Day 18 – EU – Spain [Utrera to Lebrija]

23/12/19

45km

  From Utrera (Spain) to Lebrija (Spain)

Europe

Sunny, rural, Pueblo Blancos and a December suntan!

As I run South of Sevilla in Andalusia, I am entering the territory of the “Pueblo Blancos”, or White Villages of Andalusia. Today I got past two of them: Las Cabezas de San Juan, which I ran around about 30km into the run, and Lebrija, where my run ended at km45.

The logistics of the next few days involve my family dropping me at my start point every morning (which is the exact point my run stopped the day before) – and picking me up where I end my run, anywhere between 13:00 and 14:00. We all stay in a lovely Hacienda, South of Seville, for the 5 days break of Christmas. It is quite a strange feeling to cover the distance by car. I am under the impression it feels a lot more than what I actually ran. I try to sleep and not pay attention to the distance…

The bad weather, rainy-foggy-windy combination seems to have disappeared temporarily, and I am now running in shorts and t-shirt in 20 degrees celsius temperatures, with but blue sky above me. So pleasant.

35km into my run, a police car slows down and parks about 50m in front of me. Two policemen get out of the car, facing me, hands on their hips, quite impressive. I greet them politely with a broad smile. They ask me how I am doing and if everything is fine. Nothing to report, I tell them I am doing great. They elaborate a bit and explain they have seen me about “30km ago” this morning and are really concerned about me. I pull out my little name cards and explain them what it is I am doing. They seem quite pleased that I am running through their region, offer me assistance if anything happens to me or if I need anything, shake my hand and wish me the best of luck. A classic nice encounter!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: