Relentless by David Gething

Author:David Gething [Gething, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

As soon as I sat on that plane I was hit with a wall of tiredness and fatigue. The postrace adrenaline had worn off, and I felt exhausted. I was asleep before the wheels left the ground, vaguely stirred a couple of times as we moved through bumpy air, but didn’t properly wake until we’d touched down in Madrid, roughly eight hours later.

With a yawn and a stretch, I groggily disembarked into the byzantine structure that is Madrid Airport. The airport was massive and sprawling, a maze of tortuous shiny glass and steel corridors, elevators, staircases, and ramps. Navigating the airside passageways, collecting our luggage, passing through customs, and getting to the arrivals hall seemed like a marathon in itself.

Finally, we emerged from the belly of the airport and were immediately struck with how cold it was outside. I’d been expecting cool weather, but a cold snap had hit and we were all positively freezing. The wet, still air felt far more bone-chilling than the crisp, dry freeze of Antarctica, even though Antarctica had been more than twenty degrees colder. Maybe it was partly because we were prepared for it in Antarctica. Looking around it seemed that my companions felt the same way, all huddled together and waiting for a sign that we could proceed.

We were greeted by Juan and Miguel, the local fixers and organizers. It was nine o’clock in the morning, but the city seemed to be still half asleep. I figured the Spanish, like the residents of Punta Arenas, were night owls, not early risers. After a few handshakes and smiles we loaded the bags and then loaded ourselves into the awaiting coach bus, then rolled out of the terminal for a journey through the city to Casa de Campo park. Casa de Campo was once a hunting reserve, but in modern times had been transformed into the largest recreational nature park in Madrid. Among other things it houses the Madrid Zoo and an amusement park, but it also has a reputation for crime, especially prostitution, in certain areas. It certainly sounded like an interesting venue for a run.

I gazed absentmindedly out the window as the bus passed through early-morning Madrid, watching people start their day against a backdrop of gray and imposing buildings. I’d been to Barcelona a couple of times before, and its vibrant colorful street life and atmosphere seemed in stark contrast to my current surroundings in the more somber, authoritative capital. Possibly that was partly a reflection of the time of day and my own weary emotional state, but I suspect it was also just Madrid.

We passed the spectacular Royal Palace of Madrid and the adjacent Cathedral de la Almudena, and I knew we must be close. I’d seen some course recce photos and the palace had often featured in the background. With one more left turn we were there. The coach pulled up next to the lake in the eastern corner of the park, and we slowly sauntered out. I think we’d

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