Oh, my God. I can’t imagine what achieving a goal like this must feel like. Exhaustion and physical pain meant Pere was unable to write to me until last night, but we have been able to follow his progress over the last two stages. And Joan Bartomeu has achieved the impossible: capturing the exact moment Pere crossed the finish line! Here it is:
On Sunday, he wrote from a hotel in Ouarzazate to tell us about the last two stages. Friday meant a 42 km marathon in temperatures of 45° and rising, still carrying the fatigue and pain of the 82 km stage and having barely slept: “Forgive me for not writing on marathon day. I arrived completely exhausted. I collapsed in the tent to eat and sleep, though sleep is a relative term when the pain in my feet is unbearable. I have to use a backpack to try to sleep with my feet raised.”
The final day’s 17 km feel endless. This is the stage when those who have walked start running, and those who have run end up walking; the race for the Champs-Elysées; the MDS stage that attracts the media coverage. «For the first 300 metres, you are doing “Ow, ow, ow!”, until the pain in your feet becomes exhaustion and every step leaves you gasping. How can the 820 people still in the race be trudging painfully along with their hands raised, as if dancing the sardana, then suddenly switch gears and all start running? There is no pain».
Patrick Bauer was waiting for them in person at the finish line, handing out medals and hugging them one by one. “What a character! They say that every day, after starting the race to AC/DC music, he bursts into tears…”
Pere's ordeal was finally over, although les Sables still had one last surprise in store for him. On reaching the hotel, he had to go straight to the clinic, where he was diagnosed with an infection in both feet, “swollen like sausages”. He spent Sunday in his room on antibiotics, sweating and feverish: «Now, on Sunday afternoon, I can finally put my foot on the floor!» But the day also brought good news. Pere had finished in 122nd place — already an incredible result, in my view — but a one-hour penalty (and €200 fine) imposed on the first day over an electrocardiogram issue was waived, moving him to an extraordinary 102nd place.
Even at the risk of sounding melodramatic, on behalf of all of us who have followed you day by day, thank you for letting us share with you what it means to be in the hardest marathon on the planet.
Welcome home, champ!