RE: Zegama-Aizkorri 2011
Thanks for all the comments. I enjoyed writing about this race more than running it.
Postscript.
1. Of course Kilian Jornet won again but was forced to dig deep in an epic struggle with Scotland’s Tom Owens. And Owens became only the fifth man to go below 4 hours at Zegama. In fact the best races always seem to be when top UK fell runners meet up with the cream of the local mountain runners. Rob Jebb’s record still stands for another year.
2. The shepherd’s name was Benito and I still don’t know if he was a real shepherd. He’s a bit of a local celebrity and takes part in all the local long distance events, always wearing his “abarkas” and a “txapela” (a big black beret).
3. In the end there was a 3 minute penalty for anybody “without suitable rainwear”. This affected many of the French runners and altered the podium in the case of the ladys’ race.
4. The cheese didn’t survive the journey home. Once unwrapped it produced a pungent, acidic odour and was already mouldy around the edges. Reluctantly binned it.
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