Michal Smola becomes the fastest man in El Chorro
November 12, 2007 ...by Jan Sidla
Nevertheless, the the Portugese Tiago Aires crowned as the Iberian Champion.
The rules are strict. Just eight runners fight for the title in each class from 18 to 45. Four from Portugal and four from Spain.
These squads, called selections, are the first to start. Then the rest may try their skills on the same courses.
Times from sprint, long and middle course are summed.
This year's 15th 'Campeonato Iberico' took place in the mountains of El Chorro near Campillos in Andalusia, Spain.
We didn't make it from Seville on Friday to run the sprint. But the weekend's climax was undoubtedly the Saturday's 10km (540m) long distance course.
Spectacular terrain. Such a variety on mere 6 square kilometers you don't see every day. Let alone on a warm and sunny November day, that is.
Hills, flatter slopes, erosive gullies, fields, pastures, cultivated forest, rocks, boulders. Not many roads and thorns and bushes.
In the beginning I did what you are supposed to do in the model event, towards the end (see the map) I found my track.
Surprisingly, a few locals I talked to did the same. Perhaps we were too tired to miss any more.
There were three orienteerers to speak of on the HE course. Michal Smola 77:38, Roger Casal 78:38, Tiago Aires 83:41.
The rest enjoyed the race for more than 90 minutes.
Esther Gil Brotons dominated the DE, winning clearly in 71 minutes.
In the Sunday's middle distance eucalypt and pine trees neatly planted on terraces required
don't-stop-for-nothing-it's-full-speed-or-nothing technique mainly.
Men: Michal Smola 33:23, Jan Sidla 37:33, Daniel Portal 37:45. Women: Esther Gil Brotons 28:30, Lucie Krafkova 33:27, Mia Taini 33:49.
Results
After the official part of our trip was over, we went exploring the water heart of Andalusia.
Well, there are many reasons why people come to El Chorro.
The king Alfonso XIII for example, wanted to oversee the construction of a dam on the river Guadalhorce.
Prisoners were made to build a path in the midst of a 300 meter high cliff along a deep gorge for him.
He never had the time, or guts, to walk upon it.
After some 80 years the
'Camino del Rey'
falls apart and makes a wonderful adrenalin sport of running along it.
From the constant hum of the pumped-storage hydro-electric power station in the village of El Chorro
we marched up to the hills, through railway tunnels (another adrenalin rush) and almond-tree groves to live under a rock overhang
and to cook on the stone fireplace.
Unfortunately, the stream which is normally full of water, dried up and we had to carry water from the village well,
some 45 minutes away (not much adrenalin). In the meantime, between carrying water and cooking,
we did what most of the people who come El Chorro do, we free climbed.
We haven't succeeded on Lourdes 8a, but we liked it very much, to the first rivet.
High above our camp, with a top at almost 1200 meters above the see level, a mountain overlooked the countryside. We called it the Snail Mountain, and not because the French played 'boules' there. As pigs for truffles we searched for fossils and indeed, many small items we found. And then the 'Find of the century' was made!
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