XXII Medio maratón de Almería

[Antonio247]

It has been another intense weekend meeting new and old friends who came to take part in my hometown local half or 9 K fun run or accompanying them. It’s been a wonderful experience to share time with all of them and I had a very good time. Although the previous Thursday was quite windy and Friday was windy and rainy ( Joe and Louise suffered that weather),the weekend was mild, sunny and not very windy.

I’ll focus on the race on Sunday. I drove to the stadium parking giving a lift to Felipe and his wife,Ester. Felipe was going to do the half and Ester the 9 K. We went to the sports pavillion to drop our bags and meet our friends. There I met other runners who were going to take part in the race such as Jose, from Pechina, who was with other mates from his team Gádor corre con el buen pastor. He was a little injured so he was going to take it easy. He is training for Seville marathon on 24th February. I also met a girl from Ukraine, Nataliya, who lives in a town near Almería. I met her at Roquetas half marathon where she did her first half and beat me in the last kilometres. At the entrance I met a group of the English friends. We talked a little and had some photos taken. We wished each other good luck and those taking part at the half marathon went to the start line where I saw Felipe and told him to come with us. The atmosphere at the start line was fantastic with the Legion soldiers behind us cheering. Sweder and I decided to go together at a pace we felt comfortable. He hadn’t been able to train much and had had flu recently. In fact, he didn’t feel well with breathing problems. We went at a more or less constant 6:10 km pace. At the beginning we tried not to go faster although we could because we knew that the last kilometres we would need to feel not too exhausted. We passed other runners who had started too fast such as Rosa. We talked to her a little when we met her in kilometre 6 and went on. Last year I had done the whole race from kilometre 5 with her. She had taken part at Havana marathon last year. We also passed Antonio G in the park. He would arrive with Rosa at the finish. When we were going towards the end of the park, we saw on their way back Out along the river and Paula who were going to do the race under two hours. We also saw the companies of legionaires running together and happy at a steady pace. When we went along Cabo de Gata avenue, I looked for Carmen, my wife, who was supossed to be there to cheer and take a few pics but later she told me that when she went down she saw the pics my brother had shared in the family whatsapp group and realised she had been late. She thought it would take me longer to be there as in previous years. The I saw my brother, Jose, who took us photos at avenida Cabo de Gata and avenida Juan XXIII. We got to the old stadium feeling well. Just seven more kilometres to he finish. Near the sea we noticed the wind more but as we were getting to the stadium it was not too tough. In some parts we had head wind and in others, fortunately, back wind. In the last four kilometres I felt a bit tired but we saw other people walking or jogging and we passed them. This year I noticed more people in the streets cheering and children offering their hands to be touched. When we were just one kilometre and a half to the finish, we passed Nataliya from Ukraine, the girl who had done her first half marathon in Roquetas de Mar. I told her “¡Ánimo, Natalija!”, which means “Come on!”. Her nickname in the race number was “Mi segunda”, that is, “My second (half)”. In the last kilometre, there was a group of British friends who had finished their race cheering us near the stadium. In the last five hundred metres, Sweder went faster and I found it hard to reach him but I told myself we’ve got to get to the finish line together and so did we. We raised our arms together and congratulated each other. I had to go back to pick up my mobile phone that had fallen when putting up my arm. Luckily, it didn’t break. Just a little the glass cover protector. We got our medals and met Joe, Louise, Duncan, Miriam, Out along the river, Paula, Jennifer, Cam, Harvey, David… We talked about the race, the time we had done and went to have drinks and food feeling well. We did two hours ten minutes real time. For me it was quite good since I managed to do the half ten minutes less than last year with much better sensations. It has been a wonderful experience to have done the whole course with Sweder. I’m sure it made me go at a steady pace from the beginning and being able to arrive feeling quite well without much discomfort and thinking that the two hour barrier could be reached if I train well and I’m lucky with injuries and diseases.

Saludos desde Almería.



https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNH...5lM2V4TzNn

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Most excellent, Antonio! Many thanks for the superb race report and excellent photos. I'm glad you were able to run a good race running alongside the old goat, Sweder.

I hope I can return one year and run the race again with you!

[Antonio247]

Muchas gracias, MLCMM. It´d be fantastic if we two, and perhaps Sweder would like to join us too, could run together and do the race under two hours.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Muchas gracias, MLCMM. It´d be fantastic if we two, and perhaps Sweder would like to join us too, could run together and do the race under two hours.

Indeed, Antonio, that's a fine goal to aim for. And Felipe is proof positive that it can definitely be done after retirement!

We'll make it happen.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Now that's what I call teamwork! Well done Antonio and Sweder ....nice photos, consistent running, true Almeria veterans.... 

[Antonio247]

Muchas gracias, MLCMM. It´d be fantastic if we two, and perhaps Sweder would like to join us too, could run together and do the race under two hours.

Indeed, Antonio, that's a fine goal to aim for. And Felipe is proof positive that it can definitely be done after retirement!

We'll make it happen.

That´d be fantastic. Muchas gracias, MLCMM.

Now that's what I call teamwork! Well done Antonio and Sweder ....nice photos, consistent running, true Almeria veterans.... 

Muchas gracias, BB. We expect you to be able to come here one year.

Saludos desde Almería.