Mountain Running in Spain
And just like that, our 2023 season has officially come to an end! In this newsletter you’ll find a recap from our two mountain running trips that we hosted in Spain in July/August, as well as some details for 2024 trips!
Back in 2021, we met Jenni Nettik, owner and coach at Mercuria Running, at an art show in Boulder. We shared many similar interests and eventually reconnected with the idea to collaborate on a mountain running trip together! This summer, we hosted two trail running trips in collaboration with Mercuria Running in the mountains of the Picos de Europa in Spain. Jenni, along with another Mercuria coach, Brittany Charboneau, coached all participants through custom training plans to prepare us all for this trip. They also joined us on the trip as coaches/guides/motivators! Coach Keri-Ann of Mercuria was also able to join us for our second trip! We hosted two sessions of this trip, each with 12 awesome runners joining us.
Mountain Running:
We reference this trip as a “mountain running” trip because running in the mountains oftentimes looks a lot different than running on roads or on less-technical trails. Mountain running can include steep, technical, and rocky terrain, therefore moving through this terrain includes many different forms. Sometimes we’re moving fast with small rapid steps, sometimes we’re using our hands on steep inclines, sometimes we’re side-stepping piles of cow poop in a field! Mountain running holds an element of adventure that brings a little bit of extra freedom into the act of running and that’s why we love it.
The Trip:
Both sessions of this trip were 8 days long with 6 days of running. We averaged between 60-70 miles of running with over 20k feet of elevation gain! There were days where runners had the option to run shorter or longer distances, so our stats for the week look different, but this wasn’t the sort of trip that could be fully measured by statistics or Strava uploads.
We structured this trip so that each day we would run from one town to the next while our bags were transferred by car for us. It was so fun to arrive on foot to our destination without any sort of transportation needed and to have had such a grand adventure along the way. There’s something so spectacular about going out and summiting a mountain, or challenging yourself on the trail, and then ending the day with a hot shower, a hot meal, a glass of wine, and a bed to sleep in.
If you’re curious about our route, here is the breakdown of where we ran:
Day 1: Arenas de Cabrales to Sotres via Senda Caoru, ~11 miles
Day 2: Sotres up to Pico Urrielu and down to Poncebos, 13-15 miles
Day 3: Active rest day hike through the Cares Gorge, ~7.5 miles
Day 4: Posada de Valdeon to Fuente De, ~9 miles
Day 5: Fuente De up to Collado Horcados Rojos, 7-15 miles
Day 6: Fuente De to Sotres, ~8 miles
We then ended our trip with a night in the coastal city of Santander and both trips ate at a Michelin Star Restaurant for our final dinner together!
Here are a few of our favorite moments from the trips:
We are truly blown away by the fun, adventure, and pure magic that unfolded from both of these trips. A huge shoutout to every Mercurian that joined us, every new runner, the NH crew, the CO crew, all of you! What makes a trip amazing really doesn’t have much to do with the place, the weather, or the itinerary (although all of those were really great!).. it mostly comes down to the quality of the people. And man, what a great crew of humans you guys are!
Another huge shoutout to coach Jenni, coach Brittany, and coach Keri-Ann! Thank you all for your custom training plans, your patience and commitment to training each and every one of us, for your tips and tricks on the trail, for offering your endless knowledge, and most importantly for how fun you are to be around! If you’re reading this and you have an interest in improving your running practice, we highly recommend connecting with Mercuria Running! The coaches are based in Colorado and New Hampshire, but they offer online coaching!
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us on this trip and who trusted us with this adventure. We also owe a huge thanks to this special landscape and to the community of the Picos de Europa, especially the hotel and restaurant employees who helped to make our stay so wonderful. Also a huge shoutout to our taxi drivers!
Announcements for next year:
Our goal is to announce our 2024 trip schedule by September 15th and to open enrollment by October 1st!
If you are a returning traveler, you will receive access to early enrollment as well as an enrollment discount! Woop woop!
We have hopes of offering trips to the same locations as this summer plus a couple of new destinations!
Thank you for following along on our adventures. Even if you have not joined us for a trip yet, following along is a huge support for us and for our small business.
Next up: We are currently in the process of applying for a visa to stay in Spain for a few years! Our lives will slow down a bit this fall/winter but we still have a good bit of travel planned. We’ll be working to have our website updated soon too! Keep an eye out for our September newsletter with 2024 trip announcements!
Chasing Blue Skies!
-Mimi & Jonas Hill
