Well, the new course is already known.
http://www.todofondo.com/medioalmeria/default.asp Sorry, I couldn´t link it well. Please, click "Circuito", which means "course".
It starts at the new stadium for the Mediterranean Games. There are one lap and a half. The first lap is a little downhill along carretera Sierra de Alhamilla - it should be written like this although in the map it is spelt without the "h", a big spelling mistake. It goes parallel to the railway lines. Then, we´ll cross an old ring road near the city centre. It is flat. So far, it is about three kilometres. Then, we´ll go up Rambla Federico García Lorca, which is one of the main avenues in the town. It is slightly uphill for around two kilometres as far as Al Andalus secondary school. It isn´t my school. Then, the same distance downhill along that avenue. Then, we´ll get to avenida Cabo de Gata, which is the avenue that takes you to the beaches in Almería. It´s flat and we´ll go as far as Maestro Padilla auditorium. It is about two kms long. Then, we´ll go back along that avenue to go up Rambla Federico García Lorca again but not all the way as in the first lap but one or two hundred metres before, following the yellow line, instead of the red one. Then, we´ll go down Avenida Federico García Lorca to take Avenida Cabo de Gata again as far as the auditorium but going up Avenida del Mediterráneo, which is a bit uphill and then taking the first part of carretera de Sierra Alhamilla now a little uphill to get into the stadium and finish.
It is mainly flat but with little hills, both down and up. The problem is that the last three kilometres are a bit uphill. Although, it isn´t really tough, it may be tiring since we can be tired after so many kilometres. Therefore, it´d be sensible to train long runs ending in hills to be used to it. Nevertheless, in all, the course is quite flat and can be fast. If we´re lucky and it isn´t hot or windy, we can get a PB. Even if it were windy, as there are a lot of blocks of flats, we´d be protected.
If there´s anything else you want to know, feel free to ask me.
Greetings from Almería
Antonio
Almería half marathon. 30th January 2006
