Alpaca

With stormy winds coming down from the Norwegian Sea, yesterday turned into a true trail adventure as I took on the Alpaca Race. Taking place in Hisingsparken, the course consisted of a 10.6 km loop with some of the more technical trails that I have ever attempted with plenty of climbing on exposed rocks, roots and mud.

After a bit of sunshine near the starting line, the rain started, only to be followed by hail and thunder, eventually turning the whole ground white. Occasionally, the sun would return but each loop took progressively longer to complete as water kept accumulating in the forest. Having ran 70 kilometres this week even before starting, and with Borås Ultra Marathon only two short weeks away, I soon realized that I had grossly underestimated this race.

Still, 6 hours and 24 minutes after starting, I crossed the finishing line, securing one ITRA-point and feeling forever grateful that I had not signed up for ten loops. Looking through the results, there were so many DNF, with only two runners out of 16 completing the 100k distance. Also, among those who only ran three loops like myself, about half ended up not completing the race. So, all in all, I am happy with my performance.