New objective : Almería half marathon

[Antonio247]

20th November 2008

I went for a run at 7 pm. It had rained in the morning but in the evening it was a nice day. The temperature was 15º Celsius. I started at the esplanade and went along the sea front as far as the end of it in 18 minutes. I stopped two minutes to talk to the parents of a friend of mine who were having a walk along the sea front. As I felt all right, I decided to do a circular route instead of going back along the same course. So, I crossed Cabo de Gata avenue and took the main avenue in Nueva Almería, which is a neighbourhood with a lot of houses with a garden.

While I was jogging I realised it was 20th November, the day when Franco had died 33 years ago. I remember that when I got up, my mother told me “Franco has died”. It wasn´t a surprise since he had been at hospital for many days. I remember that everybody talked about what would happen after Franco´s death. The future was unclear. There were expectations about the future, about the new ruler, the king Juan Carlos I. I remember there were no classes at school for a few days. When classes started again, we were given Franco´s last testament and the king´s first speech. Although 33 years have gone by, most people of my generation remember those days very clearly. A race had finished, a new one started.

I went on along Nueva Almería and reached a football ground where I stopped to do some stretching. While I was stretching, I saw a black young man walking towards me. He happened to be René, a student at my school who comes from Guinea Bissau. He was going to train soccer. We talked a little and then hw went into the football ground and I went on towards avenida del Mediterráneo where I saw some people running, especially where the fair is held in august. Then, I took carretera de Sierra Alhamilla and reached my neighbourhood in 52 minutes and added two more minutes. Then, I did some more stretching and went home.