I’d barely been in Tavira for 10 days and it was time to go back to Seville to watch Jack run in the 2023 Zurich Marathon.
Cammy also decided to join us in a spur-of-the-moment, last-ditch, heroic decision to try her luck, even though she’d barely had any time to train. She arrived at Faro airport late Friday night. Santa Luiza was packing up for the night, but we managed to find a cosy little cocktail bar that was still open for a couple of drinks to celebrate her arrival.
I haven’t found a dog-minder yet, so going to Seville with Lottie was a logistical problem. There are no trains linking Tavira to Seville and the cross-border bus doesn’t allow dogs. Parking is also a nightmare in Seville’s narrow streets. In the end, the only solution was to book a place in an underground car park.
The drive to Seville only took 1 hour 40 minutes and there was practically no traffic on the road. The underground car park was like descending into the third circle of hell, but we managed to dump the car, extricate ourselves and trot off with Lottie and our stuff to our Airbnb.
It was great to meet up with Jack again and have a few tapas and beers before he went off for an early night. Cammie and I had a couple of cheeky vermouths, before we called it a night too.
I decided not to get up to see Jack and Cammy off at 8.30, but stationed myself at the 15th km to shout some encouragement. Jack was running comfortably, but Cammy had slowed up a bit and was worried her phone might run out of charge.
I was hoping to catch them again at the 35th km, but it was too difficult to push through the crowds. It was easier to make my way to the end of the race. Meanwhile, I was able to track Jack and Cammy on the official Zurich Marathon app.
Jack finally passed the finish line in fine style and I settled down for the long wait for him to emerge from the runners’ enclosure.
Jack’s friends were at a bar about a mile or so away. There were no taxis in sight, so he had to limp a little further. That walk plus the walk to the start of the race in the morning (and the walk from the bar back home) add quite a bit of mileage to the official 26.
But where was Cammy? The six-hour cut-off point was coming up. Though the tracker app claimed that she hadn’t passed the 35 km mark, her CG icon did appear to be hovering fairly close, so I hared off to try and intercept her and give her my power pack to charge her phone.
When I got to her last location, she was nowhere to be seen and I feared she’d been scooped up by the straggler collection van.
After a helpless wait back at the bar, Cammy eventually texted. She had a tiny bit of charge left and she’d crossed the finish line! Unfortunately she got there too late for a medal, so Jack lent her his for a photo – once she’d hobbled her way to join us at the bar.
You can read Jack’s account of the race here and see his Zurich Marathon race video here.
