A picture is worth a thousand words, and movie footage … well, maybe more.
It’s a thrill to complete a major international race, even in the heart of the pack.
There’s just no experience quite like it – the patter of trainers on tarmac, the companionship of fellow-runners, the roars of the crowd, and the ghastly rasping sounds which form the soundtrack to my own near-terminal efforts.
So here it is – Roads in southern Spain, and en route to a 1:59:57 half marathon.
Spanish steps – La Rambla de Almería: the ascent for glory (advisory – this film features poor Spanish grammar, right from the start)
Sprint for home – approaching El Estadio Mediterráneo at 20 km, with just 1 km left to live run.
Related articles:
90. Iberian chains – Tierras del Cid, Spain
91. Madrid me mata
78. Spanish stroll: Almería Half Marathon
137. Otro día más sin verte: a return to Spain
129. Tenerife – 1: the light at the end of the world
130. Tenerife – 2: the world at the end of the light
roads of stone 
You sound very relieved to be closing in on the finish. And the wind sounds very disappointed to be letting you go.
Congratulations on notching another one.
Thanks very much, Ed. Relief is exactly the word.
Meanwhile, I’m experimenting with adding some music to this site. I’ll come back next week and write the words to go with it.
Hasta la semana que viene, amigos.
That was great! I’m going to have to try filming a race myself. How did you do it? What kind of recorder did you use?
Thanks very much, Perry.
I was using a standard digital camera – an Olympus mu700. With a 1GB memory card it gives about 500 photos at 7 megapixels or almost 45 minutes of video.
The video resolution isn’t great (and is further subsampled here by YouTube) but it’s a very small and light camera, and easy to hold and use, even on the run.
It wasn’t expensive either: just around £ 150 over here – most likely $ 150 or so in the US.
So much for my filming exploits. But how you might be able to joggle and film at the same time, I’m not quite so sure … the ‘drops’ could become costly, so all the best of luck with that experiment.