Last Sunday, on the 4th of June, I took part in this race. It is the second time I participate in it. However, this year was a 8 km one lap course, while last year it consisted of a two lap course, in all, 8.5 kms. I think I prefer this one since it is a bit hard to have to do the same course twice.
Villa Inés is a resort belonging to Huércal de Almería, just 5 kms away from Almería. It has terraced houses and a few low blocks of flats. As it was a festival in that neighbourhood, there were
I went with Guillermo, a runner I met at Cartagena half who happens to live in Almería although he is from Cartagena. He also took part in Madrid marathon this year, which was a little tougher than in the previous years since the course has been changed due to works in Madrid.
We arrived at 9 am. There were some attractions since on the weekend there is a fair. There was also a band playing music and “gigantes y cabezudos” – figures of giants with very big heads. We gave our names and were given our race numbers and safety pins. The entry was free. I met some runners I know because we have taken part in other races or training such as Diego, who took part at Cartagena half or Red Cross race in Almería, Jorge, who took part at Almería half and Seville marathon. He was very glad because he felt much better after having suffered from tendonitis. I also talked to Sergio,
http://WWW.todofondo.com webmaster. Guillermo also greeted to some friends he knew and we started warming up a little.
At 9:45 the race started. There were around sixty people taking part. It was a bit hot, around 30º Celsius. We started running around the resort to reach a path with a bridge above the railway. We turned right along a quiet narrow road which is next to some farms with cows and greenhouses to turn back along the same road. Instead of going straight to the town of Huércal we took a path under the motorway which took us near the river Andarax and again to the previous road to reach Huércal de Almería . We took a little steep street as far as Mercadona, a supermarket, to turn back and get to Villa Inés resort. When I arrived, most runners had already arrived. Everybody clapped a lot. Actually, I did not feel too bad and managed to arrive in 46 minutes, 30 seconds. I greeted Guillermo who had arrived five minutes earlier and went to the organisation premises belonging to the residents´ association and had a glass of lemonade. There were some children having a cup of chocolate and some cake. Afterwards, I picked up my goodie bag which contained a T-shirt, a bottle of water, a banana from the Canary islands, an apple, a little trophy and afterwards a man from the organisation gave me a cap. I congratulated Guillermo, Jorge, Sergio and other runners I saw and got back home. Guillermo remained there with a work mate to have a beer and he came back with his friend. I would have gone with them but I was in a hurry to get back home.
III Carrera popular Villa Inés
