The Ronda 101 - mud, floods and perseverance.

Back in 2003 I competed in the 8th edition of an event called the Ronda 101. This is a huge event promoted very efficiently by the Tercio de la Legion which has its barracks near Ronda. The weather was as usual hot and over 4500 participated in the run/walk of 101km and the concurrent events for mountain bikers and duathletes which were over 125km.

On the right, our team :- Before the start. (l to r) Paul Bateson, 57, John Bateson, 36, Fulvio Villano, 65 and Salvador Ribot, 46.

Runners/walkers had to finish in 24 hours and mtb/duathletes in 12hours. I chose the duathlon as I like to mix cycling with running and after a mix of 80km of mtb and two half marathons I managed to win the Veterans classification. I decided that once was enough! It was a hard event, no need to go through all that again. . . so 5 years later I entered again!!!

This time I entered the " pure " Ronda 101km. The12th year of the events history had a huge entry, 5118 of whom 2300 were ‘marchas'. A big increase since the first events entry of 400 military when it was planned as an event covering a circuit originally used for training and testing the Legionares. The event still includes military entrants for both marcha and mtb/duathlon and various Legion, Tercio and Bandera squads field teams as well as individuals but civilian ‘teams' are also welcomed.

This year the race was held on weekend of May 10th-11th. I decided to meet up with team mate Fulvio Villano and Salvadore Ribot, who flew down from Girona for the race and we drove to Ronda on the Friday. The forecast wasn't good and it was cool and windy in Ronda with clouds threatening rain. Registration was at the main sports centre and we had also booked ‘floor space' in the sports hall, yes, on top of running 101km we had a " good " nights sleep lying on the gym floor, prior to the race plus same gym floor after finishing.

Friday afternoon we looked around Ronda and " stoked up " with very good pizzas at an Italian restaurant, then returned to base to lay out our sleeping mats and race kit. The main, traditional " pasta party " was scheduled for later in the evening and as we set off for this it started to rain. By the time we reached the race finish area where the Legion had set up tents, huge marquees and a big field kitchen on top of providing live music and trade stands, it was chucking it down! By the time you got your pasta etc., the marquee was jammed with folk sheltering and trying to eat, balance meal tray and drink and avoid streams flowing through the tent and drips from the roof. It was looking like the 101 was going to be a real test!

Compared with laying on sand and rock covered by a piece of carpet, which is the daily sleeping arrangement during the Marathon des Sables, an event that Fulvio and Salvador had just completed, the sports hall floor was luxury. Thermarest inflatable mats are surprisingly comfortable and we all had a good nights sleep.

The Legions bugler woke most up at 7am, ( there are some advantages to being deaf ) and we prepared for the day ahead by starting with a good breakfast. Between us we had hot chocolate/caffeine, courtesy of Fulvio and his giant thermos flask, sesame seed bars, bread and honey and assorted muesli bars. Warmer clothing was selected, waterproof jackets added, head torches checked and we relaxed before heading out in cool, grey conditions for the start area in Ronda's football stadium, a couple of km warm up walk before the start at 11am.

As the sky got greyer the Legion gun signaled the 10.30 start for the mountainbike and duathlon entrants, once the 2000 plus bikers were clear it was our turn to line up for the
" marcha ". The gun again fired at 11am and away we went.

It can be a little processional at first, running or trying to run in a group of a few thousand all trying to fit through Ronda's narrow streets but once clear of the Tajo bridge and down the cobbled descent out of the town, things tend to sort themselves out as the faster competitors get clear of those intending to walk/jog the route.

The first long ascent comes fairly soon and by then my friend, Mark Woolley and the other very fast competitors were well ahead, I was ok, probably in first 400 and Fulvio and Salvador were a good way behind, already feeling they were not fully recovered from the 250km Marathon des Sables which they had finished a couple of weeks before. ( Fulvio again won the Veteran 60 award in this major International race and Salvador also finished despite some major foot problems ).

The 101 route consists mainly of dirt roads with long climbs and descents linking the villages of Arriate after 35km, Setenil de las Bodegas after 53km, the Legion barracks at 77km, Montejaque at 84km and Benaojan at 87km. There is water, sports drink, bananas, oranges and muesli bars/chocolate at almost every 5km point plus at two of the later checkpoints we had the luxury of big spam sandwiches, a nice change from sweet, high carb stuff. An added extra is that the barracks check point also supplies hot meals.

The Legion handles all the checkpoints and at specific ones you have your " race passport "
stamped. Even with the knowledge that there is food and drink available at almost every 5km point we still chose to carry a few bars and gels, just in case.

As far as my race went, I felt ok, my pace was as planned, first half marathon in around 2 hours, Setenil at 53km by 5pm and going ok despite some torrential rain storms where you got soaked then dried out just as next hit.

My big worry was the night/darkness. Being deaf my balance is also bad, I chose not to wear hearing aid or cochlear device because of the rain, I had ski poles and a head torch to compensate but I really needed to keep moving to cover as much ground as possible before night. It was still light when I arrived at the barracks, 77km down and going ok so I decided to just grab a hot sausage sandwich and keep going. I joined a fast moving group as we headed out for ‘another' mountain ascent to Montejaque, as we climbed the storm hit, gentle rain became torrential, it was dark, no moon and the track became single flooded, muddy strip, everything I had hoped wouldn't happen. I was now alone, slipping and falling, crawling in mud.

I fell off the track when a pole found " daylight " crawled back up thinking how lucky it was that the drop hadn't been over a cliff. I was more annoyed and frustrated watching other runners head torch beams disappearing and even worse letting other runners catch and pass me. Each time I got onto some better surface I gained speed then mud, flood and down again. Not a lot of fun!! At least the route arrows were marked with glow sticks, very effective and very encouraging when you feel totally on your own. Eventually I got through to the next checkpoint which unfortunately was across a stream and up a mud slope, the stream crossing was tricky and the mud slope impossible until two soldiers formed a chain and pulled me up. Here I cleaned up my ski poles which were covered in mud, grabbed a drink and set off again just hoping that was the last single track.

I made up time through the village of Benaojan despite another torrential downpour, more mud, falls and floods, pitch dark apart from head torch beam, catching and passing quite a few runners and then the course joined another section of single track. This time high vegetation each side of a totally flooded track made it very difficult going, a few falls and km's later I was through onto another good stretch where I caught a good size group going at a reasonable pace. I stayed with them until another group came by, switched to them and then started the final 5km ascent track up to Ronda.

I remembered from 2003 that this track was reasonably well surfaced, a dirt and cobbles mix and it was also a light colour which made it easier to see. Here I put in a strong effort catching and passing many runners. The climb is steep and seemed to last for ever but eventually I hit the tarmac where you enter Ronda's streets, I also spotted another runner so focused on him, catching and passing him then another two just ahead on the Tajo bridge. Got them just as we entered the finishing avenue, sprinted down to the final passport control, then on through to the finish. All over in 14hours exactly. 13hrs 59min in reality but had to fiddle about getting passport " zapped ".

I was then presented with my finishers medal ( a big ceramic one ) and walked down to the marquee area, collected my finishers sweat shirt and my final pasta meal with potato salad, breaded chicken and yoghourt. At 1.30 am this isn't my usual time for a main meal but it went down ok, and it is important to eat food, carbohydrates and especially protein within 30min of finishing such a long race in order to speed up the recover process.

The rain had stopped and by 2am I was walking back to the sports centre, or at least trying to walk and remember where it was. Eventually, by following other slow moving, zombies in running kit, I got back to the sports hall, picked my way through the assorted bodies and sleeping bags and was soon out of my muddy kit and fast asleep.

Ronda 101 was over. No need to do it again... well maybe next year ...if it is sunny!!!

Results:

The winner, Miguel Parejo, a Military runner finished in the incredible time of 8 hours 5 min 50 sec, ( this mean't he missed most of the rain and finished in daylight ), even so I can't run that fast even for a marathon!! 2nd place Alejandro Lopez, also Military, finished in 9hr 41sec., another one who missed all the fun of the dark, rain, floods and mud. Mark Woolley finished 15th in 10hr 7min 45sec, a fantastic, more human time, ( especially as he works full time teaching near Malaga ), was fastest non Spaniard. John Bateson, my Team Axarsport teammate from Granada finished 79th in 11hrs 42min 03 sec, another great performance considering he also works full time and hasn't raced this year. I finished 281st in 14 hours, Fulvio Villano was 549th in 16hrs 2min 51sec which considering that he is 65 and just won his age category for the 3rd time in the Marathon des Sables is pretty good going. Salvador Ribot was 715th in 17hr 22min 47sec another good performance considering lack of recovery time (only 3 weeks) since Marathon des Sables and some pretty bad foot problems.

There were 1340 finishers in the Marcha and 2614 finishers in all events combined.

It was the worst weather the event has ever had, meanwhile, back in Yorkshire, the Fellsman 65 miler, the same weekend, a tough route around the Dales, had enjoyed, warm, dry, windless conditions, shorts and tee shirts at 3am and folk dropping out because of the heat...!!!

RONDA

One of the most spectacularly located towns in Andalucia, Ronda, at 723m, sits on a massive rocky outcrop straddling a precipitous limestone gorge. Because of its impregnable position it was one of the last Moorish strongholds, finally falling to the Christians in 1485. On the south side of the Tajo is the classic Moorish white village of cobbled alleys, whitewashed houses. In amongst this maze there are small, interesting museums such as the Bandit Museum , a particular favourite which contains fascinating artifacts, models and memorabilia from the days when bandits roamed Andalucia and fought battles with the Guardia Civil.

On the north side, reached via Puente Nuevo, the " New Bridge " ( a late 18th century feat of civil engineering ) over the near 100m deep gorge lies El Mercadillo, the newer town. Here is one of Spain 's oldest bullrings. Inaugurated in 1785, Ronda's Plaza de Toros is the spiritual home of bullfighting and is where Pedro Romero, the father of modern bullfighting, developed the classic Ronda style during a career which saw him kill over 6000 bulls!

Ronda is quite a large town, 39,575 inhabitants. It is very popular with tourists who also come here to visit other places of interest such as Palacio Mondragon, Casa del Rey Moro and Convento de Santo Domingo, the former local headquarters of the Inquisition who made regular use of the adjacent gorge as a non-believer disposal unit.

R. Paul Bateson