IX Medio maratón de Almería. 29 - I - 2006

[Antonio247]

Monday 30th January 2006

On Monday morning, I met Ashley and AndySP at the hotel restaurant where they were having breakfast. They had been up late the previous night having some drinks with Juan Pedro. There, we met a Kenyan female runner who was the second in the female category. Later, AndyRC came down and had a cup of coffee in the bar. Afterwards, I drove Andy SP and Ashley to the seafront. It was sunny and warm at last. From there we could see the sea and some snowed mountains in the background : Sierra Nevada, Sierra de los Filabres and Sierra Alhamilla. It is really unusual to see snow from Almería but the last weekend had been very cold. We had breakfast at a café in the sea front where we saw a young woman running with a limp. She is one of the best local runners. We considered that she shouldn´t have gone for a run with that injury. I had to leave them since I had lessons at school at 12.50 pm.

I met all of them on Monday evening at Molly Malone but the music was too loud so we decided to go somewhere else. I suggested Café National Geographic where we had a bottle of Rioja and some crips and nuts. By the way, while AndyRC was taking a picture the table turned down and some wine fell off. So, we asked for another bottle. After that, they wanted to go back to “El Quinto Toro” where they had had some wine and tapas before but when we arrived, it was closed. Then, we went to another bar in the city centre, El Ajolí, where we had another bottle of Rioja and tapas of Baked potatoes and baked ham and drank a toast to all the forumites absent including M. As it was a bit late, around 12 am, I wished them a safe trip back home and thanked them for having come here again.

I think it has been an intense weekend for all of us. I feel glad to have taken part at Almería half with these friends who came from England and have been with them, my brother and other friends in several places socializing and celebrating our achievements. It would be great if they and any other forumites could come next year.