Gracia-Montserrat, a non stop 63km walk

Paul, a friend of mine playing beach volley ball with me, talked to me about this walk 3 months ago. Starting from Barcelona center, the goal was walking to the famous Montserrat mountains, located 1 hour and half of Barcelona by car… and 63km away. The originality of this walk was that it was a non stop walk, starting at 5pm on a Saturday and finishing, well finishing when you can, normally before 12am on the Sunday… Food supplies stand were posted every 8 kms and various controls on the way made sure you were not cheating between legs… We were around 500 to participate. Each of us was given each a t shirt, a plastic glass, a reflecting smiley, sun protection and a massage gel.

It all started with a lunch shared at Paul’s place who had cooked us a yummy couscous. Lloyd, an English mate of Paul had come all the way from France to do the walk. We started having a lot of fun when the guys starting packing their bags… fighting like an old couple about how many oranges, apples, bananas, dried fruits to take, shared between wanting to have something to eat and carrying a light bag…

At Gracia, we caught up with the rest of the team, 2 other Paul’s friends: Alex, half Catalan-half Belgium, and Ana, American.

Many people looked like professionals, carrying sticks and making us feel awkward… No worries I told to myself, it’s not about external appearances, but about what’s inside… We slowly started, walking through the city, I started to feel really excited, full of energy, joking, faking to go for a run, the Crazy French Frog…

then, we finally left Barcelona, enjoying nice views of it,

Everybody was happy, smiling, joking,

The route was honestly beautiful. We first reached Collserola, getting close to Tibidabo,

The first test was some 440 stairs who already hit some of us...

then we passed a very nice pond and luxurious vegetation.

We had our first food stop in the sun, drinking energy beverages, eating fruits, pastries…

then kept going, on a very good rhythm,

The second food stop was reached at dusk and offered us the same kind of supplies. We started putting on jackets and pants as it was getting a bit chilly.

Head torches on, we kept on moving, following the signs, now reflecting, looking for them and sometimes also missing them… there was some tricky downhills in the wet bush, made even more complicated by the darkness of the night.

The third supplies stand was supposed to be the ‘sandwiches stop’… unfortunately, we arrived among the latest so had only the chocolate sandwiches left (not too sad about this Frenchy really!). We still enjoyed some warm soup, hot chocolate and coffee. A little bit of relaxing and we were back on track. Our group separated in two. I walked ahead with Lloyd while Paul and Alex were staying further back with Ana. Lloyd and I suddenly started to feel tired and ate an orange which boosted us and thanks to that, had no worries to climb up the next hill, while our thoughts were focused on the ‘illegal stand’ supposed to be next where we’d been told we’d have Serrano ham, and Cava, the specialty of the area, a sparkling wine… again, we got there too late, they’d already left, we only saw the cars going back! On the next stop, I started feeling my feet sore… some blisters were slowly but surely showing after these first 32 kms…

We did stop longer and I felt it was a bad idea as I began to get cold and more important, my legs were reluctant to start moving again. Not to help, this part was really depressing, walking through industrial zones or empty villages. The only funny thing being that when you could see people outside at this time of the night, you knew they were part of the walk and were showing you where to go… who could be willing to chill out in an industrial zone ?:-))) A nice surprise was waiting for us at km 39… as it was young people serving us food and drinks, they had brought a radio, so music was playing while we were having a rest. We even started dancing when they played the very fashionable song of the moment ‘tonight’s gonna be a good night’… not sure they had chosen it on purpose to give us energy and hope but it definitively boosted us!

Boys were taking turns to walk with Ana feeling very tired and carry her bag, and this was now Alex’s turn to walk with me ahead. This leg was really precious, we were getting closer to the mountains and could catch sight of big rocks, bridges in construction, rivers…

We could see the sky getting brighter, the colors slowly appearing...

But this is also when the protactor of my right leg started to ache so much I thought I had a stick inside… I tried to lean more on the front leg to remove the pressure and Alex gave me a massage when we got to the 6th stop as the sun was rising.

We could see people starting to walk awkwardly, a bit like granni, sitting down with effort… We’d been walking for 13/14 hours already and it was starting to show… I guess this is why our dear food and drink suppliers had brought bottles of whisky. I had a shot to get some extra boost and started walking again. About to go, people who had seen me having a massage I guess asked me if I was resuming with walking and I told them I’d die there maybe but I would not give up! They encouraged me as they were stopping there. So off I was again, all by myself this time, the others staying longer to rest but I was cold and thought I had to keep moving right now or I would not have the strength and It’d be more difficult. And I knew I’d be slower so they could catch up with me. The day light was now very good and we could see Montserrat, close… but so far away still! What was frustrating was to get further away as the track was not obviously going straight so we were going around hills… mentally hard to accept when all you want is to get there!

Plus Lloyd caught up with me and kept going… and it was Paul’s turn… who caught me with a big yawn...

The hardest was going down the hills, I was envying all these people with sticks, how useful these palls looked! And I had one at home, very useful there. Anyway, I kept going, getting closer and closer...

I caught up with Paul who was waiting for Alex and Ana. I kept going down, thinking I should get close to the last stop. When I first saw a road and houses with cars around, I forbid my head to think the stop would be there just in case… and how right I was!!! I had to walk at least 45 mn more before finally reaching the bridge where the last stop had been set up.

No Lloyd there. He had kept going and I felt the despair fall on me with the will to give up and take the funicular for the last bit. Then the fighter in me said that I could make it. It was only 9:45am so I had plenty of time to get to the top before 12am… still, my body was screaming just at the thought of keeping going… I drank a lot of water as I had made the big mistake to throw away my empty bottle at the last stop and had had nothing for the past 8kms… I ate chocolate, pastries, turron, and made a second big mistake: I removed my shoes… I was so tight inside it felt so good… then I saw the blisters… only 7 and not too big but still! I put some plasters and immediately regretted that I had removed my shoes when putting them back on… the blisters plus my exhaustion made each step more painful than never! I crossed the bridge, removed my jacket, put my short on, tied my hair up, ready for the last leg, all up till the end with the sun striking… I had rage inside, I was sick of walking and wanted it to come to an end. I felt like a warrior. Believe me or not, I was flying, not even wanting to stop to have a rest. I kept passing people, going on a regular rhythm, step after step, feeling my heart thumping and my cheeks getting close to the purple color… then the hardest hit me. Never ending stairs… high, too high. Fortunately I got help from the rail so I ended up hissing myself up. Here again, we had to go around the mountain to get to the top and it felt like it would never end. I could see the people all above, and kept going until I arrived at the funicular square. Nobody nor no stand in view… I asked the lady at the info desk and she pointed out the stairs… more stairs, for God’s sake! With the bit of anger that I had left, I ran up the stairs and just lifted my arms up when I reached the stand, in victory, so happy that this comes to an end… the people applauded, which was the best thing they could ever do. I felt supported and rewarded, it felt so good inside! Asking what time it was, I was surprised to hear it was only 11am so it had taken me only 1 hour to do the last bit, which was very fast when you think I had already been walking 60km!

Lloyd was lying on the ground not far away, his legs up, resting… He was as exhausted as I was, explained he did not wait for me at the last stand cause he sensed he could not keep going if he did so. He only stop 2mn and kept going.

Then our trio arrived, Ana in between Paul and Alex. They were so relieved and exhausted that there were tears in their eyes. I went to give each of them a hug and felt very moved. I was so happy Ana could make it as I really thought she would never get to walk the last bit. The boys have been fantastic all the way, supporting her, carrying her bag, a real team work.

I felt really selfish and individualist on that one… We stayed at least one hour on the square, resting, feeding ourselves and drinking and chatting.

Then they went to burn a candle in the church and we made a circle in the center of the outside square, where it was supposed to have a special energy. We held each other hand for a few seconds and closed our eyes. I felt happy, peaceful and grateful for the shared experience.

A few drinks and snacks further, we took the train down to Barcelona. Our eyes were closing, our body asking to shut down but we still had 1 hour and a half before getting to Barcelona.

We then said good bye to each other in the metro. I rode back home (10mn only!), had something light to eat, a shower, gave a massage to my poor legs and went to bed at 5pm, to emerge 3 hours later, have dinner and sleep from 9pm till the alarm clock woke me up at 7am on the Monday. What an experience! - Yes, as I thought it would be the case, this walk made me reach my limits - Yes I made it, but I was fit and doing sports on a regular basis. Other people had much more merit than me. Ana to start with, who suffered way more than me and still finished; people I saw walking alone and others who were in their 60's! - Yes this experience proved that although your body says ‘no more please’, your head is the strongest and makes you keep going, finding amazing resources at the very end when you’re almost ready to give up… - Yes it was a beautiful walk, with fantastic sceneries, beautiful views over Barcelona, ponds, bush of all kinds, both tropical and Atlantic - Yes we had a lot of fun, chatted, teased each other, joked but we also suffered a lot - Yes it was a very strong collective experience to share with friends or people you even did not know at the start but to whom you will be bound after this - No I won’t do it again !!! For all these reasons, I am glad I did this walk as I shared unforgettable moments with friends. Thanks for your support, Alex, Ana, Lloyd and Paul, and for your friendship. See you soon for new adventures... but easy this time ok? :-)))