10k run in el Parque de Maria Luisa

Seville is a great city to be active in. It is completely flat and there´s a surprisingly extensive cycle lane system so you can cycle, rollerblade, or even skateboard easily. There are also many parks where you can do your morning run and they often organise sport events. Amongst these are the ‘popular runs’ or carreras populares which include an organised run almost every month in different parts of the city. We heard about this first from our Spanish teacher, Pilar. You can sign up for 5 of them together, just like she did, or individually. We had been waiting for an occasion to join but due to our busy weekend schedules we just couldn’t find the right time. Finally we signed up for the last run of the year. For 5 euros we got a T-shirt, this time it was red, and a number. Bargain!

It was the last run but it lead through my favourite park, el Parque de Maria Luisa. This is the one that’s in front of Plaza España. Apart from it being very lovely it also had an advantage, its trees provided us shade in the blazing sunshine which is always welcome during a run.

On Sunday morning we headed up to the park. During my Barcelona run most of the participants wore the top we were given, here there were hardly any red topped people. Most of them were wearing their club Tee which made it a very colourful crowd.

Learning from my mistake in Barcelona I actually managed to start in the right place, the under 60 minutes group. Thanks to this I ran with almost the same people around me as our rhythm was the same. First we ran on the streets, then finished it off in the park.

Paul started off with me then went ahead as he runs faster. Here are some of his photos he took during the run.

Unlike in Barcelona, here the kilometres were signed and I was able to pace myself better. I knew when to start to push and on the last few hundred meters we all sped up. I flew over the 10k mark. At the end of the race we got a banana and a piece of paper we could swap for a beer (!!!), a soft drink or a sport drink.

At the end of our run we went to see Pilar and her sister, they were just getting ready for their run.

We had such an amazing time that have already signed up for the next run, this time it will be a night run. It will be held on Friday, our very last week in Spain. A great way to say good bye.

If you're interested in these runs, check out the official website here.