It is really great to part in the same race several consecutive years. Even though each race is different, it is interesting to see the atmosphere, the people you met in previous years, check if the course is the same, meet new friends, etc.
Last Saturday, 27th August, was a sunny lovely day. As the race was at 8 pm, I left from Almería at 4:30 to have a swim and sunbathe before it and arrived at Mojácar, a Moorish style white village on a hill, 85 km away from my hometown. While I was going to park my car, I met Riccardo and his wife Anna, whom I had met at this race two years before. They come from Italy but spend a few months at Aguamarga, another village near there.
http://www.viva-almeria.com/mojacar_pueblo_p21.php
After parking my car, I went up to the town square. There´s a wonderful view of the surroundings from up there. I filled in the entry form. It cost three euros this year while the previous years it had been free. Phillipe, a young man from France who spends his holidays at Mójacar beach, greeted me. We also met in the two previous races. He lives in Paris and has taken part in Paris half marathon in the last years doing 4 hours 20 minutes three years ago. He introduced me to his sister who recorded us with her video camera. I also met Paco, a friend of mine from Almería. He told me that the course was a bit different this year since we didn´t have to go along the seaside road, which meant one kilometre and a half less than last year.
Afterwards, a group of three British people asked me if I had taken part at Reading half marathon since I was wearing its T-shirt. They happened to be from Reading but they were living in the Albox area, in the northern part of the province of Almería where many Britons have settled. In fact, Richard, who was taking part at the race had also run Reading half several years and he took part at Almería half this year doing one hour thirty-five minutes, I think. There were other British runners around there. One of them was wearing a Wessex club T-shirt, which reminded me of Thomas Hardy´s books. I mentioned that I enjoy his books a lot. For instance, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Far from the Madding Crowd, etc. I think that fate is an important feature of Hardy´s novels.
At eight o´clock sharp, the race started. We wished each other good luck. There were around a hundred runners at the start line. The first part of the race was mainly downhill, especially the first two kilometres. So, everybody starts very fast although you have to be careful not to fall down because of the speed you can reach. I did them in only 9 minutes, which is really fast for my level.
There were a few orchards with orange trees still green and some fig trees by the road with a beautiful smell. I reached Phillipe and a friend of his. We talked a little but I couldn´t keep their pace, so I remained alone most of the race and sometimes I was overtaken by other runners. We sometimes talked a little and encouraged each other.
The course, after going behind the village, reached the main road that goes towards the seaside. There was a drinking station at that crossing. In fact, every 2.5 kilometres approximately there was one. After less than one kilometre, we took another less important road that took us to a neighbourhood with semi-detached houses where people clapped and encouraged us. We could see runners going back to the start. The first one was flying. He was José Antonio García Verdegay, on of the best rrunners in Almería. He owns a sports shop and organises a the Villa Inés race every year in June. He would arrive in thirty-five minutes. After the race, he told me that he thought the course was 9.1 km long. The second one appeared two or three minutes later. I also saw Richard and we both encouraged each other as well as Phillipe later. Finally, I arrived at the point where some volunteers wrote down our race numbers and we had to go back mainly uphill.
At once, there was another driniking station. I took another bottle and after drinking and throwing some water on my head, I deposited it in a waste paper basket. A girl who who was a volunteer at a crossing said : Very well. I like men who are neat. Actually, I don´t like seeing bottles along the course so I always wait to find a a waste paper basket or a rubbish bank to throw it in.
When we were around km 7; I saw a young man who couldn´t go on because he had had some strong discomfort in his calves. From there, we could see Mojácar up on the hill. It was a beautiful view with all the houses whitewashed but a bit discouraging to have to go uphill the last kilometres. We arrived at the main road but instead of going back along the same route, we went uphill along the main road which is quite steep. I remember that last year I had to do some one-minute walking but this year I managed to do the whole course without any walking.
Finally, I arrived at the finish in 55 minutes. There, I was given a T-shirt and a can of Aquarius. However, I´d noticed that runners had been given a bag with two T-shirts and a cap. I saw Phillipe and congratulated him. He had finished in fifty minutes. I commented about the goodie bag and he told me to tell the organisers. They told me that they didn´t have any more bags left. There were some bottles of water or cans of Cruzcampo beer over there. I just had a bottle of water apart from the Aquarius can.
There were three or four runners who arrived a few minutes after me. Riccardo was one of them. We congratulated each other. Afterwards, I met Richard and his friends Janet and Joe. Richard is quite fast. It took him just 39 minutes. We´ll probably meet in other races organised by Diputación de Almería and Cruzcampo. I also talked to Richard and Anna. We´re going to meet in Almería or Aguamarga to go for a run one day. While I was talking to them, Phillipe came and told me to wait for him because he was going to bring me a goodie bag. I told him not to worry about it but he insisted and brought me his own bag. I told him that I couldn´t accept it but he insisted so much that I couldn´t reject it although I gave him the white T-shirt since I already had one which I was wearing because I had sweated a lot. Merci beaucoup, Phillip! À l´année prochaine! Thank you very much, Phillipe! See you next year!
