John Tussler Update
HOLA, Saludos de Navidad de España, éste es Juan "Gonzales rápido" Tussler que divulga exclusivamente directo de la península ibérica sol-besada para el Web site verde de Stubbington.
(Hello, Christmas greetings from Spain, this is John "Speedy Gonzales" Tussler reporting exclusively from the sun-kissed Iberian Peninsula for the Stubbington Green Runner website.)
"As Christmas approaches over here in Spain there are a number of fiesta days celebrating various events and coinciding with these fiestas local towns put on a series of races.
To integrate with these, I took part in three races in the space of a week. The first one which was over 5.4km took place on Sunday, December 1st, and consisted of two laps around the streets of Torrevieja starting and finishing in the square in front of the Town Hall. After a number of shorter races for the children the main race for adults took place and I finished in a time of 25min 6sec.
The following Thursday was a national holiday celebrating Constitution Day which was when the country agreed to become a democracy following the death of Franco. In the evening, the town of Guardamar hosted a series of races held in the same format as those in Torrevieja. The adults race saw 532 runners compete over a 6.2km involving three laps around the townm again starting and finishing in front of the Town Hall. I finished 302nd in a time of 27min 50sec and fellow Stubby John Reeve crossed the line in 415th place in a time of 31min 7sec.
Two days later was another national holiday which this time celebrated the anniversary of The Immaculate Conception and I headed for a small town called Albetera where they were putting on a 12km hill race.
This was a point to point race which started in the town and then headed out onto trails into the mountains to finish some 400 metres higher.
It started with a relatively gentle climb for the first three or four kilometres and then gradually increased in gradient with the last 250 metres rising at 13% which certainly ruled out a sprint finish! I was more than satisfied to have completed it without stopping to walk and completed it in 1hr 6min 50sec. The race finished completely in the middle of nowhere and it was a welcome sight to see coaches waiting at the finish to take us back to Albertera as I did not relish running back despite the fact that it would all be downhill.
Competing in these races has prompted me to consider the difference in approach between races over here and those in the UK.
Both the town races were free to enter and there was a comprehensive number of trophies and prize money available for all age groups which had been provided and funded by the town halls.
In addition, as is customary with all races, all the roads were closed during the races with a large police presence controlling the closures and this situation was tolerated by everyone. I just can't see Fareham closing down the town centre for a couple of hours to allow races to take place!
It is treat to approach Christmas over here without the vast amount of commercialism there is in the UK.
Being a Catholic country, the Spanish tend to take this time of year much more seriously and treat Christmas Eve and Christmas Day very much as family days. As well as December 25th and New Year's Day, they also celebrate January 6th as a holiday called El Día de Reyes which is the day on which the Three Kings visited Bethlehem and is the day when the children get most of their presents.
I am also looking forward to this day with eager anticipation as it also happens to be my birthday although I am likely to spend part of it trudging round the cross country course at Rogate in the Todays Runner. Oh well you can't have it all good! "