TRAILO.IT - http://portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.it: MARCO GIOVANNINI
Maybe
he hasn't the projection or the media attention of the top
athletes in the international Orienteering scene but he is,
on his way, a distinct personality in the small world of
Trail Orienteering. Dedicated athlete and passionate
blogger, Marco Giovannini is one of the big names in the
promotion of this as interesting as challenging discipline
and he is our guest today.
I
hesitate between you and your blog for the first question,
but let's leave the 'creature' for later and take a look now
on the 'creator'. Who is Marco Giovannini?
Marco
Giovannini (M. G.)
- Joaquim, the first words are for you: your guests are
usually great orienteers or personalities of Orienteering’s
World, whereas I’m one of the many people who lives
orienteering like an entertainment. I was born 45 years ago
in Trento (among the mountains) and I have been living in
Milan since 1990 (among the buildings). I discovered
orienteering 23 years ago and during this time I often
travelled in Europe to take part in many competitions
(O-Ringen, WMOC in Portugal, 5 Days of France,…).
How
was your passion for Trail Orienteering born?
M. G.
- In 2008, during a multidays of Orienteering in Asiago, I
entered in a competition of Trail Orienteering (TrailO for
friends); immediately I liked it because my brain often
needs new challenges. TrailO was the perfect discipline
because I walked alone in the forest with my thoughts,
listening to the birds’ sound and the nature’s aroma. The
result of my first competition was DISQ because I didn’t
wait for my turn at time controls (I remembered a long queue
of competitors in the middle of competition).
Have
you ever organized or planned a competition?
M. G.
- Yes, here (http://www.trailo.it/Gare.asp?ID_MANIFESTAZIONE=20)
you can find all the news. I remember that, one year before
the competition, I went on terrain in the same week of the
year to study vegetation and natural light and, I thought,
the controls; I was the last one to use four different time
control places! I have explained it in a separate document
for competitors, how you could solve every control; this was
not appreciated and after that experience I lost my passion
due to not competent people. Sometimes I wouldn’t find the
same diligence in other competitions and this has created
discontent in the movement. In 2013 I’ll help my team to
organize OOCup of TrailO (Slovenia); I can say the terrain
is very suitable for my style of planning and my friends are
waiting for this competition to solve my controls.
And
what about your results?
M. G.
- Only this season I begun to train my Trail Orienteering
skills; in the past years, I used the competitions to
improve my experience. Despite that, sometimes I have got on
the podium; I had the bronze medal at ITOC 2010 (in 2012, I
was 4th but I couldn’t win the title because my club is
Slovenian), sometimes I won Italy cup rounds….. but the
result is not all! After a competition and before to see the
classification, I ask to myself: “Are you happy? Have you
done your best?”. My personal philosophy is to enjoy myself
after a week of work, to challenge the planner’s problems,
to find new stimulus, to meet the TrailO friends. I hope
that some of your readers, after this interview, will spend
some time to taste Trail Orienteering.
What
do you see that is so appealing in Trail Orienteering?
M. G.
- I believe that you make a big mistake if you think that
Foot Orienteers are attracted to TrailO; usually, a runner
likes the fatigue, the strain, he trains his body to run
faster and faster. TrailO is a discipline for people who
want to use their brain, to overtake their mental limit, to
win a match without physical skills; I compare it to chess,
cards or puzzles. When I stay two hours in a park or in a
forest, I come back very happy, relaxed, until I see the
solutions: in that moment, my answers find the official
decisions and sometimes I don't agree with them.
In
March 2010 you've create the 'trail-O', a blog that appeared
immediately as "a meeting point for all those who see
themselves on this discipline." Can you tell me something
about this adventure?
M. G.
- In 2007 I created a blog (http://mary-marco.blogspot.it)
where I wrote my adventures after every competition; I
closed it when my dog Rusky died (Rusky is my nickname too).
When I began to play with TrailO, I searched for news,
rules, experiences but all material was scattered in
internet’s world. So I thought to create a web site where I
would have put all news. Unfortunately, like in a small
family, somebody in Italy didn’t like it because they saw
this site like a competitor and not like an useful vehicle
to expand this discipline.
Do
you want to make us a 'guided tour' through your blog?
M. G.
- Before I explain how my site works, I want to tell you
that my next task is to restyle some pages of
www.trailo.it. Here, I
want to thank two friends of mine: the webmaster and my
teacher (Giuseppe Russo) and the interviewer (Stefano
Galletti). The site was born to help the Italian newcomers
in the TrailO world. After some years I have to admit that
my readers are more foreigner than Italian people; so, since
last year, I decided to write in English rather than in
Italian. I have a “News” page where I write some news about
competitions or other interesting events; “Rules” is a page
dedicated to the rules about ISSOM, guidelines, ranking
formula, symbols. “Competition” is a box where I put the
results of Italian competitions (in 2012 I stopped this work
because it’s not appreciated);”Ranking” is similar to
previous page but the results are Italian ranking or Italy
cup final classification. “Stories” explain, in Italian
language, a typical competition of PreO for beginners; on
the right side there are some interviews to great European
athletes. The last page contains some links to others PreO
blogs or websites. After the restyling, I think of inserting
the “TempO Game” and a database of international
competitions (World Champs, European Champs).
You've mentioned 'TempO Game'. What is it, precisely?
M. G.
- During these years, my passion about my site has decreased
because my efforts weren’t appreciated; The “TempO Game” is
a new idea for my free time: to study computer language and
to create a game for my friends. I remembered Libor’s site (http://www.yq.cz/trail-o/TempO/):
the problem was to find real tasks, maps, competitions. I
have decided to create new games: if I find a good place, I
use it to build a new task… I draw a map using the photo; I
don’t use the real scale because the picture is too small
for a scaled map. TempO is a discipline where the mental
speed is the primary skill; for this reason I'd rather
highlight the objects visible in the photo. The tasks are a
mixture of TrailO situations: I don’t want to create too
difficult tasks because the stress of the clock (near the
image) is enough to make a mistake. When I begin the game’s
creation, I didn’t suppose how many people would have played
and their level of tempO’s knowledge. The first step was to
create only four games to test this idea; now my passion has
grown and I put on 20 games. I invite everybody to try the
game – at
http://www.trailo.it/Presentazione.asp -
and to send me their opinions; after this “beta test”
version, I work on the final game. My idea is to organize
some competitions on line. You have asked me “what is it?”:
to solve some tasks as fast as possible without
mistakes….and then to compare your score to the best elite
Trail Orienteers! I’m very happy because the Norwegian
Federation has linked the game on its site: more than 300
Norwegian people have played in the first week of the year!
I
must ask you, based on your personal experience: TempO or
TrailO?
M. G.
- I compare these disciplines with Foot Orienteering: TempO
is like the Sprint, TrailO is like Long Distance. I like
TrailO because, after a week of my job (in office), I need
to walk and to relax in the nature; TrailO is a myriad of
thoughts, solutions, hypothesis: your brain has to choose
the right answers using the sight, geometry. I like tempO
because it’s intuition, adrenaline, mental training to
decide fast; it’s just the reverse of TrailO! TempO is the
real discipline where everybody (elite, paralympic) plays
starting on the same level. In my opinion, younger Trail
Orienteers like the TempO discipline because they love
exciting games and their brain seems to help them. The limit
of TrailO is the leveling of competitors: often, the final
result is decided after time controls!
How
do you see the current moment of the Trail Orienteering all
over the world?
M. G.
- I believe that Trail Orienteering is a young discipline
and it’ll continue to change every year; it was born for
Paralympic people but year after year the Open Class became
larger; some years ago, the Trail Orienteering movement was
only a large family. Now, new countries have discovered this
discipline and the old rules are obsolete because terrains,
local rules, different type of planning have created new
situations. I hope the new generation of Trail Orienteers
(Marit, Lauri, Antii, Martin, etc…) is able to bring new
ideas to attract other young athletes. I know that a
Commission is working on technical rules: this work is very
important because old rules are not clear for the same
situations (for example: I have never understood why single
contour line excludes some kites in the real reentrance or
spur). Otherwise, it’s not easy to involve new paralympic
people: in Italy we only have three paralympic people: I
have spoken with some disabled people but the equation
“Disable = TrailO” is wrong! These people think like the
common people and it’s difficult to find somebody who wants
to travel for a TrailO competition…
Italy, Croatia and Slovenia formed a very interesting and
dynamic regional block. Is this an attempt in order to
create an alternative to the Nordic hegemony?
M. G.
- I think this cooperation was born spontaneously because
North-East Italy’s Regions, Slovenia and Croatia are close
on the map: instead of creating three micro TrailO’s
schedules, these Countries have organized an interesting
Trophy. In the last period, I have often travelled to
Slovenia and now my Club is Ok Trzin (Slovenia). Be careful:
behind the words “Slovenia” and “Croatia” there isn’t a
large movement, but some small clubs. The number of
competitions is not yet adequate to create an interesting
activity. I wait for the multidays competitions: in the past
summer, I stayed in Czech Republic for 5 days and then a
week later in Slovenia, for 3 days! After these competitions
my feeling about TrailO’s practice has improved.
Italy
will receive, in 2014, the World Trail Orienteering
Championships but, before that, in Portugal, we'll have the
European Championships. To finish this Interview, I ask you
a preview of the two events.
M. G.
- The approval of competitors is often the key of success;
for this reason is very important to choose the right
planners and to draw good maps. In 2008 I stayed in Portugal
to run WMOC; it has been a good experience to run in
beautiful forests and to visit the Country. I think you and
your Federation could show your quality. In Italy I don't
have news about planners or terrains where the competition
will be. I believe that the Italian movement has good
individuality to manage the WTOC but often political
interest ruins these opportunities. My favorite planner is
Guido Michelotti but I don’t know if he’s the planner of
PreO; I call some of his controls “Upper level” because
nobody is able to teach this type of controls.
Joaquim Margarido
