Nit del Mussol - 21k

My trainers at Tecnirunner are collaborating in organizing a trail run in Vallirana, near Barcelona, and handed out two free bibs to their trainees. I was one of the lucky ones. Running half a marathon through the mountains so soon after the Rialp Matxicots ofcourse had me in doubt about whether I would be fine all the way through, but in the training sessions I felt quite ok so I wanted to go out and enjoy. The special thing about this run lies in the fact that, as its name already suggests "Night of the owl", it is a run in the dark.

When I left Barcelona, more or less heading west, it was raining heavily. When arriving in Vallirana the rain was just about stopping and after a while I found a place to park the car and searched for the start area.

Start area in the sportcomplex of Vallirana

Hot sausages after the race!!!!

After picking up my bib number I started my warmup thinking that we would start at 19h00. But when that hour passed without any visible activity I asked, to learn they postponed the start for half an hour, which in the end turned out to be almost 40 minutes. So finally after a long wait we were shot counted down and started, with dawn setting in already. Luckily I already had put on my headlamp so I was prepared for the dark to set in.

The first kilometer leaving the village was along some streets of asphalt and then running along the edge on terrain that seemed not to be a regular path, more like a clearing in the bushes and we had to be very careful to not trip on trunks and roots. Then after a few more meters of asphalt we hit the regular trails. I went out fast to avoid any congestion so I could go at my own pace all the time. The first uphill is fairly steep with some almost flat parts in between. Near the top we have a first point of incertainty about where to go and the indications of the volunteer did not help much either, but we assumed we went the right way. After reaching the top a long and winding downhill followed along a very narrow trail. At a certain point when stepping aside to let some faster runners pass I slip and fall. Luckily the fall only produces some scratches and tiny wounds, but "the running parts" are intact and I continue at pretty high pace and soon make it to the first aid station. A quick drink of some isotonic and on we go. Soon I miss a direction marker at a part where the course makes a loop and I meetup with people at a much slower pace. I asked them if they passed any checkpoint and since they said no I understood I went off course and headed back. Since I was running alone and it was very dark from then on this would be the continuous doubt, since not at all points it was clear where to go.

 The course itself is very demanding, along narrow rather technical trails and I fall a second time bruising my knees and almost a third time nearly cramping up in the movements I made to recover my balance. After passing the second and last aid station and loosing my way again I slowed down.

Trying to finish in a good time with bad indications is pretty frustrating. Finally I arrived back in the village and picked up pace a bit to finish in 2h43h20 in 24th place. Not bad knowing about all the time I lost to find my way. All in all I have to say that, as the organizers state in the publicity, a race for experts, very demanding and technical where you have to be 100% attentive all the time, but also very beautiful. Knowing this was the first time they did the longer run I think it is very recomendable.