FKT: Tomasz Sadowy Sadowski - Toulouse to Barcelona (France, Andorra, Spain) - 2024-09-12

Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Self-supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
5d 10h 19m 58s
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I started the run at Capitole de Toulouse just before 8am on Saturday, September 7th.

The first day went very well and without any difficulties. It was a perfect weather the whole day. Not too hot, not too cold, with just the perfect amount of sun. I spent the first night at a camping.

The second day, the weather was great till around 3pm, when it started raining just when I started the first serious climb of the trip. Initially I was planning on a bivouac by Étang de Peyregrand but bad weather made me seek different options. I knew there was a mountain hut nearby, which I quickly found and used it as a shelter for the night. It was everything I needed to warm up and have a pretty comfortable night. There were some friendly mice inside, but once I secured my food I felt relaxed enough to have a good sleep.

Towards the end of the second day my left ankle started swelling, which turned out to be even worse the following morning. It made running quite painful and sketchy, particularly on this rugged terrain. I decided to push through, but was constantly monitoring the situation. The pain stayed with me the whole day, but I did not feel like it was getting worse. On this day I ran through the whole country of Andorra, and spent my night at a camping a few kilometers after the border with Spain.

The fourth day was quite similar to the previous one. Both when it comes to the pain in the ankle, and the landscapes, as it was the second of the two full days spent in the Pyrenees. This day involved the highest elevation gain and loss of the whole trip. The ankle kept feeling the same, but the mind got used to running with pain, which made it a bit easier. I spent the night wild camping near a little stream close to the main trail.

The fifth day was the longest when it comes to the time on feet, but gladly the pain in the ankle started going away. The ankle was still very swollen and I had a very limited mobility, but at least every step was now a tiny bit easier than on the previous two days. The biggest challenge faced on this day was the national holiday in Catalonia, which I did not account for when planning this run, so it took me by surprise and drastically limited my ability to restock food and water. However, it just meant I had to be more careful and had to carry just a little bit extra. I was planning to spent the night at a camping, but it turned out to not be a traditional camping but more of a private RV parking (or something like that). Because of the holiday, there was no one there, so I found a relatively secluded place nearby to pitch up my tent and spend the night.

The last day of the trip went very smoothly and with no issues. I became one with the ankle pain. I started the day with a relatively long break after just 6km to wait for the nearest store to open, as the next one would be more than 20km farther. After that it was all smooth sailing. I crossed my finish line, Arc de Triomf, around 6:15pm, precisely 5 days, 10 hours, 19 minutes and 58 seconds after I started in Toulouse.