This was my second time completing the Gozo 50k after I’d visited on holiday to do it 12 months ago. I then moved to Malta last year & as this is the only ultra-distance event on the archipelago I felt duty bound to register once again. Having just completed the Marathon des Sables I knew this race would go one of 2 ways, either I’d benefit from the mileage done 3 weeks earlier & I’d run well or I’d struggle as I hadn’t recovered fully from my endeavours, but as I knew the route was scenic, challenging & fun thought it was worth the punt.
Living here meant an early start to get the 6.45am ferry from Malta to Gozo but this adds to the feeling of doing something a little out of the ordinary. Race HQ was much like last year, very low key with about 60 participants loitering in the car-park overshadowed by the impressive Ghajnsielem Parish Church. I just had enough time to register before the race briefing and we set off at 8am sharp.
The route crosses one busy road leading up from the Ferry Terminal in Mgarr before hitting the type of trail we spend most of the day on, dry & dusty track with loose rocks & spiky vegetation or a cliff edge bordering it, IE good running.
We followed the red dots marking the route around the cliff as a pack, before hitting the first of MANY descents & ascents along the route. My mind had played tricks on me, I’d forgotten how many there were in the first stretch and had only stored the stunning cliff top running that interspersed the climbs. I hung on to the pack for a while making steady progress but after slowing a few short miles in I soon found myself completely alone.
The answer to my question had been answered. The day was going to be a struggle.
We reached Cenc and I recognised it as the location for the first CP, in my eagerness to reach it I stopped looking for dots and missed a turn. Thankfully I was quickly notified by runners a little way behind so I got back on track quickly… but this wasn’t to last long. After a splash & dash at the CP we headed out of the village directed by local guides up a clear track, no sign of any markings I carried straight up the path but after a few 100 metres the track petered out & broke into small trails in several directions, with no sign of any markers we backtracked some way before spotting the route directions crossing a wall which had been deliberately obscured by a car. On the other side of the field an old local guy was shouting at runners & squaring up to them as they attempted to make their way along the marked path. As I took a detour around the field I watched him angrily pushing another runner who had cut across ‘his’ field… the last I saw of him he was tearing down the tape that marked that section and stamping his feet like a cartoon stereotype.
This drama had created a concertina effect and we were now in a small procession along breath-taking cliff tops until the descent into Xlendi… a section I remembered all too well from the previous year. Passing the restaurants with tourists enjoying breakfast or a very early beer we hit the first big steep climb up out of the bay on an almost sheer cliff face, it was hard & hot work but I remained on the route and got to the top feeling less worn out than I recalled in 2016. Starting to jog again soon after following the trails & markers I made my way easily through the following section I’d got lost in last year and soon made my way on to a road.
By the time we returned to the cliff we were well spread out & I was alone again. I hadn’t spotted any dots for a while & although not concerned as the sea was still to my left when I spotted marker tape down by the cliff edge I followed it. I went under an eroded overhang & on a section were there was no path… in fact there was no anything in spots & I was clinging onto the cliff edge as I stepped over gaps dropping to the sea 100 metres below me. I realised this couldn’t be the correct route & the markers had obviously been tampered with and placed there to send us the wrong way. Luckily I spotted the runners who’d been ahead of me descending in front so cut back to meet them & safely got back on track but I now had doubts in my mind about the route being correct, this enforced by another runner who confirmed other markers they’d passed had been tampered with.
The descent to Dwejra, filming location for Game of Thrones & the original Clash of the Titans, followed & my first visit since the Azure Window had collapsed during a storm in March. The area now has little to offer except the ‘Inland Sea’ and this is obvious in the lack of thronging tourists I had to weave through last year despite the glorious weather. I was running well into CP2 but also getting very hot so paused for a couple minutes topping up my bottles & grabbing a few salted snacks before beginning the long drag up to the top of the cliffs.
This section is fairly tough, but beautiful, with alien limestone overhangs & stunning cliff edge trails but I realised that I must be behind last year as the photographer had already given up & gone elsewhere before I passed. Despite this I actually felt better here than I recalled from the previous year & was plodding along steadily until spotting a marker on a rock next to a separate track I followed the track down, but after a few 100 metres realised I hadn’t seen any more dots so had to retrace my steps. Again. Frustrating.
Returning to the original track & following it round & down to the salt pans I recognised the start of the tightening in my knee that signalled the ongoing issue I’d been getting all year. I could still run but knew that with about 13 miles over some of the more technical trails of the route this was going to be a long day. CP3 was in a different location this year & just before seeing it I spotted a red arrow sprayed on the floor pointing up a trail… which I dutifully followed. To a dead-end. Back-tracking yet again, I was getting annoyed with my inability to follow the route this year & cursing my failure to download the GPX from last year!
Last year I had gone through CP3 without topping my bottles & as my pace had plummeted I had run out of water. To avoid this happening again, I topped both softs flasks up again, despite it taking a frustrating length of time at each CP. We now followed the Promenade for a stretch through Qbajjar & then down to pass the bars & restaurants in Marsalforn, before the climb out the other side. This had finished me in 2016 but I ascended more comfortably this year so enjoyed the winding single track skirting the hillside a lot more… until I reached a descent & my knee pain increased sharply, to the point that I struggled to put any weight on it.
I was angry. I loved this stretch of trail & although my legs were leaden I still had slow running in them. Unfortunately, the pain meant I couldn’t continue running for more than a few hundred metres & steep downhills were agonising, literally becoming a hop rather than a run. Finally reaching the now agonising descent to Ramla Bay I shuffled across the sandy beach, dipping my shoes wet in the Mediterranean before tackling the steep climb up to the cave overlooking it. Arriving at the top I sat down in the cool for a couple minutes to savour the view & cool down before exiting out the back & following the red dots along the road.
I kept moving forward, but the distance I could run was getting progressively shorter as the miles ticked slowly by, this section was a mix of quiet country roads, old farm tracks & some trails with several sharp climbs included. One positive I got from this race was my climbing had improved for the first time in ages & I could power up some of the steep ascents well despite the heat & knee pain. Reaching the final CP with about 10km to go I was well looked after by a young scout who helped me top up my bottles, offered me food & added some ice-cubes to my coke! Absolute star!
I set off to get it finished following the little red dots along the road again as it turned inland. After a while the route dropped to pass above a quarry on the coast that I remembered wasn’t too far from St Anthony’s Battery, which identified the corner of Gozo and more importantly about 3 miles to go. I was now struggling on the eroded rock and sharp loose stones, the constant adjustments needed aggravated my knee making it hurt more with each step.
I was relieved to round the fort to reach some decent trails leading to the scrambles off vertical drops, clambering over rocks & scaling large boulders that had astounded me last year. I started to pass more people on the trail & the beaches so knew that I was getting nearer to the ferry port & even caught & passed another participant, the first I’d seen since before Ramla Bay. Trudging on & still running as much as possible the final few kilometres finally ticked down & I reached the road into M’garr, flat but painful I was glad to pass a final additional drink station and begin the last ascent up to Ghajnsielem through a narrow alleyway.
Turning off at the top & following the final few red dots to the finish I wobbled down to cross the line in 8.30… just under 30mins slower than last year.
It was a frustrating day as I felt I had more running in my legs but the increasing pain from the midway point had made this impossible. In assessing my performance, I have admitted that both my body and head are not in the game & I’ve made the difficult decision to withdraw from my next 2 events to regroup & hopefully rediscover my love for running.
Despite the difficulties I faced, this is a fun, low-key run and with few entrants it is just about as far from the MdS as you can get. It features some fantastic trails, crosses varied & challenging terrain passing some beautiful and sometime bizarre locations. I had an incredibly solitary run, which I generally enjoyed, particularly as it was so far removed from the continuous queues endured in my last event but it did lead to me taking the wrong trail several times. Other than the route difficulties, some of my own doing & some that was obviously deliberate (and in one case dangerous) tampering my only other gripe was that the photographer had moved on from each location before I had made my way there.
Neither will stop me signing for the third time, will I see you there?
The Unprofessional Ultra Runner 