Bandolerita cancelled

All night, the wind shook the house as I drifted in and out of dreams filled with mountain trails. Around six, I got up and made some very Spanish coffee and breakfast, just as the rain started hammering down again outside.

At the start in Prado del Rey, there was a strange atmosphere, but I was handed my bib and given directions for where to leave my drop bag. Yet, with 30 minutes remaining, the big tent was still empty, and my suspicion that something was wrong deepened.

It wasn’t until I tried to hand in my drop bag that Sofi and I finally heard the words “todo cancelado”. After asking around, we discovered that, since the weather warning had escalated from yellow to orange, both the Bandolerita and the full 100-mile edition had been cancelled already the night before. However, the only communication had been via a Facebook Reel - not much help if you don’t have Facebook :-)

Somehow, I had been mentally preparing for this outcome ever since I first saw the forecast, but it still felt strange that no one had said anything as I picked up my bib and went through the usual pre-race motions. With the race not happening, Sofi and I jumped in our rental car and drove up to Seville. Though it rained heavily on the road, the sky cleared as we reached the Andalusian capital, and soon enough, the sun came out. That was, of course, frustrating, given everything I had done to prepare for the race - including paying for a special medical certificate. At the same time, as I wrote two days ago, what really matters is all the training that Bandolerita kept me motivated for. I can now return to Sweden free from injuries and ready for another race in the future.