I have a colleague who is/was an ultrarunner but focuses on marathons these days ("you get on the world ranking list after 300 marathons!") who mentioned in passing that he every year runs the Malaga marathon in December. Guess who didn't need much more convincing than that to join a run?
The Iberian lynx is a species of lynx which is - surprise, surprise - only present on the Iberian peninsula so I have recently tried to look up photo tours that would hunt for these. Unfortunately all tours are focused around the winter which has never really suited my schedule when looking at it, but with this run in December it was an almost perfect setup to add a bit of safari'ing to my run.
Flying to Malaga early morning (via Stockholm as my flight from Copenhagen was cancelled) means I have plenty of time on arrival - on the other hand it means a very early morning at the airport. I expect to be sleeping most of the flight - after being fed, obviously. Malaga is apparently quite impressive during Christmas with all the lights so that will be an adventure, but otherwise I suspect I will spending most of the time wandering as I usually do. There is a breakfast run on the Saturday, or rather a brunch run; starting at 1100 they have figured out how to be nice and not starting horribly early for a simple 5km run.
15th of December
The day of the marathon. The start and finish is in Parque de Malaga 5 minutes from the hotel (one might suspect that was intentionally booked!). From there you run app. 3km west along Av. de Andalucia before turning towards the water and following it back and going out and back at the ferry terminal. From there we continue east to Arroyo Jaboneras where we more or less do a 180 and return the same way from where we came. Follow the coast all the way to Guadalhorce where we turn inland, cross Av. de Andalucia, follow Guadalmedina north until the distance fits and we do another 180 and return to the finish area. I've been informed that 20ish degrees is fairly common this time of year so it'll be quite warm for a run, but I'm hoping the time along the water will result in a breeze that can help us cool down a bit.
16th - 20th of December
The following morning I'll be picked up at the hotel by the gudie at we will drive a few hours north through Cordoba to just outside Sierra de Andujar national park. Here we'll be staying until Thursday and in the mean time we'll be going on drives trying to find the elusive lynx. There are obviously many other animals and birds to look at but the lynx is the main event of the tour. Coming back to Malaga thursday afternoon I'll spend an extra night in the city before flying out on the 15th before lunch.
Focusing on running trips wildlife trips have unfortunately been down prioritized a bit in recent years, so with a trip like this I get to combine both hobbies into one trip. It's a win/win!
