Gavin Paul Hurt, an Englishman in Italy

At the time of the Ultra Taaaaac Team, I was told one day “Hey Def, there is a new member. He comes from England. His name is Gav“.

My first reaction was “Cool! We are becoming more and more international and it just makes me happy“.

Then I honestly do not remember when I exchanged the first words in person with Gav. Probably on some trail or in front of a post-run beer. For sure I know that since Gav joined the team, he has always shown himself to be very active and involved in the various initiatives promoted by the “Direttivo Taaaaac”.

And in one of these initiatives one day, he left us completely stunned.

It was basically a time when we were trying to promote the core aspect of the team locally: spending time together on the trails, having fun, taking us not too seriously and often using “Diego suka” as a stress reliever (side note: Diego was/is a great friend and member of the team ;-)). So sometimes we generated funny posts or videos with special content.

One day Gav told us that he wanted to make a special video and that it would have been a surprise for everyone. He sent out the video without too much information.

The video starts with Gav in a pub, saying that he wants to introduce us the second most important person of Derby (UK) in Italy. Of course, Gav was the most important person of Derby in Italy.

Well…then he said: “It is Fiona May” (Fiona May – Wikipedia)) and in the moment he was turning the camera I thought: “It cannot be. It is a joke“.

Obviously, it was all true, with a very nice Fiona May who took a few moments to greet the team…our way 🙂

All this to say that Gav certainly plays the role as a “trailer”, becoming the spokesperson for important social moments, beyond trail-running.

And of course, he is an “emigrant“, since he has lived in Italy since 1995.

Therefore, he is an “emigrantrailer” and today we picked up the phone and we made a very pleasant video call Wiesbaden (Germany) <-> Turin (Italy), talking about several private things, the current restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and finally concluding with my five TRAIL questions.

T like Teeth

“Gav, you are a dental technician and since I have known you, you have always dedicated a lot of time to your work, often with absurd timetables. Today, for example, it is 1 p.m. on a Sunday and you are at work in the laboratory to make teeth. Great respect for your dedication and passion. But, how much can you combine this working passion with sporting passion?”

“Well, it is not easy. But I really love my work. I love to create something well done, precise, harmonious for the person who will then have aesthetic benefits and more. And it is a continuous learning curve: you never stop. And this is similar to my learning in trail running. My history is made of road, track or cross country running. I arrived late to trail running and especially to long distances. And after the first race I learned to be humbler and take small steps one after the other. This could be a good tip for beginners, approaching the trail running without haste and with a lot of humility”.

R like Road

“You come from road running. Do you like more trails now or still….asphalt (this is only understood by you and me! :-P)?”

“Ahahah! Ok…let’s answer the question: I like both. Trail Running is a little more social. But when I want to feel like an athlete, I don’t hide that I feel enormous pleasure in doing 10 km or half marathon on the road”.

A like After Match

“After Match or Terzo Tempo is one of the most important aspects of the genuine way to experience Trail-Running. The situation generated by the Covid-19 pandemic has completely cancelled this important social part. I understand it, but I miss it a lot. And I live with memories. What about you? And which is the best After Match memory and why?”

“Oh, I miss it a lot and having raced together in the same team, you know very well how many times we had fun after the training runs or the races. With Trail running I found many people who later became my friends, beyond the sport”.

“For the best After Match memory? Well, it is a difficult question. There are a lot. However, it was a special moment when I finished my first Ultra-trail race (MareMontana Trail Loano Liguria) and all the other Taaaaac runners were waiting to cheer me. And then of course, all the unforgettable moments at the Magnacanada party”.

I like Island

“England is part of an island with natural boundaries determined by the sea and not very high mountains. Yet, in many mountain sports, starting from Alpinism, the British have always excelled. Do you have an explanation? How do they train there?“

“Yes, I know. It sounds like a contradiction. However, there is a tradition and culture for the mountains that goes beyond living on a island. How do we train? Well, it is not very famous in continental Europe, but the best training is Fellrunning https://fellrunningguide.co.uk/trail-running-or-fell-running/. It is a discipline with steep climbs and descents, sometimes with stone walls to jump. There are “crazy” athletes who could do very well in the alpine vertical races”.

L like “Life the Wolf” #LTW

“Ok Gav, you were not there when this fantastic expression was generated (Lavaredo Ultra Trail, 2016)! But it then became an hashtag of our team communication for a few years. Do you know its origin? and above all, is it gramatically corrected? :-)”

“Yes, yes. I know its origin and it still makes me enjoy it when someone talks about it :-). You know it better than me: so, you decide whether to tell the whole story ;-). Obviously, it is not grammatically correct. It would be correct to use the expression: Long live the Wolf! But this expression does not exist at all!“

“Well, Sir Gav….long live the wolf to you! 🙂 It was really a pleasure to have this chat with you”