XI Carrera Popular Costa Teguise

I was on holiday in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote during the Fiestas De Costa Teguise which is an annual event consisting of a 10 day festival. Each day is for a particular theme. I was enticed by the Athletes and Dancers day as I consider myself to qualify for both. Saturday 4th July had the Carrera Popular, loosely translated as a Race for All. To set the scene the temperatures on the preceding days ranged from 32 to 38 deg C. Also being held in the town was the PWA World Windsurfing Championships and towards the end of the week the winds picked up to an incredible 45k/hr. This meant that when exposed to the sun it was baking hot and when the wind got you it nearly blew you off your feet ! I turned up to register at 4pm but being Spain everything ran late and the registrations didn't actually start until 5. As the numbers at registration grew it became clear that most were serious runners and I felt a bit overawed. There were hardly any tourists and many runners sported the Lanzarote Ironman T-shirts. I was genuinely worried that I would come last especially when I heard that the women's race was run separately. Like the registration, although the race was supposed to be at 6pm by the time the various children's races (500m & 1km) and women's 3k it was after 7pm before the men's race. The main race was 6km along one of the main roads in the town, the Avda de las Islas Canarias. It was 3 laps of the course and included a short but fairly steep hill. By the start there were about 40 or so runners and an initial pack of 5 or so broke away within the first k. I was very cautious at the start as although the temperature had dropped it was still 30+ and 3 hours of hanging around had taken its toll. Each of the first 3km was about the 4min/km pace although one section was uphill against the wind. As I neared the 5km mark the leaders finished. One of the local runners kindly decided to tuck in behind and leave all the running to me. The pace dropped slightly but over the last 400m I dropped the guy that was with me and if I had another 10m would have caught the guy in front. Finished in what I think was a credible 24m17s which I think was probably mid-table. I didn't get the official results due to language difficulties but managed to speak to the French guy who was third in 21 mins. The winners were probably sub 20. After the race there was a lucky dip with your race number, prize giving and a paella buffet. All very enjoyable. I would have liked to include a photo of me racing but the wife and kids got fed up waiting and went in for their dinner - missing my 24 minutes of effort in its entirety. A photo of my race number and medal is included as alternative proof! All very enjoyable but the 10 days All Inclusive wasn't the best preparation. I decided to give the 20km bike race the following day a miss. HASTA LUEGO - Stephen

Well done to Phimi in these extreme conditions.