After a few years without going to the UK, I had the chance to go on 14th April to take part at Worcester half marathon. Antonio G. and I went to Almería airport to take the plane to Gatwick. In my local airport, I met Sweder, his wife, daughter P., daughter’s friend R. and Sweder’s mother-in-law. I had met all of them. except his mother-in-law in Almería the previous Thursday with Santi since they had spent a week in a small village in northern Almería.. We had a drink at Torreluz terrace where we had a good time.
We had a pleasant flight. We wished each other good luck on the following day. Actually, Sweder was going to take part at Brighton marathon as well. Then, we left the airport to pick up our rented car at the Holiday Inn hotel where the rental company Green motion is. We were given a Hyundai bigger than we had applied for. I really like this company. They were very helpful and the rental was great value. After setting the Sat Nav we left. At the beginning I found it odd to drive on the left and once I was about to crash with a lorry since I tended to go to the right lane instead of the left one. But, later it was easier. We went towards Worcester trying to go to Stonehenge first but later we decided to leave that for Monday of we had time. So, we took the motorway and stopped at Theale for a soft drink in a pub in the high street as a homage to El Gordo who used to live there. I remember that when we wanted to take the key away to go to the pub, we couldn´t. So, I asked a man if he could help us and he managed to take it out. I told him if he wanted to have a drink with us but he said that he had to work. After the drink, we went on and stopped at Cirencester, in the Cotswolds. We liked this town and the scenery along small roads on the way. From there, we went to our hotel in Worcester, The Premier Inn, which is quite well and the staff is very nice and helpful. Later, we went to the rugby stadium where we picked up our race numbers and chips. After that, we went to Worcester where we saw its beautiful cathedral, the town hall, the High street ….. We just had a drink in a pub because food wasn’t served at that time - around 8 – so we went back to the hotel to have a fantastic dinner at the hotel restaurant.
On Sunday, we left early for the start line. We saw people who left their car near our hotel and went on foot, so we did the same. The temperature was 2º C but later it went up and it was a sunny and sometimes cloudy day. On the way to the stadium, I met a man, Paul, who told us he comes with his family to Jávea every year staying at a friend’ s house. We got into the stadium and left the bags in a special place for it. Then, we went to the start line waiting for the start which was delayed fifteen minutes due to the slow traffic to get the cars in the car park. The course is undulating with hills up and down. The scenery is rural with farms, small villages, etc. As Antonio G. was going to do the marathon, I decided to go on my own after the first mile which due to the narrow path we couldn’t start very fast. However, it doesn´t matter since it is better to go from less to more. So, I did the first mile in 12 minutes but the next 6 miles in 11 minutes. I felt quite well passing some runners when going up the hills. However, in the last part I had to slow down and was passed by some runners. I talked to a few runners while we were running together but I couldn’t be long with any of them. I was running with a girl when the half marathon runners had to go towards the stadium, however, she was doing the marathon. I thought if I had to do this course again, I wouldn’t be able. The last mile is next to a beautiful canal to get to the outer part of the stadium where the people cheered a lot. When I got to the finish in 2 hours 14 minutes, a girl gave me a bag with a medal, a bottle of water and something to eat. Then, I collected my XL T-shirt from a stand. Then, I went to pick up my bag with my sweatshirt and went to have a Jacket potato and a can of Seven up that I bought at a stand. After having that and cheering a little, I went back to the hotel where I had a shower and went back by car to the stadium to keep Antonio G. company in his last miles. I phoned him and found out where he was. So, I walked along the course cheering the runners who were getting to the finish and when I met Antonio -who was a little tired but not too much - we went together as far as near the finish. Then, I took a short cut to take a pic of him getting to the finish. He was glad to have managed to do his first marathon in 5 hours 16 minutes. We picked up his bag and drove back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we had a well deserved meal and went by car to Cheltentham and Gloucester. We liked this city and its cathedral, which by the way a man form there told us it had been used as a location in the Harry Potter films. We had a drink at a pub in Gloucester where there was a football match in which Tottenham and Chelsea were playing. There was a group of young students wearing their school uniforms and drinking a lot. We went back to the hotel restaurant where we had a beer and some crisps and peanuts.
On Monday, we had a fantastic buffet continental breakfast at the hotel restaurant and left towards Stonehenge. The Sat Nav took us along secondary roads and when we were near Salisbury we stopped at a petrol station to fill the car up and asked how to get to Stonehenge since in the Sat Nav we could’ t find this place. I asked the attendant who is paid for the petrol. She explained me but a lady heard us and explained me better. Fortunately, when we were setting the Sat Nav, the lady told us she was going that was, that we could follow her. So, I thanked her a lot. We got to the car park near the monument and went down to take some pictures. It is really impressive. From Stonehenge, we went to Brighton to meet Sweder and Cam who were waiting for us at the South Downs hotel car park. Both of them had finished Brighton marathon the previous day with nearly a PB. It was fantastic to see them again. In Sweder’s car we went to the place where Moyleman´s ashes were thrown since it was his favourite place. Cam, Chris´ sister took a bunch of flowers and Sweder a ribbon. I said that the next time I go, I´ll take an Indalo from Almería. It was very moving to be there remembering Chris three years and a day after his early death . We went for a walk in that beautiful place in the South Downs which is part of the famous snake, a very beautiful course to train between the sea front and the mountainous countryside and back along another path to the sea front in Brighton. Then, we went to the Marina where we had a fantastic lunch in an American restaurant and invited by Sweder who insisted on paying for it. Muchas gracias, S. After that, we went to the South Down hotel car park where we took our car, said good bye to Sweder thaniking him again for everything and Cam told us that we could follow her to take us to the sea front in Brighton where we could park the car. So we did and after thanking Cam for all, we went for a walk along the sea front, the pier…. There were a lot of people at the fun fair and on the beach since it was sunny. We had an ice cream in a café and drove back along the road by the sea front to the Green Motion rental company where we took back the car and went to the airport to take an early flight back to Almería.
We really enjoyed this short trip but very intense in emotions.
Worcester half marathon 15th April 2012
