"From Donkeys to a Death March: My Experience at the TRAIL ROCACORBA Trail Running Race in Spain"

Trail Rocacorba - David Ervine Finish Line

This past weekend, I travelled to Spain to participate in the TRAIL ROCACORBA running race in Cant D'Adri, just a 30-minute drive from the beautiful town of Girona.

The race was hosted by Klassmark, a sustainable race organisation linking sport and nature in a unique and socially responsible way. The sustainable race T-shirts, wooden bowls and cups were a nice touch and souvenir to use at the post-race banquet.

I signed up for the 'Trail race,' which had a distance of 24.7km and an elevation of 1320m. The positive slope was +1.350m, the total ascent was 2,300m, the maximum altitude was 917m, and the minimum altitude was 217m. The terrain comprised 90% singletrack, 5% track, and 5% asphalt.

The race took place in the natural protected area of the Rocacorba Mountains. It included scenic highlights such as the Rocacorba Peak and River, St. Nicolau, el Golany, Mas Gelats, and Cim del Velers. However, on the race day, we had very low cloud coverage and couldn't see a thing!

Arriving in Barcelona on a warm, sunny Saturday morning, I was surprised as the temperature was a balmy 18 degrees. I took the train to Girona and, from there, took a short drive to the Airbnb in Sant Gregori, Casa rural El Pajar. The location was incredible, in a unique setting next to a medieval castle, and it even had three donkeys. Considering it was only 15 minutes outside Girona, it was very peaceful. I highly recommend this place to stay as it would make an amazing training base!

The race venue was only a 5-minute drive away along some quaint Basque country roads with the surrounding mountain ranges as a backdrop. Registration was open between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday. It was very simple to collect the race bib. I looked at the first 2km of the race course, which was a steady incline for around 1km. Then, ramping up into the first climb, I enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a short shake-out run.

I was super excited to race this past weekend. It was only my fourth trail race, including the Salamon Scotland Skyline, which didn't quite go to plan! Read more about that race in my blog here. It would be my longest one, at 25km in the distance.

I wore my favourite trail race shoes, the Nike React Terra Kiger 9, and Nike Trail race vest. My usual go-to race nutrition was three PF 30 precision fuel gels and a water bottle with PF electrolyte.

Race morning was chilled after a toasted peanut butter bagel and a coffee. I made the short drive to the race HQ; I arrived in time to see the start of the marathon distance race, which my friend and mentor John Mcavoy was racing in. The 17km Express race was next to depart, and that gave me 30 minutes before my race started at 9.30. The weather conditions was quite cool at around 10deg with a mist which was perfect for this type of climbing I had a good warm-up and was ready to go.

David Irvine Decending the Trail Rococoba Course

The race start had an incredible atmosphere. After an intense climb and scramble, I settled into a steady pace and found myself in the top 10 overall and 2nd in the U'23 category at the first timing point on top of Rocacorba. I felt so good and strong; I was enjoying the terrain. I continued to hold my positions at the next timing point, Mas Gelats, which was now 13.5k into the race.

I was running solo, and over the next 2km climb up to Culett, as my friend John Mcavoy would say, "the wheels started falling off the bus." I became very sleepy. I could barely keep my eyes open and finally found myself being woken up on the side of the trail by a fellow trail racer.

I composed myself and started to head back downhill. I fell so many times I can't count! My knee took a big hit on a rock, and I was now covered in mud; it was a real battle to the finish line. I was getting past left, right, and centre. I was doing everything I could to navigate the tricky terrain and steep descents while trying to keep my eyes open! This was the first time I experienced this feeling.

David Ervine Recovering after the Trail Rocacorba Race

The last 1km felt like a death march. I finally crossed the line in 22nd overall and 4th place in the U'23 category. I would have loved to have gotten onto the podium, but I can't complain about 4th place after my spectacular blowup on the last climb!

It was an eye-opening learning curve on how important a race-fuelling strategy is; I think my nutritional strategy needs work for this distance at race effort.  Overall, I had an amazing race experience, albeit a memorable one. I would highly recommend this race. It was great fun and nice to catch some winter warmth and sun over the weekend in January!

Best, David.