Ferrino Women Team: Giulia Zanovello interview

“Running away from the city for love.”

Giulia, tell us something about you. How did you approach running?
My running story begins in 2017 and it’s linked to the one of Giuditta Turini and Franco Collé. I started running in 2017. That year Giuditta signed up for ToT Dret and asked me to assist her: I had never raced before, nor ran in general. So I entered the world of running and after that experience I was so happy with the result she got that I felt the desire to start running too.

I started going to the mountains by walking a little faster than usual, but the turning point came when she and Franco decided to sign me up for my first race, the Ibiza Trail Marathon, 42 kilometers overlooking the sea.

That fall, when the season was over, I started running on some Alte Vie around the Gressoney valley and it was during these runs that I began to develop the idea of participating in Tor de Géants the following year. After the first Tor, I signed up for more and more races which have allowed me, especially in the last year, to achieve some personal satisfaction. I was born in Gallarate and I moved to Gressoney for love, without ever having played sports in the mountains before. Here everyone is an athlete, and that’s normal. For me, going from zero to finishing seventh in the Tor women’s ranking, after 117 hours of running, was a huge satisfaction.

How did your life changed moving from Gallarate to Gressoney?
My life has changed a lot and for the better. In Gallarate I had a fairly canonical life: graduation, friends, drinks in the city center. Then, when I met Roberto and I moved to Gressoney, I started doing different things. My friends from the city often ask me how I spend your time here. I started climbing after a few holidays in France, and even if it’s not my sport, I got some satisfaction. Then the horizons widened when we met Franco and Giuditta and I started running. I have been living here for 8 years now and sometimes I would like to go back to Gallarate to see my family or do something different, but I feel the distance from the mountain more and more. My interests have changed and after a while in the city I start to find the days a bit empty. My parents have a house in Gressoney since I was little, so it often happens that they come here to visit me, it’s also a way for them to see that we are building something solid here.

Can you tell us something about the two Tor you ran?
The first one has been something really huge. I almost remember the feelings I got during the first one more than those felt during the second: I cried the whole time, before starting the race and while crossing the center of Courmayeur. I was really excited, maybe too much. It went very well, but I wasn’t mentally ready so I lived it badly. I finished it because I am stubborn, I always have been, but not because I was really ready for it. That’s why the first time I relied heavily on Matilde and Roberto who waited for me all aid stations. This year, during my second Tor, I felt really good.

Do you have a coach?
No, I run following my feelings and sensations. I like to go out with my dog, take some pictures and enjoy the mountains.

Will you take part in another Tor?
This could have been my third Tor, but during the 2019 edition I retired at the 90th kilometer: I was very focused on the time scored the previous year and I ran under pressure. This year I started running without any expectations of times, I had only some reference time for Roberto who assisted me. The conditions were good and everything went well.

Would you like to run another one?
Sure. Things always go in threes.

Is there another race you dream of?
Mezzalama, on skis.

What about races outside Italy?
I think everyone’s dream is UTMB. At the moment I don’t feel like I can do it, I’m not that fast and I feel I still need to improve a lot.

Let’s move to another topic. There is a lot of talking about inclusiveness, but it still doesn’t seem obvious that women can run for so long. Sometimes they get cheered up perhaps more than what is appropriate, as if it were less obvious. Don’t you think that excessive attention or consideration may seem like a lack of respect towards women?
Wherever I was during the race, if I was in a group of men, the cheering was often just for me. So in a way what you say is true. Assuming that every sport is hard and requires something from those who practice it, in the collective imagination running over long distances requires an even more tremendous effort. Trail running is still seen as a masculine thing, even among people around my age. I often talk to women or men who do not belong to the world of trail who are amazed when I tell about my races.

How did you become part of the Ferrino Women Team?
I’ve met the Ferrino Women Team at Tor 2019, Alice and Scilla, who are still part of the Team, told me about it. The idea of the project is at the same time simple and great: sharing the lives of “normal” girls, whose life is not exclusively made of running, but who despite the commitments of everyday life find the time to prepare for such races.

Future projects?
From a sporting point of view, I have no idea. As soon as the Tor was finished, I wanted to run another race immediately, but we’ll see. From a personal point of view, however, I would like to become a mom.

Is there an athlete you look up to?
Yes. One is Emily Forsberg, I admire her a lot as a woman and as a person. Then there is Giuditta Turini, who is my closest inspiration. I think she is the strongest athlete in Italy but she’s also very humble, which is why she is a beautiful person.