On Saturday afternoon, I went to the hotel Tryp Indalo where the race numbers were given this year. I got my race number and the ticket for the pasta dinner. There I met the English armada. I met the new runners who had come this year and bought the RC T-shirt which I would wear on Sunday. I also met there Guillermo, Felipe, Mario, Encarna, Pepe, Javier, Santi, etc.
In the evening, I went with my wife, Carmen, and Carmen S. who were going to have dinner as well. There, we met the English and Spanish friends. Ana and Javier also appeared and told us they would go to have some tapas with Jorge and other friends from Madrid. She also told me that they wouldn´t be able to come to the post race pasta meal because they all had been invited to have paella at a place near the beach by a colleague of one of their friends. This year dinner was at the hotel and there was a queue to pick up the dishes, salad, chicken, macaroni, dessert and water. If you wanted another drink, you had to pay for it. I sat at a table with Felipe, Mario, Encarna, Pepe, Javier, Guillermo, Carmen S. and Carmen. I talked to Javier about his recent climb to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I also went to the English people´s table to see how everything was and I took some photos.
On Sunday morning, it rained although not much. The temperature was nice, between 10º and 12º Celsius. I left my car at the stadium car park and went towards the stadium but I met Sweder and other mates who were going toward the van, so I went back with them. There, I met the rest of the runners. After keeping the things in the bag, we went to the stadium meeting Paulk, who was going to his car. I went to the toilet before the race. There was a long queue. So, when I got to the start line, I didn´t see anybody from the RC team. I met a local runner, Jorge who was with another runner. Then, the race started but something really unusual happened. I noticed a car from the organisation in the middle of the road and I thought it was strange that it was like that. Then, a few metres ahead, other runners told us we had to go back. Apparently, one of the first fast runners had taken the wrong route, following the red line, which was the new route for the 10 km runners on their way back to the stadium. Everybody was a bit angry. I met Guillermo, Encarna, Seafront plodder. Nobody could believe it. We went to the start line and after a few minutes, we heard that the new start would be at 11 o´clock. So, we went to the stadium to get protected from the rain. Afterwards, the new start was given. Before that, I talked to Germán, a 75 year-old man who always runs with a T-shirt with the Cuban flag in the front and the Spanish one at the back. He loves running and nearly every weekend goes to a different place. He´s appeared in several magazines and TVs and taken part in plenty of half and full marathons all over the world.
After wishing each other good luck, the race started again. I felt fine in the first lap. I didn´t find a group that suited my pace. I wasn´t obsessed with the time In was doing because I had decided to run without the watch. I felt all right in the first lap but in the second I noticed that I couldn´t keep the same pace. In the course I greeted the RC mates I saw and other local colleagues. I also greeted Juanjo, who was helping at the drink station in kilometre 10 at avenida del Mediterráneo. We were neighbours and friends when we were children and teenagers long time ago. I thanked him for giving me the bottle of water and he wished me good luck. In the second lap at the Rambla I was overtaken by Germán who looked stronger with the kilometres unlike me who looked weaker. I noticed a woman soldier at Cabo de Gata avenue standing and greeting in a military way. However, this year I didn´t see the old man with the loudspeaker who was cheering the runners at Cabo de Gata avenue, shouting “Ánimo”, which means “Come on”, not “animals” as an English reporter doing the Madrid marathon who wrote a report at Runner´s World thought it meant as in French “Animaux”. I didn´t see either the young man doing the whole race kicking a ball. In the last kilometres along avenida del Mediterráneo, carretera de Sierra Alhamilla and La Goleta I managed to pass a few runners. When I got into the stadium, I tried to go a bit faster but I was overtaken by a runner who was running very fast while I could see myself in the screen going towards the finish. I didn´t get a PB but it wasn´t a Personal Worst either. 2 hours 15 minutes, six more minutes than last year. This year due to the rain the water, bananas, tomatoes, T-shirt were given inside which meant a long queue. After getting all those things, I met Encarna, Pepe, Javier and Mario waiting for me in the tunnel. We congratulated each other and said we would meet at 3 pm at the Club de Mar restaurant. When I was going toward the car park, I met PaulK who was waiting for me. He had done the half in one hour 28 minutes. He wanted to know how to get to the hotel. I told him to follow me in his car and I took him to the Hotel Tryp Indalo.
New objective : Almería half marathon
