Foreword:friends, friends, and then they steal your bike. My grandmother used to say that.

I, as an eternal romantic, am convinced that true friendship does exist. There are the special people who come into your life casually and stay there for a lifetime, or even for a limited time, as long as they are sincere.

I am equally convinced that the friendships that arise between people who share a sporting discipline or passion are the most spontaneous.

Running shoes do not lie. At most they reveal true personality, and then erasing them becomes even easier.

Rosaria I met by chance, or fate. An email from her requesting a placement, an appointment in the showroom of the PR agency I work for, and a promise to run together made instinctively with enthusiasm.

It was 2021, shortly after the pandemic, and there was still a mask requirement, yet this limitation did not stop us.

It wasn’t until I googled his name that I found out that I would run with a real gold medal (more than one, actually) record in marathons with a time of 2h26’11, so to speak, and maybe a little “real tapasciona”panic in comparison to him came over me.

Imagine my state of mind in coming alongside a real athlete, the kind you watch on TV and think, I will never be able to run that hard.

But most of all, I thought about her having to adjust to my pace-and thus, practically walking.

Real athletes and people of heart you recognize them right away:in the end, the run we did together through the streets of Milan and Sempione Park was a “of which.”

Between chatter, advice, and laughter the time flew by…and speed eventually didn’t matter to either of us, and from that day on we were never separated.

A message, a doubt, a piece of advice, very long phone calls and a promise to run together again despite the distance.

My chat-interview with Rosaria Console

Tell me a little bit about yourself: I was born in Martina Franca in the province of Taranto and grew up in Crispiano until the age of 20. And it was precisely on the roads of the Murgia Crispianese that I took my first running steps at the age of 11 under the advice of my rhythmic gymnastics teacher, who between one exercise and another, seeing me darting with my light stride, glimpsed my particular predisposition for running. In the early years of my sporting activity I was followed a lot by my older brother Giuseppe:he was the one who passed on to me the passion for sports. He always accompanied me to training sessions and I rarely ran solo as stray dogs were always lurking. I practically always ran escorted. For an athlete from the south, where sports facilities and facilities are scarce, it is difficult to emerge. I had to adapt to the territorial gaps:my father marked out routes for me by measuring them with a metric wheel, cleaned dirt paths, built me gym equipment. I owe a lot to my parents:even though they were not in the business, they believed in my dream more than I did, supporting me through everything.

When did you decide that you would become a professional athlete? When I finished high school I decided to get serious:I started training twice a day performing up to 12 workouts a week. I erased the word sparing from my vocabulary and within 4 years I became a professional athlete by joining the Yellow Flames Sports Group.

What profession would you have been in if you had not become a champion athlete? Since childhood I have had the habit of dreaming big however I knew that many dreams could only come true with hard work and that is why that I wanted from the beginning to focus on one goal to have a better chance of achieving it. I put aside my university activities despite myself and focused on my beloved athletics.

Did you have a plan B? During my path I honestly never thought of an alternative to what I had set out for myself, however, at the end of my career something changed…Of course, over the years I have cultivated hobbies and interests that have remained dormant. In particular, the world of sports communication and fashion have always fascinated me:in my many dreams I also imagined myself as a sports journalist.

Emotions before a competition in the Olympics? At the age of 24, I participated in my first Olympics. It was all so surreal:I spent the night before completely blank but by the next morning I was incredibly full of energy, bright and eager to finally want to fulfill my dream cultivated since childhood. That Olympic marathon was unparalleled:running it in Greece in the distance of legend between Marathon and Athens as Philippides and Spiridon Louis made it unique, and even though mine is a discipline where fatigue seems unbearable in the eyes of ordinary mortals, all of us Olympic marathon runners in Athens felt like children of a greater god that day, and my training partner Stefano Baldini’s victory proved it.

A typical day of yours in training/preparing for a race? Wake up at 7 a.m. –at 8 a.m. breakfast –first workout from 9:30 a.m. until noon –lunch at 1 p.m. –afternoon rest from 2 to 3 p.m. –second workout from 5 to 7 p.m. –dinner at 8 p.m. –11 p.m. bedtime.

Your life today? Today I am a mother of two beautiful creatures:15-year-old Francesca and 8-year-old Davide;I am the wife of Daniele Caimmi, also an Olympic athlete;I serve as a financier at the Jesi Company. I have remained connected to the world of athletics and proudly collaborate in organizing sporting events that link sports and legality.

Do you have regrets or second thoughts about things you would have done differently? I have been a very lucky woman/athlete:I had a supportive family, coaches who gradually took me to higher levels, training partners who over time became special friends and friends. I have no regrets, but at the same time I made many mistakes, but it was these mistakes that turned a fragile, shy and introverted girl into a fighter.

An important piece of advice for those who want to enter the athletic profession? Athletics the last two years is experiencing a magical moment;a major generational change is taking place. The hope is in some young people who have shown qualities that need to be protected and followed. For them surely “the solution/settlement”of the military sports group is the most congenial to undertake a sport activity that allows you to achieve organizational serenity and allows you to lead the life of a professional athlete. My absolute advice is to never be satisfied and not to be lulled when you achieve the goal of the military team:it all has to be something more to do better.

Your daughter Francesca practices competitive running. What is your relationship with her and what do you tell her before a competition? The saying “good blood doesn’t lie”is indeed true. (after all, with two such parents! ed). My daughter has played sports from an early age:dance, artistic gymnastics, swimming and now track and field. She is still a clearly immature athlete of talent and is slowly understanding how important sports in general are to each of us regardless of the intensity with which they are practiced. We are very close and exceptionally similar however we belong to different generations and therefore have a different approach to things. In the beginning she would often ask me for advice on training/racing…now as she grows up she wants to be more autonomous. Of course I try to humor her even though I won’t hide the fact that, as an expert in the field, it is not easy to keep my mouth shut. Before a race I always tell her:live your emotions and savor the fatigue not as a disruptive element but as a reason for growth and above all:have fun!!!

Relationship with the public? I have always had a very good relationship with the public, and with social media it has become much easier to interact with fans.

Do you ever think that people approach you because of what you have done and not just because of who you are? Clearly at the height of my sports life I was surrounded by personalities who were interested in my career. However, I was very fortunate because during my journey I dealt with honest people who appreciated me and treated me for who I am …I rarely met people of circumstance.

Running today. What is today for you? Today, running is always a part of my life;I try to carve out an hour of outdoor training a couple of times a week, although I don’t always succeed.

How often do you go out running? How many miles do you run? As a professional I used to run 180 km a week (in preparation for the marathon), today unfortunately I do not exceed 20 km.

Feelings and emotions that running has given you and is giving you today? Running is my mantra:the light, automatic gesture of my steps brought and still brings me to a unique state of mental well-being.

A superstitious gesture before every race? I am not particularly superstitious–before every start the last thought I reserve for the people I love.

Plans for the future? How can one leave a passion? How can one leave a great love? You simply don’t leave–you just look for a transition to direct your sport experience. My dreams, my plans, will always tend to be directed toward my world:running.

Last Question:when is a run together again? Looking forward to a run with you….and it will happen soon you will see!!!