Marathon of Spain 2007.

Birth of a Classic.

It is always nice to see an idea become reality and for me it was very special to see the Marathon of Spain, after months of hard work, become an actual event and for it to be considered by all competitors as " perfect " was an added cherry on the cake.

Back in 2003 when I lived in the Axarquia I had the idea of an event that would link a selection of villages, a move over the mountains to the Poniente Granadino region ended the Axarquia plan but the idea was still there.

I contacted Rory Coleman the Managing Director of AmbitionEvents, the UK's leading ultra running promotions company, outlined why he should consider adding a Spanish race to the Ambition portfolio, and eventually he " cracked "and came out with business partner Mark Pinnock to check out the area in March this year.

Rory competes all over the world in multi stage ultra running races: is a regular in the Marathon des Sables, 6 so far; has set nine world records treadmill running; run from London to Lisbon in 43 days; run over 500 marathons including 88 in one year; completed 150 ultra marathons. He is the creator of the successful Marathon of Britain, 175 mile, 6 stage race which is now in its 6 th year. Mark Pinnock has competed in both the Marathon des Sables and Marathon of Britain as well as the 100mile Pennine Challenge so they know a good idea when they see one.

Normally an event like I proposed would take a year to set up, but having seen the proposed route and being driven around sections it was decided to " do it " this year. Dates were fixed, websites constructed in English and Spanish and the hard work began.

The main problem we faced was that this year was " election time ". Councillors, Mayors, politicians in general - all unable to make decisions in the month prior to May election date, just in case they lost the vote, - promises of help and guidance coming to nought, new faces to see and tons of paperwork to deal with. Beaurocracy raised its ugly head and suddenly with only 3 weeks to go things started to look " difficult ". Possibly because the event was being produced for a UK company the Spanish paperwork and rules didn't " fit ". Insurance documents had to be translated and signed by lawyers, the sterling amount translated into euros, causing another problem as the number wouldn't fit in the allocated boxes!! People had to be notified in the correct sequence!! with 3 days to go all was ok'd but what a performance, considering all the " how can we promote rural / sports tourism "meetings we have attended.

In the meantime the route had to be run, mountain biked, driven, measured and a competitors " Road book " produced along with route markings and arrows. Volunteers and specialist support, doctors, Red Cross, Check Point staff, race village venues, sponsors all had to be organized along with numerous other things but in the end it all came together.

The race itself was to be treated as a " test run " to make sure everything worked and so we had a small but very high standard entry of specialist ultra runners. The field included Dan Afshar, ( 34 ) the current Marathon of Britain Champion who had just completed the Pennine 100 mile Challenge taking 2nd place. A sub 3 hour marathon runner preparing for the August, Tour of Mont Blanc ultra challenge and in September the 6th Marathon of Britain.

Andy Mouncey, ( 40 ) a Performance coach, Inspirational speaker, author and record holder for each leg of the Arch to Arc race. 300 miles, Marble Arch to Dover an 87mile run, Dover to Calais 22mile swim then Calais to Arc d‘Triumphe / Paris 187mile cycle.

Jo Kilkenny, ( 27 ) representing Ireland she completed this year's Marathon des Sables and took third in the 200mile Seni Extreme, ( non-stop Dudley to London ).

Fulvio Villano, ( 64 ) Italian but living in Nerja. A very experienced competitor with 5 Marathon des Sables including 1st over 60 twice, 1st over 60 Mali Desert cup, 2nd over 60 Crocodile Trophy, ( mountain bike, 12 stage race across Australia ) and many more including a personal best marathon of 2hr 47min.

Jacques Caignard Noziglia, ( 27 ) Barcelona, a relative newcomer to ultra running.

Raul Romero Jimenez, Santa Fe based Gestor and regular competitor in Spanish races such as Pico Veleta 50km and Ronda 101.

Another entrant, Thomas Wenning, a member of the German National team had a car crash on the way to Frankfurt airport to join the race. He broke his leg but still plans to run a lap of Majorca at the end of August accompanied by a film crew. Thomas has a phenomenal record including running 16 marathons in 16 days in 16 German states and he has run over 180 marathons or longer in a career which includes Germany to England in 6 days, Race across Ireland, 620km in 6 days and he is also Guinness book of records holder for 7 days Treadmill running, covering 717.85km.

The Race : Running in the oven !

Stage 1 : Alhama de Granada to Jatar, 42km.
The day began with a warm up stroll from the El Ventorro race HQ via the impressive Alhama gorge to the Town hall plaza. Following press/tv presentation the race started at 11:00am. Out via the gorge, past El Ventorro onto the GR7 and onwards to check point 1, the start of Hell's Path. The rising temperature was already beginning to effect the UK based runners who had come from months of near constant rain and by CP2 Jacques Caignard was starting to pull clear of Raul Romero, Dan Afshar and Andy Mouncey. Fulvio Villano was closing in but already Jo Kilkenny and Roy Fleming were well behind using a more steady, " survival pace " on the 9km ascent.

From CP2 the track continues to climb to race max of 1650m before gradually descending through the beautiful mountains of the Sierra Almijara and by CP3 Caignard had a good lead ahead of Villano and Romero. Afshar and Mouncey, both pushing themselves taking long rests at CP's to cool off were ok and Kilkenny was also taking things carefully. Fleming was struggling, unable to adjust to the heat ( over 35 degrees ) and at CP4 he dropped out.

Up ahead Caignard made a navigational error and Villano took the lead, Mouncey also took a wrong turn adding an extra few kilometers to his day and at the Jatar town hall finish Villano took the stage finishing in 5 hours. Romero was 2nd in 5:4:11, Caignard 3rd, Afshar 4th, Mouncey 5th and Kilkenny 6th.

Stage 2 : Jatar to Jayena, 45km.
The race began at 9am and saw the field stay together for first section to Arenas del Rey. From here Caignard and Villano began to pull clear and by Fornes, as the temperature increased, they had a few minutes lead. From Fornes the race went via the Resinera taking a long, steep climb to the forest airstrip and CP3 and on via a beautiful mountain track deep into the mountains before sweeping back to the Jayena finish. Caignard broke clear from Villano on the final 4km road stretch to win in 4hrs 48min 13sec. Villano arrived 5 min later to retain the overall lead with Mouncey in 30min later.

Stage 3 : Jayena to Santa Cruz del Comercio, 45km.
Today the route began with a very long, gradual ascent towards Venta del Fraile before turning for Agron, crossing a huge area of sunflowers, descending into Cacin and then a final very steep climb via Cortijo de Pocapaja and a long, thigh wrecking, descent into Santa Cruz.

Caignard and Villano were soon running clear but Afshar and Mouncey were picking up speed as they gradually acclimatized to another day of high temperatures, ( over 39 but thankfully low humidity ). Today it was Romero who was suffering, ( shin splints caused by over tight shoes / blisters which affect your stride ) and Villano, who after looking very strong was also in trouble, upset stomach, diarrhea and the inevitable dehydration which saw him struggling after Cacin, losing second to Afshar on the run in. Caignard took the stage in 5hr 13min 11sec and also the overall lead by 12min.

Stage 4 : Santa Cruz del Comercio to Zafarraya, 65km.
Today was the " biggy " a huge run taking in the Loja mountain range, a very arid, desert like test! Villano dropped out, a wise decision following medical advice as did Romero. Kilkenny, still in there and gaining strength, as is normal for female ultra runners, was given a 7am start and the rest set off at 8am. The first section follows the poplar tree lined river before a hard ascent from Valenzuela and very long descent to the valley track which takes you to Salar, the 2nd CP.

Caignard, Afshar and Mouncey stayed together setting a good pace. They hadn't caught Kilkenny but were closing fast. From Salar there are some incredibly steep, short ascents on tarmac and concrete roads before a final, newly surfaced section to the outskirts of Loja. Our race water sponsor, Natura, has a bottling plant here so this was made CP3 and the Manager and staff were there to greet the runners.

By now Kilkenny, with mountain bike escort Mark Pinnock, had been caught after a navigational error. Caignard and Afshar left Mouncey on the very long ascent which is part of the Ruta de Pescados long distance path, and by CP5 in 42 degree temperatures they had over 40min on a suffering Mouncey. They stayed together to arrive at the finish in Zafarraya in 8hr 22min 35secs, Mouncey arrived an hour later and Kilkenny 2.5hrs after that. A very tough day.

Stage 5 : Zafarraya to Alhama de Granada, 28km.
The final stage, shorter but still testing and including an excursion into the Axarquia via the impressive El Boquete de Zafarraya pass and some single track descending into Espino. A long gradual climb to Cerro Camello, then GR7 towards Robledal and Alhama with a final stretch taking in the Alhama gorge, the rock staircase, Wamba fountain, Church, House of the Inquisition to finish via the Town hall on the Plaza beneath the castle walls. A spectacular finish for a great race.

Kilkenny again had an early start, this time accompanied by Roy Fleming who had recovered. She ran strongly and they made CP3 at the Alcaiceria, Bar San Marcos just ahead of Caignard who was already well ahead of Afshar and Mouncey.

Caignard arrived in Alhama in 2hr 33min 11sec, Afshar and Mouncey 40min later and Kilkenny made it home in 3hr 54min 28sec.

It had been a great inaugural Marathon of Spain, the winner Jacques Caignard's overall time 26hrs 39min 30sec was a fantastic time for a " novice " ultra runner and he is certain to become a future star in this type of event. Dan Afshar, the Marathon of Britain champion took 2nd in 29hrs 28min 06sec, Andy Mouncey third in 30hrs 39min 38sec and Kilkenny, looking ready for a few more stages, 40hrs 09min 38sec.

The event was a huge success, next year dates are fixed, July 7th to 12th and already we have been told to expect 100-200 competitors from all over the globe.

Competitors quotes :

" Really was an awesome event and certainly was everything that you'd expect from the Ambition brand. Work is feeling very mundane this morning ". Dan Afshar.

" Marathon of Spain was one of the toughest and most enjoyable races I have done so far and one I intend to do again. The magnificent views made all the climbs worthwhile. A superb race all round with top crew, thanks for organizing the route, it was awesome ". Jo Kilkenny.

To close, I think this message from Andy Mouncey sums things up :

" It's one thing to go out there understanding that the mountains will be big, the days hot and long, and the terrain exposed and rocky. It's quite another to experience it all for real! The challenge was made greater because as far as the Brits were concerned, we went out there after two months of rain back home - so acclimatisation was done on the job! As a new event, we knew it was untested, remote, and that there would   be surprises for all. We had no idea how much.

Every day was EPIC: 40 kilometres or so didn't sound much on paper - but on this terrain and in this heat it was MASSIVE. And then go out there and do it all again, my friend...

There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run except onwards. If you could call what we were doing as 'running' in 43 degrees of heat... The race was in your face and it was unrelenting in the questions it asked :

So you think you're in shape, huh ?
Do you really want this ? Really ?
Are you prepared to face the consequence of your choices ?
Are you prepared to do it all over again and then some tomorrow ?

This race takes you through unspoilt, breathtaking terrain.
The combination of heat, altitude and effort will quite literally take your breath away.
It will intimidate you and embrace you in equal measure.
It will strip you raw and make you whole again.

I loved it all. " Andy Mouncey.

Note :

This event was a success because of the backing of Rory and Mark of Ambition Events, the incredible help and support given by my partner, Barbara Price and the sponsors, Caixa Bank, Streetwise Magazine, Natura Water, El Ventorro, K-Wind, the Ayuntamientos of the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Comarca de Alhama and the association President, Miguel Van Leeuwen, the Poniente Granadino tourism office for Marquees and souvenir bags, bars and restaurants in each village, Cruz Roja, Ray Jones, my neighbour, who provided medical and routing support, Bill Bristow of LocationsSpain, Andy Ernhill of Compass Media for filming, Grant Mowat for an incredible job photographing the entire event from mountain bike, Eduardo Moreno Martin for motor bike support, Alan and Rowan Stevenson for Race Village construction, dismantling each day, Samantha Elliott, Bodyworks, for the fantastic massages competitors received each evening and everyone else who made this event possible.

Next year the race will be bigger, I will need many more volunteers. If you are a retired doctor or nurse, if you can handle a 4x4, ( hopefully a sponsored one ) or you can help in anyway, on checkpoints, race village, route and you can manage on little sleep!! Please get in touch.

Paul Bateson
info@axarsport.com or Telephone (0034) 958 36 37 66