Hi ,
It looks like you're using an ad blocker.



The revenue generated from the adverts on the site is a critical part of our funding - and it's because of these ads that I can offer the site for free. But using the site for free AND blocking the ads doesn't feel like a great thing to do, which is why this box is so large and inconvenient. Some sites will completely block your access, but I'm not doing that - I'm appealing to your good nature instead. Did you know that you can allow ads for specific sites, whilst still blocking them on others?

Thanks,
Ian Williams aka Fetch
or for an ad-free Fetcheveryone experience!

Euskal Raid

Tue May 15 2007
Listed by wyvis
Entrants (1)
Club		 PB SB Pred Time WAVA
wyvis 4 days 1000m ascent and 180 km. did not manage last 30 k of first 80k day .Started at 4am at the snowy Col Pierre St Martin and trundled through the dark for several hours. Daylight did not help much as it was foggy,wet and cold. Slow going in the muddy, sometimes undulating,sometimes just steep hillside. Path often non existent--if trail marked by a blue piece of string it usually meant sloping mud. Clay stuck to shoes and made legs feel even heavier than they already were. After 11 hours I escaped into a freezing landrover and returned to the inevitable salami sandwich, a mud removing shower and a massage. 'Co-equipier' Moira managed another 7 Km before giving up--thank goodness we did in retrospect or we wouldn't have managed the other 3 days. Day 2 'contre la montre' was a 15km ,1200m ascent relay though we didn't do it in relay as we had abandoned the day before. We continued with the race but weren't officially timed which was a shame. anyway it was a nice run through some vineyards and up the Jara hill via another blue piece of string. Day 3 and the weather was pleasantly warm--we saw the Pyrenees Atlantiques for the first time.41km and 2300m of ascent-in approx 9.5 hours. Beautiful if really hard day . Just to make life even more exciting we finished in a Spanish village called Zugarramurdi and bivvied in a vast covered fronton (pelota)court. dinner in the restaurant next door and if anyone could have slept with sore joints on a concrete floor the revellers in the pub next door made sure the last day began like the others with severe sleep deprivation. Day 4 -only 40km and 2000m of ascent-approx 9hrs 45. Today was to be the relaxed finish with views of the sea and nice trails all the way. Unfortunately the weather was fierce again and we didn't see the sea until just before the finish in Hendaye. Like most people we were suffering from aches and pains-Moira the other half of the team developed tenosynovitis in her left ankle and really should not have kept going but she did. We had to walk nearly all day though probably not much slower than our running speed by this time. The welcome in Hendaye was superb and the party that night a hoot. Basque dancing so similar to Scottish country dancing. We won a prize for turning up and are even thinking about returning. This 4 day race unusual as they usually have a 2 day event in May and a one day 67km one in September. if anyone reads this and wants more info please get in touch as , weather and exhaustion aside , it was a truly fantastic experience.
Unaffiliated







Back To Top

Tag A User

To tag a user, start typing their name here:
X

Free training & racing tools for runners, cyclists, swimmers & walkers.

Fetcheveryone lets you analyse your training, find races, plot routes, chat in our forum, get advice, play games - and more! Nothing is behind a paywall, and it'll stay that way thanks to our awesome community!
Get Started
Click here to join 114,294 Fetchies!
Already a Fetchie? Sign in here