1st Sierra Nevada Mountain Festival

Monster Weekend

We all know that sierra Nevada is famous for its fantastic ski slopes but what do you do with them for the months when they have no snow? Well for one weekend at the end of august the `Grupo alpino de Benalmádena´ gave us an answer and the village of Prado llano in the Sierra Nevada came alive with not skiers but runners for the this gruelling two day mountain race event. The entry fee was 20€ for members of FEDME ( Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña) or FAM Federacion andaluza de montañismo and for us novices like me who really didn’t know what they were getting themselves into it was 25€.

A good price considering on arrival we were given a goody bag with a Salomon Running waist pack, (Salomon of course being one of the main sponsors) and a very stylish red technical shirt.

As LifeStyle's marketing director and one of the staff writers, I was looking for a bit more of a challenge then a nice flat 10km and this was certainly it.

I would be running in team Axarsport (organisers of the AAUT, Spains leading ultra marathon) with its director and experienced mountain runner Paul Bateson. But he was a new comer to what we had in store on the first day.

`El Kilometro vertical´ is exactly that. Day one would be a race from the town square at 2500m to Pico Veleta 3500m in just 4.5 km distance this means that the average climb was to be over 35 percent. To put this into context a normal road runner would complain at a 5 percent climb. The first days race was also included in the `Copa de España de Carreras Verticales 2010´ the Spanish Cup for vertical race series, so we got to run with the best of the best.

The gun went off on time, but unfortunately I was other wise occupied relieving myself. The only Spanish race to ever start on time and I got caught out, slightly embarrassed and officially starting last I ran up to the back of the pack pulling up my Lycra shorts.

The race took us straight up the main ski slope and up and up by the kilometer mark there was no running, climbing is the best way to describe it all the runners had strung into long line with the leaders way out in front but still in site. A few meters felt like a life time and as we broke over the first peak at km2 only to look up and see another peak and more runners climbing into the distance.

There was one water table and a slight flat point at km 3 smiling Spanish military men gave us plastic cups, I couldn’t work out if they were laughing at us or with us. Another climb and past an alpine cow chewing in a fresh blade of grass, how the hell did he get here I couldn’t even stand up straight it was so steep! it was getting colder now. After one last push, In final made it to the top.

All said and done, I'm proud of myself, I made it... Knew I would!... So there it is... Yeap!... This is one Monster race! All the way up one big mountains ski run. Maybe the winter... going down is something to think about?