Distance today = 44.30 km; Total distance = 16,554.18 km; Location = Burgos – 42 20.435′ N, 03 42.551′ W; Start time = 0850, Finish time = 1554

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273486277

A shorter 44 km today on the run into the city of Burgos. We were here in 2009 with Libby, and have decided to stay in the same hotel, just a short walk from the cathedral. This cathedral is one of the most impressive in all of Europe, and is almost Gaudi-esque, well before Gaudi ever existed. Have a look at the photos of the structure.

I chose well in terms of the roads today. Except for the last few kilometres, the whole day was spent barely seeing a car, and the road surface was level and smooth – perfect for running. And the hills were manageable too, unlike some of those yesterday on the freeway service roads, which had short sections so steep that I had to walk with my hands on my knees.

On to another topic – I was going to run in Morocco, but have decided against it. It was only going to be a very short section, and I wasn’t going to count it in my total. However, I have decided it doesn’t make sense to break the contiguous nature of the run across Europe from “ocean to ocean”. Additionally, it has been suggested to me several times that running in remote areas of North Africa at the moment would be foolish. The cities of Morocco would be fine, I’m sure, but spending days in the wilderness, between the cities, might be inviting danger, especially given the recent unrest. The decision doesn’t affect the validity of my run at all, other than that I will now only be able to claim having run on five continents, rather than six.

We’ll be off to experience a Friday night in Burgos tonight. I’m a little weary, so I might make use of my earlier than normal arrival to have a short nap in preparation.