Last Sunday I took part at Málaga half marathon. It was a good chance to go to Pablo Picasso´s hometown and visit his museum.
http://WWW.malagaturismo.com/home.jsp?id_idioma=2
We had a great time there last weekend. We stayed at a hotel near Málaga, at hotel Spa Cala Bahía at Cala del Moral just 9 km away from Málaga. The hotel is very new with large bedrooms, the meals are all right and the spa is relaxing.
http://WWW.hotelcalabahia.com
On Saturday morning we picked up the race number, chip, an Adidas technical T-shirt and some other things such as Bimbo bread rolls, deodorant, etc.
Although the weather forecast predicted rainy weather, it just rained on Saturday afternoon when we went to Picasso´s museum. We enjoyed the visit and the building is fine.
http://WWW.museopicassomalaga.org
On sunday morning I went to the Carranque sports pavilion where the half marathon started. It was a sunny day. There were nearly 3000 participants there. I met Manolo B from Almería with his wife and later Manolo F, also from Almería. Before the start I jogged a little and did some stretching. There were people from many parts of Andalusia but also from the rest of Spain and abroad, especially the UK. The race started at 10 am. Although we had a chip there was no mat at the start. I managed to go at a 5´30´´ pace for the first five kilometres which were in the outskirts but I couldn´t keep that pace so I reached kilometre 10 , near the port, in 59 minutes. I went on my own most of the race overtaking and being overtaken. We reached Málaga´s sea front with little wind and got back to the city centre. A bus driver asked me how many kilometres the race was. In this race there is a lane which the cars can use. The last two kilometres are uphill to get at the stadium and do a lap at the track. I felt strong enough to overtake a woman and then a man. By the way, I saw a runner lying on the grass who apparently had had a heart attack when he was getting to the finish and was helped by a doctor and a nurse. I finished in 2 hours 11 minutes 40 seconds according to my watch. When I got to the finish I was given a bottle of water, a bottle of Powerade. I could have had a glass of beer but I didn´t feel like it. I missed a sweatshirt like the one I was given six years ago at this race. When I was going to my car, I met Adolfo, a colleague from a secondary school in Almería who did the half in one hour 42 minutes.
I felt better than at Almería half, with very little discomfort. I should lose a few kilos and train better to do a half marathon under two hours.
http://WWW.mediamaratonmalaga.com
XIX Medio maratón de Málaga 29th March 2009
