Season 2016

[Bierzo Baggie]

Sticks
As any dog will tell you there is a wide variety of sticks freely available on the forest floor. There are fat meaty sticks, tall slender sticks, short stubby ones… each one will serve its purpose. Have to avoid the rotten ones though. They tend to snap at awkward moments and you are left with a ridiculous rock-prodding device halfway up a mountain and this will not get you to the top in 45 minutes and to Santa Cruz del Sil before the paella runs out! So a careful choice of stick must be made before climbing Peña Negra. Soon found a meaty specimen covered in moss which gradually peeled off as I ascended. It was damp and it moved in my hands at times but it helped take the weight off my tired legs and I got to the top in one piece. It was a struggle though. I`m usually one of the slowest over this section.
 
Final Section
Once over the top the final section should be plain sailing. It’s downhill, single track with twists and turns, hops and slides which I must say is my favourite type of terrain. I’m very tired but it’s reassuring to know that I can still perform something resembling a run. Arrive at the village just under 6 hours. Everybody is already queuing for lunch. No worries, I’m in the race for another year. Maybe.
 
The man who fell to earth
Jorge was the fellow’s name and he’d come from Madrid to do the race. Spoke to a couple of volunteers back in Santa Cruz and everybody was talking of fractures, serious head injury..etc.. Felt bad and didn’t hang around for very long. Imagine my surprise when a few hours later at home I went on the Alto Sil Facebook page and there was Jorge, still clad in hospital pyjamas and with a massive dressing stuck to his forehead, posing for a photo in the Santa Cruz village bar. He looks like an extra from The Walking Dead.
 
This sport is not in any way normal.