The dark sky was tinged with the promise of the day ahead as the deep sound of the beating drums and horns emanated from the forest. Our group of 23 runners walked purposefully towards the sounds with some trepidation and nervousness of what lay ahead. We had come from all parts of the world to run the Way of Legends, a 250 km stage race that traverses along the historic pilgrimage path of Saint James to the finish line at the Cathedral of Burgos, a magnificent world heritage site. We all had a shared goal; to become a legend in our own right and complete this grueling and challenging race whilst experiencing the natural beauty, culture and gastronomy of this amazing region crossing through different landscapes reliving each stages own legend as we went. As we came upon the sounds we could now see the Druids that had come to bless us on our path, their ancient dialect translated for us as they gave each of us poison berries to take in the event of capture.
Check out my video of the race here:
As we set off the dawn broke and we witnessed a spectacular sunrise and eased our legs into the first few kilometres of the 48 km day ahead. The race is a fully catered event except for your fuel during the race, so a small rucksack (I used a 3L Waa Ultra bag) is all that is required for you to carry to include the mandatory kit along with your food and drink. Don’t be led to believe that the lack of self sufficiency makes this race ‘easy’. To run over a marathon a day for 5 days straight through varying degrees of technicality and some chunky ascents & descents, with all extremes of weather at both ends, meant that we were all truly tested and our legs were feeling the pain and fatigue by the end of the week.
What a revelation a catered multi day race is after running self sufficient events! At the end of each day the wonderful team of professional chefs cooked up amazing organic and vegan option meals. Lunch always consisted of a soup of the day and a selection of prosciutto, cheeses, guacamole and bread with the option of wine and beer if you so desired. Then a full dinner followed and you awoke to coffee and a tasty breakfast to set you up for the day.
Different to all other stage races this one has amazing and uniquely comfortable camps with beds, hot showers and massages available. On the night before the final stage we slept in the Monastery of San Pedro Cardeña and were each treated to our own individual Shamanic drum ceremony with the wonderful Oscar Martine before embracing the spiritual sounds of the monks final songs at the end of the evening.
We were all touched spiritually during this race in our own ways, and this became apparent at the awards ceremony on our final night together where most of the runners felt the desire to share with the group how much they were feeling, not just how they were feeling but how much. Something had opened up in all of us and the outpouring of emotions from everyone was something I had not experienced before, we all had to dig deep during the week and we had all been there for each other. I will always treasure the memories and the unique finishers medal; a bespoke design by Oscar the Shaman which represents a helmet and therefore a legend, but when turned upside down represents the phoenix and rebirth ‘a rising from the ashes’. The race is limited to 36 competitors so will always retain this magical feel so don’t delay in signing up, I’d highly recommend it!
My Kit list:
- WAA ultra skort, carrier top, 3L bag, visor and ultra rain jacket – all in a variety of colours (get in touch with me if you would like a 20% discount code off their products)
- Brooks Caldera shoes
- Injinji toe socks
- Guidetti trekking poles
- Suunto Ultra Spartan Watch
- Fueled by Active Root – Ginger sports drink
Running Dutchie 