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On Sunday 23rd December I arrived ar Pechina, a small town just 12 km from Almeria. It was time to go up the road to Baños de Sierra Alhamilla, 8,3 km away and come back along a dirt track to Pechina doing around 7 km more.
It was a cloudy day although the sun was fighting to shine. When I got to this small town which, in spite of being so near a big town, fortunately still has a village like appearance, I saw some cyclists and runners near Manuel´s mother´s house. You probably already know Manuel, who lives in Barcelona, but he ´s from Pechina. He has taken part in loads of races all over the world. Last summer he took part at Lima marathon and went to Machu Pichu and he also took part at a 100 km race in the province of Zaragoza in August. He is the soul of this race which started as a sort of training announced in a Spanish running website and has found help from the local council.
After greeting Manuel, his mother, brother-in-law who was taking part in the bicycle race, other runners I knew such as Corretón, who came with his wife and daughters to cheer or Raúl, who is the sports councellor taking part this year in the race as tin the previous edition. I also metother runners that Manuel introduced me such as Artés, whom I knew from the forum. He lives in Yecla, in the province of Murcia or Currupuy, who lives in La Rioja and brought some bottles from that area. I also greeted Manuel´s mother and his niece, who happens to be a pupil of mine this year.
At 10:30 Manuel gave the signal to start because he couldn´t take part in the race since he had a terrible cold. I started with the last ones going up the street that led us to the road toward Los Baños. I managed to keep their pace for one mile but I had to slow down and follow my pace which allowed me to take some pictures. It was a bit hard since I went on my own all the course but I felt all right. I managed to get to the top in sixty minutes, four more than the previous year. The last kilometre to the top is the toughest reaching a sort of oasis in the desert with a spring with hot water. There I was given a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate. Then, I went downhill along a steep dirt track. Whenever I do this course, which I had last done with Sweder last January, I do a different one because the course is not clear and there are several tracks. I had to turn back a little because I missed the right turning but it didn´t matter. Finally, I arrived at the town hall square where Manuel, his brother-in.law Jose and his nephew José María were waiting for me. I was glad to have been able to do this wonderful race once again. Then, after getting changed at Manuel´s house, I went to the secondary school sports pavilion where all the other cyclists and runners were having a drink and some tapas such as “embutidos” cold cuts?, “langostinos” king prawns?, olives, almonds, etc. We joined them and took part in a draw where the winner got a “jamón Serrano”, cured ham. Three cups were given to the first three runners and a T-shirt to everybody. I think that the atmosphere was fantastic and everybody is looking forward to doing it again next year. Is there a better way to wish each other a merry Christmas. I also wish you a happy Christmas and a wonderful year 2008.
III Subida a los Baños de Sierra Alhamilla
