great strides - girona

jogscotland takes on Girona, Spain

By Ann Davidson

When Jim Dobbie won the ?Jog Leader of the Year? award last year, I had no idea that less than 12 months later I?d be joining him and his group for a 10k with a difference ? it was in Spain.  During the awards night the group told me about their plans for a trip to Girona and I asked if I could tag along.  Here?s what happened:

15th October

We had arranged to meet up in the departure hall at Prestwick airport.  I heard a couple of people mention ?beginners? and ?intermediates? as they chatted to each other so I was already beginning to identify group members, although we hadn?t met before.  Jim introduced me and my husband Ron to the group and we were both struck by how welcome we were immediately made to feel.  It was cold, grey, wet and windy when we left Scotland so it was lovely to step off the plane less than 3 hours later into warm afternoon sunshine.  Pamela MacGregor, one half of the local organising team, met us at the airport and, after getting us settled into our accommodation, led us through the town to the main square.  That helped us all get our bearings as most of us had never been there before. We arranged to all meet up at 8.15 the next morning then went off for a relaxing evening in the bars and restaurants around the square.  However, it was a less than relaxing night for those of us who didn?t bring ear plugs.  (The old town area of Girona is really big on church bells ? they chime every quarter hour and go into overdrive at 7am!)

16th October

Steve (Pamela?s husband) was waiting for me as I left our apartment just to make sure I could find our way to the meeting point.  (Our apartment was down the street from where everyone else was staying)  We split into two groups with Steve taking the advanced group and Jim leading intermediates. We set off for an ?easy jog?.  Now I should point out that Girona is close to the Pyrenees so ?easy? is perhaps a bit misleading.  However, it was a beautiful morning and once we had climbed up the hill to the university we had lovely views of the town.  The two groups met up after about 30 minutes for a cool down and stretch session outside the Cathedral before a leisurely breakfast.  We had the day to ourselves then met up again for a run in the evening.  This time we headed out of town, which was great but it meant a very long uphill return.  Well done to Alastair who managed to run all the way up the hill ? and still had the breath to congratulate everyone as they reached the top!  

After the cool down and some circuit exercises, Jim told me that he encourages both intermediate and advanced members to go on the trips to Girona, but some intermediates worry that they are ?not good enough?  Of course, being a jogscotland group no one ever gets left behind or asked to do more than they can so everyone is ?good enough?.  Jim was really pleased that there were a wide range of abilities within the group, with four people (Paul, Jackie, Gillian and Ishbel) preparing for their first 10k.

17th October

We amazed Jim by all turning up for the morning run ? usually by the second day some people don?t make the early session.  The previous day?s combination of exercise, good food and a glass or two of wine meant there were far fewer complaints about the bells before the session started!  This time Jim and Steve took us down into the town so we could do part of the 10k course.  We ran through the town and then up (and up!) past the Cathedral towards the university, which is the highest point of the course.  As we headed back for the cool down, we knew we could cope with the hardest part of the course on race day.  After breakfast we all went our separate ways and Ron and I headed for the train north to the French border and the pretty village of Port Bou, just over an hour from Girona.  (Although it was a jogscotland group outing, Jim was keen for everyone to remember it was a holiday too) 

That night Steve had arranged a traditional Catalan ?pica pica? meal in one of the local restaurants.  A bit like tapas, it consisted of lots of shared dishes followed by individual main courses.  Steve had registered us all for the race and handed out our race numbers, explaining the arrangements for the race morning.

18th October

Although a few people went for a short morning run, most followed Jim?s suggestion of a rest day before the race.  Almost everyone went into Barcelona although the weather was really cold and wet so we didn?t see the city at its best. 

19th October

The bad weather had cleared and it was a beautiful if chilly morning when I headed to the hotel to meet the group.  The entire group were wearing their bright blue NL t-shirts and they had an extra t-shirt for me. Steve met us and handed out our timing chips then led us to the start, pointing out the toilets on the way (very thoughtful!)  We posed for a photo with the group?s Lion Rampant flag then did a warm up near the start area.  Before we knew it the gun went off and we were on our way. 

Steve had advised us to take the first half of the race at an easy pace as we would be climbing quite a bit between 2k and 4k.  Ron was waiting with the camera outside the cathedral (the toughest part of the course) encouraging us all to smile.  Steve had given us good advice as we found we were able to pass people once we got to the downhill stretch where Pamela was waiting for us with her dog Harry.  We crossed the river away from old town and uphill to the very welcome water station at 6k.  Just then I heard someone calling me and Laura was beside me.  We ran together until 8k but Laura was clearly able to go faster so she went on ahead.  I was able to see her progressing up the field as we neared the finish and it was lovely to hear Willie, Alan and Pat shouting for us as we got to the line.

After picking up my goody bag and t-shirt I managed to get back to the finish line to see the others coming in ? Jackie and Alastair, Gillian, Avril and Margaret and finally Jim and Ishbel (Jim?s wife) who held hands as they ran the final 100m and shared a kiss at the finish line.  By that time Paul, who had run his first 10k in just 50 minutes had joined us and we were all able to congratulate each other.  

All too soon it was time to head back to the airport for our flight home.  As we waited in the airport I asked everyone how they felt about the race:

?T-shirt was nice but there weren?t enough smalls?

?Great value ? only ?6 entry fee, and ?1 of that was for breast cancer charity?

?Liked the goody bag?

?Didn?t expect to be running on cobbles ? but it was OK?

?It was a pity we couldn?t understand what people were shouting to us?

There are a number of other stories I could tell about the trip, but I haven?t included them here because we all agreed that ?What goes on in Girona stays in Girona?.  So if you want to know more you?ll just have to sign up with Jim for the next trip in May 2009.  Or of course, you could arrange a group trip of your own!

We travelled with Ryanair from Prestwick ? return flights cost from around ?100 upwards depending on how far in advance you book.  Accommodation was arranged with Steven MacGregor of Total Fitness for Business ? spmacg@mac.com  - and cost around ?200pp for 4 nights B & B accommodation.