When I picked up my race number at Almería half marathon, I was given a bag of goodies and some leaflets. One of them was about a 103 km race to be done in 24 hours or 123 km ride to be done in 12 hours. I decided to take part in the latter, since I felt like going on a long bicycle ride as a sort of cross training to avoid injuries, which this year have been more than last year. A friend of mine, Manuel from Barcelona, not the one at Fawlty Towers, told me he wanted to do it running. He´s a good runner who has taken part in many marathons all over the world and it´s used to taking part at a competition nearly every week.
So, last Friday I picked Manuel up in Pechina, a little town near Almería, where her mother lives and took him to the Mediterranean stadium, where Almería half marathon started and finished this year. We picked up our race numbers and talked to some people we knew or met. There were a lot of people with their mountain bicycles who had come from several provinces in Spain. We went to a hall in the stadium where the pasta dinner was held. We sat at a round table and were brought a pasta dish. Two young men who had been pupils of mine joined us and talked about the ride the following day. Manuel was nervous since he didn´t know if he´d be able to finish that race with steep paths.
The following morning, I went on my bicycle to the stadium where I met Manuel, who was talking to another man who was going to run as well, Miguel who is a sculptor in Murcia. He has never run a marathon. He´s taken part in two half marathons only but he did 1 hour 36 minutes in Murcia last month. The bicycle ride started at 10 o´clock while the race began fifteen minutes later. We met some people who wanted to do it walking in nearly 24 hours. So, we wished good luck each other and I left to the start where I met a young man, Martín, I had met one day while I was on a bicycle ride with my brother-in-law, Miguel Ángel, who was also taking part at this race. We started from the stadium and went along the same route as Almería half marathon on the way back to the finish, along carretera de Sierra Alhamilla, avenida del Mediterráneo to turn left along the seaside towards Costacabana, El Toyo, Retamar, Torre García along the coast. I took it easy and stopped from time to time to take photos since Manuel had asked me to take photos with his camera. It was a sunny day, a little windy along the coast. There were drinking stations every ten kilometres more or less with water, fruit, isotonic drinks, sandwiches in some of them. I met some slow cyclists like myself from Málaga, Sevilla, Cádiz, Almería. There was even a man doing that course in a patinete, which is a sort of skate with two wheels and a handlebar.
The first part was along the road that leads to the airport near the seaside. Then, we took a path along the seaside towards Retamar and Torre García hermitage, built where Virgen del Mar, Almería´s patron virgin, was found a few centuries ago. From there, we went towards a path along a dry stream to continue along another path near the motorway. In km 30, we took along another path towards an abandoned old farmhouse near an oasis with water and trees. As far as there I went with a couple from Málaga. After the fourth drinking station where I had some water, Aquarius and banana, I went up a steep hill where I was overtaken by a runner with a T-shirt of Almería´s firemen. I cheered him. After getting to La Matanza, a very small village, we took along a very narrow lane which was uphill first and downhill later. I had to push most of the time since it was difficult for me to ride. Actually, on the way down I fell off the bike. Fortunately, it was just a few scars in my left leg and arm. I went on with three more cyclists. We had to push the bicycle most of the time because it was dangerous to cycle. We were overtaken by the second runner whom we cheered up. There was a shepherd nearby with a flock of sheep. We could smell of aromatic plants such as rosemary, thyme.
We finally arrived at Níjar and got to the fifth drinking station which was uphill where a few cyclists had decided to leave. After having a banana and drinking a little bottle of water and a can of Aquarius, I went on climbing from km 50. This was the hardest climb since it was 18 kms long. We went along a road to a small village called Huebro and then took a path on the right towards the peak Colativí, at 1300 m altitude. It was quite hard. I had to push a few times since it was faster than riding. In km 55 I was reached by my friend Manuel who was doing it running. I was very glad to be able to go with him but he was faster climbing than me even though he went walking uphill. I reached him when the path became flatter. I reached the sixth drinking station where I was given a cheese sandwich, fruit, a Coca Cola, water but I wasn´t hungry, so I didn´t eat the sandwich. It was in km 58. After reaching the summit, it was flat or a little uphill or downhill. I went with Manuel cheering him. He felt quite well, a little tired but without any muscle discomfort. I told him that I´d like to go with him instead of taking the cyclists´ route so that he didn´t go alone but I was told that the runners´ path was too narrow and dangerous for bicycles. So, in km 74 where both routes separate I decided to take the support vehicle so that I could arrive in time at Pechina where both routes became the same for runners and cyclists. That way I´d be in time to join Manuel and finish together the race.
The vehicle was driven by Luis, a man who loves mountain bikes but he didn´t take part because he hadn´t trained much. His wife, Ana, was also with him. They had cheered me up the whole route. In the back seats were Alejandro, a young man from Almería who looks Irish because he´s red-haired and his skin is very white. He had to retire because he had broken a pinion in his bicycle. There was also a girl from Málaga who had to retire because of a pain in her shoulder. She had had that pain since last week and in the race it got worse. I had ridden a few kilometres with her and a friend of her. We had a very good time talking about the race and some anecdotes such as that of a young man who broke his chain in km 10 and Luis saw him and repaired the chain. He thanked Luis warmly and told him he´d be among the first hundred and actually he did. He arrived number 10 in spite of losing 20 minutes. First, we went down a 12 km hill, which later I thought I shouldn´t have missed on the bicycle especially after having done the previous hill and later we went along dry streams with beautiful scenary which reminded me of the film Harrison Ford and the Last Crusade. We got to a town called Rioja and took a road to Pechina for 3 or 4 kilometres.
Then, In Pechina, I took my bicycle and asked if Manuel had already come. They told me that he had just passed. They knew him since it was his home town. So, I went on without my race number, to reach him in the dry river, Andarax. It was getting dark. Manuel felt all right. He was very happy to be able to reach the stadium soon. It became dark and when we were near Almería, a brother-in-law of Manuel´s reached us with his bicycle and a helmet with a light. We got to the stadium. Manuel had done around twelve hours. He was really glad. He was interviewed for a local TV. After that, we were given a bag a T-shirt, similar to that of Almería half marathon.
In conclusion, I had a good time and enjoyed both riding and keeping Manuel company in a few kilometres along his hard race. I also liked the big contrast of landscape between the seaside, the mountains and desert. If I feel strong enough, next year I´d like to do it running and walking but taking it easy.
http://www.todofondo.com/24halmeriasport/default.asp ( Please, click "En imágenes" ). I haven´t received the photos I took yet. When I get them, I´ll attach some.
I Raid Carrera a pie - BTT- Almería ( Running / Mountain bike )
