The journey started 8pm'ish in Barca D'Alva which is very close to the border between Portugal and Spain and connects with EN 222 on km 34. Our team quickly put together the inflatable arch, we took some pictures, recorded a video and off I went to my 100-mile journey in "The world's best road" EN 222 in the Portuguese Wine Region next to the Douro River
The challenge was to tun 100 miles with +4,583m elevation gain passing by breathtaking countryside views, and now we know where to find the most thrilling stretch of tarmac possible.
I had a team supporting me composed of my coach Tiago Aragão, my nutritionist Tiago Almeida and Vitor Rodrigues, one of the best Ultrarunners in Portugal and worldwide.
The road took me along the River Douro and the picturesque regional wine towns of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was hot with temperatures crossing 40oC Celsius during the day and around 30oC most of the night.
We had a timekeeping company (Stop and Go), and a GPS tracking system so we could have the track and time confirmed by an external entity. Also, we facilitated a link to a GPS tracking platform so people could follow my journey from their homes.
I had a support vehicle carrying all my drinks and nutrition.
The journey was most difficult because of the heat but the support and breathtaking views have made it much more enjoyable. The route followed the river Douro most of the time until the last 4 kms where it will start climbing around 350m to finish at Cinfães Town Hall. Cinfães is a beautiful picturesque city.
This is an incredible journey, an unforgettable experience. This is definitely one challenge that I wanted to record with lots of photographs and so I hired a photographer and did exactly that. The stretch also offers frequently changing viewpoints. The Douro Valley is the home of Porto wine, and this region became the world's first wine region to have a formal demarcation. The Douro winemaking region was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001, by UNESCO.
This has been a memorable experience and I will now challenge others to go beat my time!