Season 2016

[Bierzo Baggie]

This race report is out of control.
 
Descending the final firebreak for the second time I passed a man with a rucksack who was shuffling along so slowly he’d be lucky to reach Paramo by lunchtime. Then passed a few more including Mickey and Minnie. Reached the 10k checkpoint just outside the cut-off by my calculations but they let me through anyway.
 
It was here that I realized training for a 33km mountain race with fast, flat 5k bursts is ideal for chasing down the field but less so for finishing the race. I was knackered.
 
Ate, drank and then set off on a steady walk. The second section of the route is a long slow pull that takes you through snow laden high pastures. I always struggle here. But then there is a fast technical descent to the abandoned village of Primout where I make up a bit more ground and for the first time come into contact with people who are probably going to finish.
 
Reach Primout in 3:45, fifteen minutes inside the cut-off. My old friend P.C. Pedro took my time. Drank a few squirts of red wine from a goatskin and was given a slice of homemade chorizo. This is more like it.
 
Next we follow the river. There is not so much water this year but you inevitably get your feet wet. The final obstacle will be Peña Negra, a brief but steep and rocky climb that I know will take me 45 minutes. For this I need a stick.