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 began hammering down again outside.

At the start in Prado del Rey, there was a strange atmosphere. I was handed my bib and shown where to leave my drop bag, yet with thirty minutes to go the big tent was still eerily empty, and my suspicion that something was wrong deepened.

It was not until I tried to hand in the drop bag that Sofi and I finally heard the words: todo cancelado. After asking around, we learned that, since the weather warning had been upgraded from yellow to orange, both the Bandolerita and the full 100-mile race had already been cancelled the night before. The only communication had been via a Facebook Reel – not much help if you do not have Facebook.

Somehow, I had been mentally preparing for this outcome ever since I first saw the forecast, but it still felt surreal that no one had said anything as I picked up my bib and went through the usual pre-race rituals. With the race not happening, Sofi and I jumped into our rental car and drove to Seville. Though it rained heavily along the way, 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, including paying for a special medical certificate. At the same time, as I wrote two days ago, what really matters is the training that Bandolerita kept me motivated for. I can now return to Sweden injury-free and ready for another start somewhere down the line.