The Way of Legends - Admin Day

The day before the start of the race dawned - this didn't happen terribly early as Burgos is actually further west than London and uses Central European Time so is an hour ahead. All this meant that dawn was around 8 am. This was good news as the race would start with a ceremony at sunrise - however before we would be allowed onto the start line we had to complete our administrative checks.

I was confident my kit would be OK as I had queried a few items with Manu after his pre-race emails had made the point that the waterproof jacket particularly had to be of a suitable standard. This was due to the fact it had rained a lot on the mountain stage in 2017 and some people kit was marginal to say the least. I had gone for a very lightweight jacket but it had the required hood and taped seams and had already been classified as 'great' by Manu.

Sure enough kit check was efficient and painless. Then there was a chat with Doctor Helen during which we discussed my penicillin allergy (it gives me a rash, if the alternative is dying I can live with the rash) and I promised not to take ibuprofen while running (it's very bad news for your kidneys if you are dehydrated). Then it was just sign the declaration (standard stuff, I understand this is dangerous and promise not to sue the organisers if I die doing it), pick up some numbers bibs (actually name bibs), three pairs of socks and other assorted free gifts and I was accepted into the race!

All the competitors were photographed by Manu 2 outside by a tree and some Way of Legends flags. Every member of the crew was so hardworking and supportive and Manu 2 was no exception. He also had the most loyal dog I have ever seen in Yume. Wherever Manu went, Yume was never far behind, in fact by the end of the week if I saw Manu my first thought was 'where's Yume?'

Official Race Dog (Photo Credit: Derek Kwik)

In keeping with the general spirit of the race we were told the photos didn't have to be too formal so Sharon and myself put on our Ridge Runners tops and went to be photographed together. I can't remember if we were 'formal' or not and I haven't seen the pictures yet but we took some selfies as well to post on Facebook so people at home would know we were still alive.

We won't be looking this fresh by the end of the race...

We used the rest of the day to introduce ourselves to some of the other competitors and have a lok round the local area - well the bit within 100m of the Basecamp anyway, no point getting too much exercise, there would be plenty of time for that later in the week.

2018 Legends! (Photo Credit: Sam Guo)

Basecamp was in a village called Trashaedo. It is unusual in that it has no bar - not a problem as Basecamp was well stocked with soft drinks, beers and the official race wine. There was also very little evidence of any inhabitants, although possibly they all wisely stayed indoors when the crazy runners were in town.

This is the only reason I know where Basecamp was

Trashaedo Church

After dinner we had the first race briefing. Manu told us some stuff about the race, the only bit of which that stuck in my mind was that there was only one possibly slightly wet bit on the course, on stage 3. This information would take on more importance later...

Manu doing the Race Director bit

We were also given our schedule for the following morning which involved getting on a bus at 7 am to go and see some Druids...