than two months Toro will be the European capital of cross country running with the celebration of the 14th edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships next 9th December in Monte La Reina Course. Past September were closed the preliminary entries for this competition and 30 European countries confirmed their presence in Toro. It has been announced the participation in Monte La Reina of Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bonia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey and Ukraine. The number of athletes participating will be around 450 among the six races to celebrate: Senior, Under23 and Junior, both men and women. These figures are very close to the participation record of SENIOR UNDER-23 JUNIOR M W M W M W AND 5 0 0 0 0 0 AUT 3 1 0 0 0 0 BEL 4 4 3 3 3 3 BIH 0 1 0 0 0 0 BLR 0 0 2 1 1 0 BUL 0 0 0 0 2 0 CRO 0 0 0 0 1 1 CZE 1 3 1 1 1 1 DEN 1 1 1 1 0 0 ESP 6 6 6 6 6 6 EST 0 0 2 1 0 0 FIN 1 4 4 0 1 2 FRA 6 6 6 6 6 6 GBR 6 6 6 6 6 6 GER 1 1 5 5 6 6 the Championships, that was settled in the edition held in Malmö 2000 with 31 countries, while past year in San Giorgio su Legnano 468 athletes took part. These preliminary entries Preliminary entries (Countries) must be confirmed in the final entries next 29th November. After this date we will know the names of the athletes that will be in the starting lane of this competition. SENIOR UNDER-23 JUNIOR M W M W M W HUN 0 5 5 0 1 0 IRL 6 6 6 6 6 6 ITA 6 6 6 6 6 6 NED 1 0 1 5 1 1 NOR 0 0 0 1 5 5 POL 0 0 5 5 5 5 POR 6 6 5 5 5 5 ROM 0 0 0 5 5 5 RUS 0 1 5 5 5 5 SLO 1 1 1 1 4 4 SRB 0 2 1 1 0 1 SUI 1 1 2 2 2 2 SWE 6 2 0 0 1 1 TUR 0 4 5 0 5 5 UKR 4 4 0 0 4 4 60 71 78 72 88 86 1
Monte La Reina gets ready Do you know that? Recently Toro has held one of his most important festivities: The Grape Harvestess Festivity. This festival has a very long tradition in the city and its origin is in the need of make spontaneous celebrations that were celebrated every year official to coincide with the grape harvest season. Two of the most important events were the Medieval Market and the Traditional Carriage Parade. The public Library of Zamora will celebrate the 400 years of opera birth with a program that will extend during October and November and that will include ten sessions in which history of this musical genre will be reviewed. The shows will start on 16th October with a special session dedicated to what is considered the first opera in history: L Orfeo. Between 12th and 14th of October it was celebrated in the Feria of Zamora, IFEZA, the 4th edition of the Hispano-Portuguese Feria of Ecological Products, Ecocultura, focused on the promotion of ecological agriculture and ranching. The exhibition was inaugurated by the President of Zamora Local Government, Fernando Martínez Maillo, and by Zamora s Major, Rosa Valdeón, and counted on the participation of fifteen Spanish Regions and seven countries. The main goals of this Feria are to improve the ecological products distribution channels and to turn into the most important Feria of this sector. Next 9th December all the looks will be directed to Monte La Reina Course in which we will see the best European cross country runners in action. This place is located 11km from Toro and 22 from the province s capital, Zamora and it s close to the Duero River. It covers an area of more than 200 hectares and is one of the stand-out spots of Zamora province. It was a private property since the Spanish Ministry of Defence bought it and converted it from 1942 to 1972 in a military camp for Universitary Militias. After this it was used for different practises and military activities. Since the property was given to Toro s municipality, it has been used for recreation and sports activities, including the different editions of the Castilla y León Cross Country Championships and the Spanish Championships by Clubs in February 1998 and the individual ones in February 2005. During last months Monte La Reina Course has registered an intensive activity in order to get ready for the continental competition. During last September the Course was totally cleaned, the grass was cut and the different buildings of the complex started being rebuilt to become the different working centres for the competition. In detail, the buildings located in the entrance of the complex will be used as Acredittation Centre and Meeting and Organisation rooms while the one called Colonel House will be used as the Media Centre Monte La Reina Course during the Spanish Championships in 2005. during the competition. In addition, during these months all members of the Executive Committee have visited the course in their different working meetings and also some representatives of European Athletics and TVE (Host Broadcaster) have made some working visits to Monte La Reina. Past 12th April representatives of TVE visited the course accompanied by some The Executive Committee in one of their meetings in Monte La Reina. 2
In September European Athletics Media, Marketing and TV responsables visited Monte La Reina Course where they met with members of the Executive Committee and Spanish Television (TVE). members of the Executive Committee to plan and coordinate the technical needs for the broadcasting of the event. After this, on 8th June it was the turn of European Athletics technical parters: Mediasprint, Wige Data, Seiko and Winning Time, along with the technical delegate, Janez Aljancic, who were speaking about the timing procedures and the results procedures and some of the different logistic aspects of the competition. The visits agenda continued on 14th September with the trip of European Athletics Media, Marketing and TV responsibles who met with the responsibles of those areas in the Executive Committee. In the working agenda were subjects like media assistance, venue decoration, promotion and TV coverage of the event. The works will continue in Monte La Reina during next weeks with the goal that everything is ready next 9th December. Among the works to be done will be the rebuilding of other facilities of the complex, clear the vegetation, grass cutting, course marking and parking areas. In addition to all these works, Monte La Reina will continue being the centre of the different coordination meetings of the Executive Committee and will hold some promotional acts during the next weeks. Toro s landmarks Santa María La Mayor Colegiata Undoubtedly, the most important symbol of Toro is its chuch-colegiata, decidated to Santa María La Mayor, in the same style that the Salamanca s Old Cathedral and Zamora s Cathedral. It is included in the group called as Cimborrios del Duero. The works were developed in two periods. In the first the lateral facades, the walls and the lines were constructed and in the second the roof and a dome with two towers were made. The Santa María La Mayor Colegiata counts on three naves and a crossing that finishes in an impressive dome. The Central Apse is the most decorated one, with series of arches and ornamented spaces. One of its symbols is the northern facade with archivolts decorated with vegetal and religious motives. In this facade Christ as the Justice Judge along with 24 elderly men can be seen. Other elements in the Colegiata to be underlined are its Sacristy with a little Museum with art works or the Majesty Facade. In addition inside the building we can find an image of the Virgin pregnant, that dates from 12th Century. The building is conserved in a magnificent condition and is protected by the Decree of 22nd April 1949 and after this by the Law 16/1985 of Spanish Historical Patrimony. 3
Interview with: Mohamed Farah: My goal is to repeat my gold in Toro By Oliver Divljak Our protagonist will be the main referent in the senior s men event in Toro. After his gold in the European Championships held last year in San Giorgio su Legnano, this English long distance runner, 24 years old, will be one of the favourites of this year s edition. We have to take into consideration that he was the first European in the World Champioships held in Mombasa past 24th March with the 11th place. - Last year you had the first major success of your career when you won the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in San Giorgio. How important was that for you and how did it feel to end a successful year with such an important victory? - I was delighted with my win at the Europeans. It capped a really good year for me. After winning the silver medal in Gothenburg, and coming so close to the victory, it was important to win the gold in San Giorgio. - With just one lap to go you were disputing the lead along with Juan Carlos de la Ossa. Were you expecting to win at that stage? - I thought it might come down to a sprint finish again but I felt good and when I found myself at the front I pushed the pace and was able to drop them. My previous training and competitions had gone well before the race so I knew I was in very good shape. - A few months earlier you were silver medallist in British Mohamed Farah wining in last year s edition held in San Giorgio su Legnano. Gothenburg in the 5.000m behind Jesús España in a thrilling final straight. What do you remember of that particular race? - I think the pictures of us crossing the finish tell a thousand words. It was neck and Mohamed Farah Born on 13th March 1983 in Somalia. 1,75m/65kg. Most important achievements: - European Cross Country Champion in San Giorgio 2006. - 2nd in 5.000m in the European Championships Göteborg 2006. - 6th in the World Championships in 5.000 metres in Osaka 2007. Performances: - 1.500m: 3:38.02 (06) - 3.000m: 7:38.15 (06) - 5.000m: 13:07.00 (07) neck down the home straight and to be pipped on the line was disappointing. But that was my first European Championships as a senior so overall I was happy with the medal. - Speaking about your performance in the World Championships in Mombasa, are you satisfied of your result there? - Yes, I m very satisfied. The UKA team prepared for Mombasa with a training camp in Durban, South Africa. The coaches and medical team had informed us of the dangers of running in such heat and we were well hydrated before the race. I only did a very short warm-up and lots of stretching. I ran a good tactical race and was happy with my 11th place finish. - Do you think you can defend your European Cross Country title in Toro, Spain? - I hope so! This is one of my goals for this season. - As we said previously, in San Giorgio, you overtook the lead in the last lap. After the race you said you wanted to wait as late as possible to make a move. Do you have a similar strategy for this year's competition or do you have another tactic in mind? - The way I run the race will depend on many factors: my training leading up to the event, the course, the weather... I will discuss the best tactics with my coach Alan Storey and hopefully it will be the same result as 2006. - You're still very young and have a big margin of improvement. What are your main goals for the future? - Definitely, London 2012!. From now on London is still five years away, so we are looking forward to seeing Farah fight to retain his European cross country title in Toro next December. 4
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