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June.To run or not to run?
28-06-2005, 08:14 AM,
#26
June.To run or not to run?
I came (to Toral), I saw, I didn’t actually conquer, but at least I survived.

It all started on Saturday afternoon when we met Brian and Bea in Toral de los Vados to collect the race numbers. Toral is one of the ugliest villages in Bierzo and is dominated by the huge Cosmos cement factory on one side of town and its feeder quarries on the other. Normally it’s quite dead on a Saturday afternoon but today there is a marked proliferation of lean, skeletal individuals wearing marathon t-shirts and clutching goodie bags. We collect ours which contain a bottle of wine and a jar of pears. They also contain the race medal. Does this mean I don’t have to run now? But we all know it’s not that simple.

We then retired to a little café terrace opposite the railway station. They clearly knew that there were Brits in town as the barmaid was lining up pint glasses on the counter and seemed somewhat disappointed when we ordered dinky little beers which only half filled our ale jugs. Then we chatted about this and that and baby Lara was soon hypnotized by Brian’s dulcet Croyden tones.

Just before leaving we met a fellow called Baltazar (didn’t he carry the myrrh?...and what the f*** is myrrh incidently?). Well this wise man is carrying a plastic bag with a jar of pears. Just like us. Baltazar works at Cosmos and is the only athlete from the village running tomorrow. He filled me in with a little race history. This is the 21st edition of the marathon which was originally the idea of a cultural association more associated with staging theatre than sports events. Apparently somebody said “hey, let’s organize a marathon!”. And they did. 13 people turned up. But it carried on year after year and eventually it flourished. Baltazar followed the star (sorry!) and was the organizer for 10 years until 1998 which was the first time I ran here.By then there were over 400 competitors, including a couple of top Kenyans and a Portuguese lady called Manuela Machado who was world champion at the time. An outstanding success story, all the more so when you consider that Toral is an otherwise sleepy little village of 2000 inhabitants.

Enough preambling....to the race.

It’s 7:45am or something like that. There are lithe, tanned athletes wherever you look, stretching, jumping and psyching each other out with narrow, moody eyes. Unsuccessfully I try to find Brian amongst them. Just as I begin to wonder if he’d overslept I catch sight of a tall englishman with long socks propping up the bar in the café we’d gone to on Saturday. The obligatory photo follows and soon enough we’re both on the start line along with 250 or so other runners waiting for the off. There are athletes from all over Spain and a good local turnout from the Bierzo region. I spot Miguel the prof, Luis the footie player, Juan Ca from Palencia, Chus Alonso (one of the hot favourites), the mighty Basurko, Pinilla the miner and others. Very few lady runners although as always there is Raquel Dos Santos, the Brazilian wife of Jacinto the 100km runner, adding a bit more international flavour to the proceedings. Jacinto ultra-man is a spectator this year and so is Rodrigo Gavela (ex Spanish record holder).

The race begins. Accompany Brian for the first km but he soon pulls away and his long white socks become an increasingly distant reference point bobbing up and down on the horizon. Try to average 5 minute kms and actually go a little faster than this passing through the half marathon point in just under 1:40. So far, so good. But from this point onwards I start to slow down. No aches and pains. No niggles or physical discomfort. Just an ever increasing emptiness, leaden legs and a terrible hunger. I think I’ve just run out of gas....

I tried to kid myself that I was going to pack it in at 25kms. If I hadn’t have kidded myself that I was going to pack it in at 25kms I think I would have probably packed it in at 25kms. Does that make sense? I’m a great sports psychologist me. Anyway, Rosana and baby were there at the next drinks station and yes, I did it. I kissed the baby. Then I kissed Rosana. And then I kissed the baby again. And then... I carried on.

The ploy now was to find people to run with who were plodding along like me. Ran for a while with a fellow from Toledo and then with a chap from Jerez who must have been carrying more than 100kgs on his bulky frame. But things weren’t going to get any better and at 30km I walked. At 35kms I walked some more and at 40kms I gave up running altogether. Tried to walk at a brisk pace and managed a final run around the athletics track for the last 300 metres. It’s not exactly the Almeria stadium but the grandstand is full of people and the cheer you get on crossing the finish line is sweet. Simply finishing is even sweeter. Spotted Brian almost immediately and he seemed chuffed to bits with his 3 hours 13 minutes. An excellent time. I was just happy to get round although it had taken me half an hour longer. Chomped away at a water melon, spoke to Pedro lumberjack (injured and not running today) and then sat with Bea up in the grandstand. They announced on the loudspeaker that the last runner was in the village of Dehesas and there was no doubt that everybody was going to wait for him. They did and I’m told that he was warmly applauded and was awarded a splendid ornamental tortoise.

So there it is. This will be my only marathon this year and it was great to take part. It was also great to finish although for the last 12kms I was a “dead man walking”. As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions I find road running a nasty business, but the atmosphere of the races, the people and the anecdotes you accumulate during the day make it all worthwhile. The race is a “fiesta” of running and rather than the culmination of months of training I try to see it all as part of a greater journey, a new point of departure rather than a destination in itself. Or perhaps it’s just that I don’t like plans. Ho hum.

RACE STATISTICS
Toral de los Vados Marathon 2005

First Male Athlete: Elias Dominguez (Vigo) 2:27:01
First Female Athlete: Esther Pérez (Toledo) 3:41:18
First Athlete with Long socks: Brian Carreau (Croydon) 3:13
First Brit with glasses: Simon Allen (Bierzo Baggie) 3:44

Starters 255
Finishers 208
Final anecdote: The mighty Basurko ran the last kilometre pushing his baby daughter in a pushchair and still finished in 2:55.
Reply


Messages In This Thread
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 02-06-2005, 07:50 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 02-06-2005, 07:51 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 03-06-2005, 09:56 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 06-06-2005, 06:53 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 07-06-2005, 03:02 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 08-06-2005, 04:07 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Riazor Blue - 08-06-2005, 07:14 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Nigel - 09-06-2005, 06:44 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Antonio247 - 09-06-2005, 12:24 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 10-06-2005, 08:17 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 13-06-2005, 07:31 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by El Gordo - 13-06-2005, 10:41 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 16-06-2005, 10:00 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Peterward2 - 16-06-2005, 01:55 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by El Gordo - 17-06-2005, 09:28 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Antonio247 - 18-06-2005, 03:47 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 18-06-2005, 09:52 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 18-06-2005, 10:06 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 21-06-2005, 09:57 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 24-06-2005, 08:08 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 24-06-2005, 08:43 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by El Gordo - 24-06-2005, 10:22 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Riazor Blue - 25-06-2005, 07:33 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Nigel - 25-06-2005, 09:44 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 28-06-2005, 08:09 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 28-06-2005, 08:14 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Antonio247 - 28-06-2005, 10:13 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by El Gordo - 28-06-2005, 10:45 AM
June.To run or not to run? - by Nigel - 28-06-2005, 04:05 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Riazor Blue - 28-06-2005, 07:18 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by Bierzo Baggie - 29-06-2005, 02:41 PM
June.To run or not to run? - by El Gordo - 29-06-2005, 08:56 PM

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