The Trofeo del Mare – Trofeo Equilibra” changes season but confirms, for the second year in a row, the location of Aspra, with a homologated, fast course that made a comeback last year, after the footrace had been held in the heart of Bagheria for an entire five-year period.
Now in its 11th edition, the event, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 08, is valid as the ninth round of the regional road running Grand Prix. Four laps of 2500 meters, for a total of ten kilometers. Start at 09:30 a.m. from Scordato Street. It is organized by Polisportiva Atletica Bagheria of Professor Tommaso Ticali, with the support of Totò Badagliacca’s Equilibra Running Team and the patronage of the municipality of Bagheria.

OUTSTANDING CAST IN BOTH THE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S RACES
Also this year’s will be an edition for the so-called “fine palates,” which focuses on the participation of elite athletes and athletes ready to provide excitement and spectacle. Parterre guaranteed and certified, in large part, again this year by Giuseppe Giambrone, technician and soul of Tuscany Camp.

Among the men, the presence of last year’s winner is confirmed, the Tunisian Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui, fresh from the Olympics with the fourth place achieved in Paris in the 3000m steeplechase, complete with a new national record with a time of 8’07″19. Jhinaoui was a finalist at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest again in steeplechase, competed at the 2022 Outdoor World Championships in Eugene and made numerous appearances in the Diamond League between 2023 and 2024. Vincenzo Agnello, who has worn the blue shirt of the Italian national team several times, will also be at the starting line in Aspra. The athlete from Misilmeri has won the Trofeo del Mare six times. He boasts a time of 1h 03′ 22” obtained in the half marathon of the 22nd edition of Rome-Ostia and 29’41 in the 10 kilometers on the road. Alessio Terrasi, reigning Italian champion of the 50 km, a title recently repeated after the success in 2023. With a palmarès that includes the title of absolute Italian marathon champion, won in 2018 in Ravenna, the athlete originally from Altofonte, is certainly an athlete generous as well as talented. 30’10 in the 10 kilometers on the road and 1h05’00 in the half, among his records. Two victories were achieved at the Trofeo del Mare.

Green blood in Aspra, thanks to the presence of Vittore Borromini, a young Italian middle distance talent. Originally from Caltavuturo, Borromini moved in 2021 with his sister Federica and his mother to San Rocco a Pilli, in the province of Siena. Here he trains at the Tuscany Camp and competes for Toscana Atletica Jolly. Borromini, in 2022, as a cadet, won bronze in the 3000 meters at the European Youth Olympic Festival. In the same year he won the Italian cross and 2000 meters titles. In 2023 he won the Tricolori Students in cross-country and mountain running. Recently, on the occasion of the European Under 18 championships, he improved his personal best in the 3000 meters, stopping the clock at 8:09.01, a time that places him among the best Italian students ever, behind only the current federal president Stefano Mei.

In the women’s race, among others, Federica Borromini (Vittore’s sister) will be at the starting line, who last year became the Italian Allieve road race champion over the distance of 6 km. This year the category jump (Juniors) and the change of shirt with ARCS Cus Perugia. For her, at the moment, there are also three call-ups in the blue jersey for the European Cross Country Championships, always with the blue jersey she represented Italy in two World Mountain Running Championships. The athlete to beat will be Michela Cesarò from Piedmont, with her father Antonio, a Sicilian transplanted to Turin, who trained the tricolor cross champion Silvia La Barbera, and Daniela Musso. Daughter of art and member of the Carabinieri, in 2016 she placed fourth in the under 18 tricolor event on the 3000 meter track and second in the 6 km road event. Since 2023, Cesarò has moved to Siena to train at the Tuscany Camp under the guidance of Giambrone.

The women’s contingent is also enriched by Federica Cernigliaro from Trapani, her trio of victories in important running events this summer, Lascari, Comiso and Torregrotta and by Claudia Licciardi from Palermo, winner of the Wine Half Marathon – City of Marsala and among the strongest master athletes in Sicily. Both are coached by Tommaso Ticali and registered with the Polisportiva Atletica Bagheria. With registrations still open, the competitive parterre is destined to expand also thanks to the presence of the strongest male and female master athletes in our region. On September 8th, something like 500 athletes are expected to arrive in Aspra from all over the island.

THE PRESENTATION PRESS CONFERENCE AT PALAZZO BUTERA ON WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
Palazzo Butera will once again be the prestigious “stage” where the Trofeo del Mare – Trofeo Equilibra will be presented on Wednesday 4 September, starting at 5pm. Among those present were the mayor of Bagheria Filippo Tripoli, the sports councilor Antonella Insinga, the president of the city council Andrea Sciortino and the city councilor Marco Tripoli. Massive presence by the municipal administration of Bagheria precisely to underline how the confirmation, for the second year, of the event in the hamlet of Aspra, represents a moment of great importance for the local community. An event that is not just a sporting competition but also a driving force to promote the territory and its excellence.

LAST YEAR
The last edition saw the victory of the Tunisian Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui, this year fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Paris Olympics. Among the women, the victory went to Barbara Vassallo. The Trofeo del Mare’s roll of honor includes names of great prestige in the world of athletics, including Francesco Bennici, Vincenzo Agnello, Alessio Terrasi, Claudia Finielli and Anna Incerti from Bagheria.

JOURNALISTIC AWARD
The journalistic prize, which has become a peculiarity of the event itself over the course of the editions, was awarded this year to Marco Tripisciano (RAI journalist) who joins a list of illustrious names in the prize’s roll of honour, including Roberto Gueli, Guido Fiorito, Rosario Mazzola, Michele Amato, Gabriele Pintagro, Lorenzo Magri and Pino Grasso. Tripisciano (son of art) was among the RAI correspondents at the recent Paris Olympics, after reporting in recent years, on behalf of La Repubblica, a European athletics championship, four World Championships and two Olympics.