Matagalls - Montserrat 2023

After finishing my last mountain marathon I felt I was not fully ready for stepping up to any ultra race with the typical D+ of 5000 meters or more. So I decided to sign up for the Matagalls Montserrat, which is long, 84 km, but has less total climbing, so in race time it would be just "somewhat" longer than running a mountain marathon.

Since the plan was to finish around 7am early Sunday morning I drove up to the Montserrat Monastery on Saturday morning, took the "Cremallera" down to Monistrol de Montserrat from where the organization had organized transport to the starting area in Brull. The previous editions I started from Coll Formic, but that point has little to no room and is hard to get to either by bus or by car, and Brull is much easier, though over 3000 people is still a lot and when we got to the start area it was already very busy and somewhat chaotic.

After checking out the start area I sat down in the shadow and had dinner and after wandered off to a more quiet place and wait for my time to start at 16h44. The first people would start this resistance march (it is not a race) just before 15h00 and after every minute a new group of people would start.

When the first people get under way I find a spot in the starting area and after a while by pure coincidence a friend, Barend and his wife Ingrid come to the same spot to wait for their moment to get under way, about one hore before me. We have a nice chat and then they go down and start walking. I do some last drinking and eating and then go down to the start and at 16h44 I start my 4th MM, as always running the first part. If the first part was easy in earlier editions, this time it was even more easy since the first 3km where all on asphalt and after a wide easy gravel road, so my pace was between 5m and 6m per km depending on the slight up and downhills of this section. Soon we start the descent into Aïguafreda and after a few switch backs we enter town, meanwhile chatting with people. Here I only make sure to have enough water, pick up an energy bar and some banana and continue my way onto the first climb. Just after leaving town we enter a single trail for a while and it is still crowded so for some minutes we go very slow. After that turn onto a much wider trail and everyone can go at their own pace, though as you can see in the pictures it is still very crowded here. Up higher the views of the cliffs here are amazing.

After the climb a short flatter section follows with a nice trail that winds through fields and then a second shorter and more easy climb up a rocky trail follows. Here I pass Barend and Ingrid and after fotos and wishing eachother good luck I am on my way again. 

From there on 

Finished in 14h28m52s

Long run in the Obac area

 In preparation for the Matagalls Montserrat later this year I decided to run part of it by daylight. The MM starts in the afternoon, so most of scenery we never see and I know from other visits to the area it is really beautiful out there.

I parked my car near the small hermitage, Mare de Deu de les Arenes, the path passes nearby but at night we would not see this at all. 

The first section is a winding path through the forest that slowly climbs up. At times you get a glimpse of "la Mola" though the route is not going up that far but passing on the left.

At some point it started to rain so I changed into the "bad-weather" gear quickly and continued. So far I have been running everything, at easy pace, but running, which during the MM most likely will be hiking on the uphills.

When I reach the highest point of this section it more or less stopped raining. The downhill is through a small village called Matadepera. For a training run it is not very interesting, during the race it is a welcome break of rocky mountain paths going down on asphalt for a while.

The section just after leaving the village is really beautiful, it is easy to run and the landscape is amazing and when you reach the highest point and cross into the next valley the views are amazing. At night you see the lights of Montserrat briefly.

The last part up to La Casa Nova d'Obac is relatively flat and very runnable. I take some time here to drink and eat and then turn back. I seems to be raining up ahead still and I see a rainbow very often and the dark back drop makes for spectacular views.

Near the end I of the training it is completely dark already so I get some running with a headlamp too during this training. Really happy to have gone out and do this, from now on it is a matter of taking it easy and prepare for race day, eventhough officially Matagalls Montserrat is not a race, but a resistance march.