San Silvestre Chiclanera 2021

10 Things I Think About the San Silvestre Chiclanera ~5.5k

1. Loading Bay

I think that parking in Spain is the hardest part of driving in Spain. You have two choices, ridiculous underground car parks and on street parking which will result in your car being scratched. As I expected Chiclana was not designed for cars, with about as many parking spaces as American tourists. I eventually found a curiously empty spot so left the car there while I got the dorsal for the race. When I got back to the car there were two lottery stall people giving out to me pointing at the loading bay sign so I had to go and find another spot, thankfully someone pulled out of a lovely spot just in front of a playground for Billy to continue his “El Diablo” terrorizing of Spanish playgrounds. .

2. Imperdibles

I think that the safety pins for this race were the most carefully packed safety pins ever. They were so well packed I didn’t know what they were. The four safety pins were wrapped in a tiny package with the race logo printed on it. It must have taken someone days to do.

3. Meta

I think that the start of the Chiclana race was particularly unsuitable for someone of my size especially when racing Spaniards with a significant size advantage. It started on a steep uphill with a left hand turn at the top. As normal in Spain everyone was wearing masks at the start so for the first 100m you had to sprint uphill with a mask on. This was particularly horrible. I started very badly and had to use a few of the Spaniards as leverage to get going up the hill. I don’t think that they were used to my starting technique.

4. Tranquillo

I think that I was very glad to see that once we got to the top of the hill the guys at the front stalled the pace while they took off their masks. It was still fast but not the complete madness in Malaga. I decided that I wouldn’t make the same mistake as in Malaga so I sat at the back of a big group of about 20, this was a mistake as this was a different style of race.

5. Fermín Cacho

I think that all Spanish runners must train as 1500m runners when they are young. It must be something to do with Fermin Cacho. In nearly every race I have run in Spain the first 1500m of the race is the hardest. They are exceptionally good for that first mile. It is amazing how far back you can be in a Spanish race after a mile and still end up in the top 3.

6. Fortress Chiclana

I think that it helped to be a local in this race. The streets in Chiclana were definitely designed to help defend the city from foreign vandals and vikings. After the initial stall in pace the guys at the front of the pack suddenly took off stretching out the group down the hill through the winding narrow streets. I was stuck at the back and because of all the twists and turns I missed the break.

7. Catch the Locals

I think that Spain is the only place where I catch people on hills. The first lap of the race took us back to the start where we had to run back up the hill again. I was in about 7th place trying to catch the locals that had escaped up the road. The minute we hit the hill four of them came back to me all of a sudden and I swept by them up into 3rd.

8. Random Distance

I think that not having any idea of the course or distance is a great way to get rid of the mental side of running. If you don’t know when the finish is all you can do is run as hard as you can for as long as you can. Chiclana was a 5.5k race which is a great distance free from any PB nonsense. At no point in the race had I any idea how close to the finish we were.

9. Pegasus

I think that I never caught as many people in a race as in Chiclana, once I had dispatched the locals on the uphill there were only two guys ahead. On the second longer lap out by the river I managed to catch one of them and get up to second place. I didn’t think there was anyone behind me because I couldn’t hear the sound of any magic shoes behind me. As we ran back through main street of the town I started to recognize the streets again so realized that we were near the finish. As soon as this thought entered my head a Spaniard in a pair of Pegasus danced out from behind me and outsprinted me for second. Third isn’t too bad I suppose. According to the guy in the Pegasus the guy who won the race is a Spanish champion junior triathlete like Chris Mintern and is unbeatable.

10. Chiclana

I think that the San Silvestre in Chiclana is the best of the San Silvestres in the area, Chipiona is pretty similar but I think I prefer Chiclana. The course in Chiclana is very excellent and the atmosphere was like a mountain stage of the Tour De France. Running through old narrow Spanish streets at 6pm on a warm sunny winters evening is so much fun. Unfortunately, because of the disease there was no podium so I didn’t get my prize for third so I’ll have to come back next year to try and win it, and maybe if I don’t win they can give me my prize from this year.

III San Silvestre Solidaria RCM Malaga 2021

10 Things I Think About The III San Silvestre Solidaria RCM Malaga ~10k 2021

1. A Wedding, a Christmas and a Flight

I think that running a race a few hours after getting off a plane is a bad idea. It is especially a bad idea the day after Christmas. It felt like all of the blood in my body was in my calves when I went to warm up. Flights do bad things to my legs, they swell up, sort of like a bag of crisps if you take it on the plane.

2. El Diablo

I think that Spain has the best playgrounds in the world. There are playgrounds everywhere, on every street corner, on a run you might pass 20 of them. There was an excellent playground beside the building where you collected the dorsals for the race. Billy had great fun chasing two Spanish children around, they called him El Diablo, I hope that If I get good at running they will call me El Diablo too.

3. Masks

I think that the Spanish are excellent at masks, very excellent, probably better than the Germans. You have to wear a mask outside if you aren’t running which is great because everyone feels safe from the runners so you don’t get any abuse or scowling. At the start of a race you have to wear a mask until a few 100m after the start. Taking off your mask while running full tilt and putting it on my upper arm is a skill I didn’t think I’d ever have to develop. If the strap of your mask breaks while doing this you don’t have to worry as at the finish they will give you a new mask. It is great.

4. Light Show

I think that there should be more races at night during the winter. I much prefer running in the evening as I am awake. The race started at 7pm which unlike in Ireland is only 30 minutes after sunset in Spain in December. This is one of the main reasons I like Spain in December, each day is about 2 hours brighter than Ireland.

5. Follow the Motorbike

I think that you don’t need to understand the language to understand what is said at the start of a race. The race director appeared at the start line with a motorbike helmet. I couldn’t understand a word but from his gesticulations I understood that we were to follow the motorbike and not the car.

6. Loco

I think that this might have been the fastest race start I have ever been involved in. It was completely mad. It was supposed to be a 10k but everyone took off like it was a 1500m race. I was about 30th after about a kilometer, when I looked back on Strava it was about 4:30 pace for the first kilometer so god knows what the 30 people ahead of me were doing. It wasn’t like they had any hope of maintaining this pace, it just appears to be the done thing in Spain regardless of ability.

7. Roundabout

I think that I now understand why the roundabout in the Kipchoge 1:59 challenge was cambered. It is very hard to run completely around a roundabout at full tilt wearing magic shoes. The roundabout in Malaga was very small which made it even harder.

8. Who Blows up Least

I think that if I were to run this race again I would run the first kilometer a lot more conservatively and work my way through. It would have been far more fun. Instead I spent the next 8k passing Spaniards that had completely detonated. I had blown up too but not as badly. It was a very strange race. I was lucky it was only 5.8 miles and not the advertised 10k as I was in major trouble by the end.

9. The Disease

I think that the Next% disease is just as bad in Spain now as it is back home. It probably isn’t as contagious as the Irish version as it seems to have only infected the front of the field. Further back it is mainly Asics and Joma shoes. The disease is definitely as virulent in Spain as the times have improved significantly.

10. No Podium

I think it was a shame that the other disease that has impacted running meant that there would be no podium. I finished 3rd in the masculino category which would have normally resulted in a podium trip despite finishing 9th overall. I don’t understand how a podium could be considered a high-risk activity, but I suppose it was a case of give something up to appease the gods.