There will indeed be grunting, cursing, and probably very little drinking as the runners in the first Priorat Marathon make their way from Falset over to the village of Porrera on October 4th. Then, after following the river for a bit, they’ll “enjoy” the hill that leads up in to Torroja. Then… well, you get the idea. This marathon is going to be quite gorgeous in the middle of Fall, but it’s going to be brutal for the runners involved. Some of these sections I hate taking in a car (such as Falset-Porrera, ugh) so I can’t even imagine how it will be to run them. And as much as running a marathon at some point in my life seems like a decent goal given that I jogged through Bay to Breakers I don’t see this being the one I choose to fulfill that dream.
Based upon the Marathon du Medoc in Bordeaux (now in its 30th edition), the organizers thought, “Hey Priorat is pretty wine country too!” and they’re damned right. For those who don’t feel like the full marathon, there is the half marathon as well which just has the main hill hell from Falset to Gratallops. Everyone needs to look out for the level river crossing of the Siurana near Bellmunt. That thing can sweep away cars! Oh yeah, there’s a big hill there too in case you didn’t get the theme yet. To all those that will finish that, I salute you, with a glass of wine, sitting on my terrace in Porrera.
