Races and stuff.

[Bierzo Baggie]

November. Ponferrada half marathon.

Not a lot to say about the race itself. Another half marathon came and went. Managed to chat to a few people and finished without too much discomfort.

The anecdote of the day came just beore the start when I was chatting to Manuel who is a regular at these events. Manuel is from Quilos, a village famed for producing robust, country boys and fiesta animals. Anyway, he pointed out a peculiar figure warming up nearby.
“This one’s from my village.. he’s a funny old so and so,” said Manuel.
The guy warming up wore a big, woolly hat pulled down over his ears and baggy shorts over a pair of running tights. I couldn’t quite see his face but the slightly hunched shoulders and the head thrust forward reminded me of somebody. Hey, …it was El Chepas! Didn’t know he was from Quilos.

I hadn’t seen El Chepas at any of the races this year but I had seen him strolling around the “barrio” one day in his slippers. I’d assumed he’d been on the fizzy pop again.
Well, as I was waiting for the race to start at the back of the pack (about 200 people were signed up for either the 2-lap half marathon or an alternative 10K) I noticed that a couple of young guys standing behind El Chepas were laughing at his choice of footwear. And El Chepas’ trainers are unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. They are a pair of flimsy pumps, a bit like the ones fell runners use and they must date back to the 70s or 80s. They’re full of holes and have been coarsely stitched together in places probably by El Chepas himself. Miraculously they remain attached to the guy’s feet.

The two young smirkers behind were of course dressed in flash designer gear and brand new 100 euro nikes or mizunos or whatever sells these days. They probably had i-pods in the soles or something like that. Anyway they were having a right laugh at our man so I decided to do something I’d never done before. I spoke to El Chepas. He’d spoken to me before although he’d have been too pissed to remember (seem to recall that he’d called me a big poofter). I made a point of saying to El Chepas in a loud voice that I hadn’t seen him in the Morredero race last month and congratulated him for finishing like a champion the year before in atrocious weather conditions. Also mentioned that with much better weather this year he’d have finished well before a lot of people half his age. 23k uphill is hard enough for a young guy let alone a 60+ ex-alcoholic running in recycled ballet shoes.

El Chepas was surprisingly coherent. He explained that he missed Morredero because he’d had a few problems with his feet (bunions? Ah, that’s why he’d been wearing those slippers). I wished him luck for the 10k in which he’d probably win his category. Noticed that the chuckle brothers had gone quiet.

Ana Isabel Alonso was there too running anonymously. I actually passed her on the second lap. Tried to run with her for a while but she dropped back. She finished in 1:35 when ten years ago she’d have been running sub-1:15 splits for the marathon ! Still find it hard to take in that nobody in El Bierzo has even heard of her. Worlds apart from El Chepas but like him, she was another anonymous hero running in a little publicized half marathon in a place which many Spanish people wouldn’t know where to locate on a map. Both of them came, ran and went home without any fuss and without drawing any attention whatsoever (well, apart from the shoes!) Whilst pondering, a long lost tune came into my head.

Whatever happened to the heroes?
Whatever happened to the heroes?
No more heroes any more
No more heroes any more

When I was a kid I had a whole bunch of heroes. I had posters splashed all over my bedroom walls. In chronological order I admired Mohammed Ali, Big Daddy, Laurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis, Allan Wells, Daley Thompson, Steve Jones.. even fancied Kathy Smallwood for a time. But now I know that the real heroes are the anonymous heroes.

December’s race will be an old favourite on the race calendar. The Lugo 10k next Sunday will bring 2007 to a close and will also round up this little race diary. Another running cycle complete and I’m still going round in circles .