Swaledale Road Runners

The next dates in our Spanish Race Calendar were two very different affairs, one being an uphill-only mountain race and the other an international Half Marathon. Unfortunately I was unable to run either as I was recovering from a foot injury, so I relegated myself to the role of 'bag carrier'.

Firstly, the Gandia Vertical Kilometre did exactly what it said on the tin - it ascended 1000m from the outskirts of Gandia to the finish line at the top of a mountain with a distance of approximately 12km. In the event it was even steeper than expected as the first 6km was along a flat, dried river bed which left a very steep second half. The final 2km involved hands on scrambling over steep rocks. Neil Bowmer crossed the finish line on the summit in 1:24.57, 93rd overall and 22nd in his Veteran Category. Once again there was a huge field for this mountain race with over 1,400 runners and walkers. Once over the finish line Neil had a 4km downhill jog to the village of La Drova where a spread of food and drinks were laid on and runners and spectators mellowed out in the sunshine.

One week later, in complete contrast to the off-road racing, Neil ran the Santa Pola Half Marathon. This was a great road race, attracting an International field as well as being hugely popular with local runners, swelling the field to 7,500. The race was won by Ethiopian Tigabu Gebremariam Asefa in 1:02.23. The flat course and enthusiastic spectator support spurred Neil on to a new Half Marathon PB of 1:24.46.

For those wanting to get a way for a slice of winter sunshine this would make a great race destination as it is only a few kilometres from Alicante Airport with a ready supply of hotel rooms.

Hasta luego!

Ros Blackmore

Click on the photo to see a couple more photos in the gallery. Don't forget that in the galleries you can click on each photo to see a larger version.