Running : Pizzolato Is Coming Back for More

When Orlando Pizzolato of Italy won last year’s New York City Marathon, running in intense heat and humidity that sent more than 200 runners in search of medical assistance, his performance was hailed as courageous.

He may have to call on that courage again later this month. He’s going back for more.

It hardly seems possible, though, that New York could have worse conditions Oct. 27 than it had last year. The field was depleted--New York having lost many of the top marathoners to Chicago in the great running war of 1984. The temperature hovered at 74 degrees with a debilitating 96% humidity. Defending champion Rod Dixon dropped out at 21 miles, and women’s winner Grete Waitz limped in, having run despite stomach cramps the last 16 miles.

Pizzolato, also suffering from stomach cramps, stopped eight times in the last five miles, It was the first marathon the 26-year-old Italian had won in 13 tries. He was a little-known runner who suddenly had won $25,000 and a $23,000 Mercedes Benz. Worth a little sweat.

“I sold the car before I left New York,” Pizzolato said when he was in Los Angeles for a 10-kilometer run as a tuneup for New York. “I live in a little town of 8,000 people. It is better I go by bicycle. The roads are too small.

“My life has changed nothing since New York. It was a big surprise for me and many people that I won. Before I was an unknown. Now, many runners know me and they pay attention when I run. They think probably I should be dangerous. I am more confident now.”

Even after New York, however, Pizzolato remained a question mark. Had he just been lucky to win a major marathon or was this skinny guy for real? His winning time of 2 hours 14 minutes 53 seconds was respectable under the circumstances but not impressive. Even Pizzolato wasn’t sure of himself.

Not until he had finished sixth in the Hiroshima Marathon last April did he begin to believe he had made a break-through. His 2:10:23 was a personal best. It was also the first race in which he had been mentally strong enough to set aside prolonged physical pain.

“I began running seriously two or three years ago,” he said. “For a long period, I was not able to improve my time. I dropped out of races. I was not confident. It was a serious psychological problem. The problem began at the half-marathon. I was not able to resist the (physical) troubles that happen.”

Discouraged, he dropped out of the race at the Italian Olympic trials. He eventually stopped running and began intensive work with a sports psychologist. The psychologist taught Pizzolato how to harness his nervous energy and use his mind to overcome the temptation to drop out.

It worked in Hiroshima and again in Kobe, Japan, at the World University Games last month. There, he won the marathon but also maintained his confidence level.

“I ran the first part of the race thinking about staying relaxed,” he said. “I ran without thinking about running. When I am tired, I try not to think about how many kilometers to go. Then I began to run fast and I began to pass other runners. Now, I am able to stay relaxed with no problem.”

Pizzolato said he is in better shape this year than he was last. Known as a tactical runner, he has been trying to increase his speed. He runs every day after school at Ferrara University, where he is in his final year. He is studying physical therapy.

“I think much is expected of me this year in New York,” he said. “I was there last week and people know me. It is exciting. I was running through Central Park and people were yelling to me. Much of it in Italian.

“I hope to do well. I would like to run in the front. But if the pace is too fast, I will stay back and stay with myself. I feel confident.”

Running Notes Applications for the Los Angeles Marathon are available. To get an application for the March 9 event, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Los Angeles Marathon, 5985 Century Blvd., Suite 322, L.A., Calif., 90045. . . . Ultra-marathon races keep growing. Last year the San Juan Trail Fifty made its name with the largest ever for the first running of an off-road event. That obscure statistic simply means the run, 50 miles through the Cleveland National Forest, was popular with Southern Californians. This year’s race will begin at the San Juan Capistrano Hot Springs, at 6 a.m. Nov. 17. . . . Grete Waitz Inc.: The once-shy Norwegian schoolteacher is turning up everywhere--on clothes. Adidas has already marketed its Grete model running shoe. Also available are running tights bearing her name. Next, “Grete’s Training Video,” available this fall. . . . Tom and Ruth Wysocki are favored to win the husband-wife portion of the Foot Locker Partners National Championships, Nov. 2 at Griffith Park. The two-person eight-kilometer race should have a field of more than 1,000 husband-wife, brother-sister, mother-daughter, father-son, sister-sister and brother-brother teams. Entry blanks are available at Foot Locker stores.