The Mile's History

THE RACE OF THE BARBERI HORSES

The Race of the Barberi horses was a race and festival in various cities, including Rome, Florence, Padua, Chieti, Pistoia (today the Giostra dell’orso) and a version still takes place today in Ronciglione. The carnival in Rome was already based on a long tradition of tournaments and races when in 1462, after the election of Pope Paul II, Via del Corso, then known as Via Lata, was especially built for races. The main event in the carnival was the race of the Barberi horses. The “shaken” horses were gathered around the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo next to which stands were erected so that the richest and most powerful people in the city could watch the start of the race at close hand. Other people would rent spaces along the Via Lata to watch the race. The balconies overlooking the street were crowded with people who threw flowers and confetti at the new arrivals, adorned with ribbons and brocade.

In the moments before the start, the horses were held by their “barbareschi” (stable hands), which was no easy task as the animals were agitated by little spikes that were inserted into balls of tar and stuck to their backs. When the starter’s gun fired, everyone knew the race was on. The horses galloped down Via del Corso to Piazza Venezia, where a large drape hanging across the road marked the finish line. The arrival and the “capture” of the terrified horses, which were far from willing to be stopped by the barbareschi, are remembered as extremely spectacular moments for the crowd that was hungry for excitement. Many nobles, members of royal families, artists and travellers flocked to Rome for the race as is attested by the many written accounts and drawings that have been passed down to us. However, in 1874, Vittorio Emanuele II decided to abolish the event, marking the beginning of the decline of the carnival of Rome.

The mile, the Anglo-American unit of measurement par excellence, is inextricably linked to the history of world athletics. Not many people will remember who the first athlete was to go below 1'45" in the 800 metres or 3'30" in the 1500 metres, but all track and field fans remember that the first sub-4-minute mile was run by the Englishman Roger Bannister in 1954. Mile races have been organised several times in the capital. In particular, there were memorable events held in Piazza Navona where top runners competed on the circuit round the piazza that is very similar to an actual track. One of the stars of the event in Rome was Sydney Maree, a South African-born athlete but with a US passport, one of the best in the world at the 1500 and 5000 in the '80s. The current men's outdoor world record for the mile is 3 minutes 43.13 seconds, set by the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj during the Golden Gala in Rome on 7 July 1999. The women's world record is held by the Russian Svetlana Masterkova who at the Zurich meeting in 1996 ran it in 4 minutes 12.56 seconds. The men’s European record holder is Steve Cram, the British athlete who broke the then world record, running a 3 minute 46.32 second mile at the Bislett stadium in Oslo in 1985. The current Italian records are held by Gennaro Di Napoli (3 minutes 51.96 seconds) in San Donato Milanese in 1992, and Gabriella Dorio (4 minutes 23.29 seconds) in Viareggio in 1980. The distance, though mainly used in the UK and US, has had a long tradition all over the world, and it is curious to note that the last two men's world records were obtained on Italian soil. Before El Guerrouj broke the record, the Algerian Nourredine Morceli took the record from Cram, running it in 3 minutes 44.39 seconds in Rieti in 1993. Italy has also been the nation where the women’s world record has been broken three times: Paola Pigni in Viareggio in 1973 with 4 minutes 29.50 seconds, Ljudmila Veselkova, Soviet Union, 4 minutes 20.89 seconds in Bologna in 1981 and finally Marcisca Puica, Romanian, 4 minutes 17.44 seconds at a Meeting in Rieti in 1982.

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