Ultra_Tales_Issue_4_v2

EVENT REPORTTRANS EUROPE FOOTRACEput on by JB who is currently running well here. It isaround three weeks long, is held every year andtravels from Northern France to Southern. TheTrans-Europe route has been following the TG routefor around 8 days now and tomorrow we leave it.Maybe one for the future?After a little more climbing we began to descendagain for a good 8km. I of course was painfullycautious and watched the two Frenchies gain muchtime on me as they dropped down the hillcomfortably. Ria and I were close now. She also wasnot enjoying the descents as much as usual.I was grateful when the road finally leveled out andwe then started the final climb of the day. We gotdirected off of the road and up a track which gotsteeper and rougher. Trail! I power walked as it wastoo steep to run. It only lasted a short while but Ienjoyed it, before joining a wide but quiet road thatcontinued the theme of the day and headedupwards. It was here that I spotted Christain Fattonup ahead. Ria caught me up after I had left her onthe trail, and then we caught Christian up. I knewthat the day ended with a 10km descent to thefinish town. I was not too excited about this, but atleast it was at the end.Once we crested the hill, the view opened upahead. We could see the Mediterranean in thedistance. Awesome! Now, let’s get stuck into thishill. Ria had stopped for a call of nature so it wasjust Christian and I. We chatted on our way down. Ilearnt what a great runner Christian is as he told meabout some of the races he’s done. Fortunately timeflew, and my knees didn’t quite explode, and wesoon spotted the town below us that must surely beour new home.We entered town and passed through. The schoolwe were staying at was out the opposite side oftown. Just before finishing, Ria and Gilbert caughtus up and the four of us crossed the line together.We were well below 9 hours which I was very happyabout seeing as it was the hilliest day yet with over13,000 metres of ascent alone.A good day!Only 50km tomorrow, and we leave the Trans-Gauleroute too which means it will be new to everyoneinstead of lots of people knowing what’s coming.Day 56, October 14th – Villapalacios toVillanueva del Arzobispo 65.6kmThe beds in the hotel were the same as the beds Islept on in the army. Terrible. Just a metal framewith noisy springs across the top with a foammattress on top. You just sink in the middle. Blimey,straight into a whinge! Excuse me. I thought I hadslept badly, but Lou informed me that I was makingdefinite sleeping noises for most of the night.Excellent!We awoke just before breakfast which wasthankfully downstairs in the ‘restaurant’ in the hotel.Dinner the night before was a celebration of deepfriedfood. Perfect trans-continental fuel. Breakfastwas the usual fare of bread and jam with espressocoffee. They even toasted the bread. I really miss agood piece of toast. It was then off to the start forthe day.Fred and I started off at our normal sort of pace.Some of the faster guys in the group were ahead,but not as much as usual."People are tiring andmost people havenumerous issues that theyhave to manage daily"People are tiring and most people have numerousissues that they have to manage daily. Eiolf washaving to go a little slower as his hamstring wasvery painful. Christian Fatton has so many issues Iforget most of them. He is incredibly strong-willedto still be pushing so hard at this late stage. PoorRia is still off key. I hope she starts enjoying it againbefore the end. I looked behind after around 10kmand saw someone I didn’t recognise. Fred lookedand said it was the Japanese runner thomihiko(Spelling?). We never see him, so guessed he wasmaking a big brave attack to be first Japanese forthe day. I love this competition they have. Theyreally seem to put so much into it even though they31 ULTRA TALES | JANUARY 2013Sponsored by thehttp://