Lanzarote Marathon

A really well organised event with a passionate director. Not exactly flat, but the little undulations and ungiving surface gave my legs a hard time. Easy to enter, register and locate. Less than 600 runners in the marathon but 10k and Half mar. were very popular. Chip timing, good drinks stations and helpful volunteers made for a good day. Weather will always have the potential to spoil your day in this exposed island but this year the wind was not too strong and the temperature was OK (about 20C max.)

After running one 10K in the UK, I tried the quarter marathon in Lanza in Dec. 2005. Surprised at lack of publicity and charity involvement, which is very strong in UK. Perhaps the Lanza run is seen as an athletics event rather than a fun run, but why not both? Look forward to Arrecife; I hope people will be there to cheer on the runners between the start and finish. This will now be my 5th 10K (age 74!) and I will be running for SARA Protectora.

Since 2003, this has been held in Costa Teguise - not, as formerly, in Puerto del Carmen. Costa Teguise is a nicer resort than P. del C., and the two are located about 5 miles either side of the airport, with regular 50-minute bus service between the resorts. We came last year to the races in Costa Tegise and this year I am taking a party of 10; some to do the full and some the half. Be ready for the repetitive course, but you can keep an eye on the opposition.