Guadarun 2008 Stage 5
Bryan Sharp writes
Day 5 Terre De Haut
As the sun rose on the last day a feeling of anticipation was acompanied by a disappointment, the event was nearly over. Just one more amazing run and the adventure would be over, with hindsight the locally produced rum would be our guide for the closing night's ceremony, so maybe it wasn't over yet!
At first glance there had either been a printing error or an angry child armed with felt tip pen had gotten a hold of our route maps. A closer inspection of the numerous arrows and lines revealed the course was made up of no less than three interlinked out and back style routes. The first and third were tours of hill mounted battlements with the second taking us inside the walls of a beautifully preserved colonial stone fort perched high above the island's coastline.
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The ups and downs were linked by local roads lined with cheering spectators who were very proud to be hosting the final stage of Guadarun. The journey back to the start was made all the more difficult by the cruel addition of a kilometer of beach, it's soft shifting sand draining momentum from those keen to finish quickly. Out of the sand and back onto the road the final two kilometers brought a smile to the face as we recovered the initial roads for a second time.
Cheers, whistles and applause greeted every runnner as they sprinted the downhill finish. The aches, blisters and injuries accumulated in the five days were soon forgotten as the realisation that Guadarun was complete came over them. The aches and pains will last a week or two but the memories and sense of achievement the runners have will remain with them forever.
"Final thoughts" to follow on monday...
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