Costa Brava Stage Run - Spain April 2024

Here is a recommendation for a stage run if you can get to Spain one year. BiFree put on 3 stage runs each year in Spain and this is their coastal edition (cbsr.run). They also have a Pyrenees 7-day event (which of course looks awesome).

If you haven’t tried a stage run before, I seriously recommend giving one a try. It is total immersion in a running event with stunning, ever-changing scenery, with real camaraderie and support from a bunch of fellow runners. It’s also a massive personal challenge. I have run 2 different ones in Australia put on by Rapid Ascent, Run Larapinta and Great Southern Stage Run.

Costa Brava Stage Run was only possible by taking the family to Europe in April for a holiday. I think they were happy to have a 3 day break from my pushy tour-guiding whilst I ran this and they all got to sleep in. As well as lots of running we traveled through France, Spain, Italy and Austria, saw relatives, ate some great food, went to museums, art galleries, chocolate museums, Disney land Paris…..

Day 1 - 22km - 1100m elevation

CBSR starts in the coastal town of Blanes at midday.

Day 1 is 22km (1100m elevation) along a coastal path through the botanic gardens of Blanes, fishing villages, lots of rocky stairs, some single trail through national parks with beautiful coastal views. I was really getting into the run when it finished!! I didn’t read the instructions properly and thought there was another 6km to go! I had no idea what to expect from this event and the promotional videos showed lots of serious looking runners, but they were just fine. Very enthusiastic and supportive people from all over Europe. People chat as you run sections together, mostly about running but also about themselves, giving travel advice and encouragement. The weather was perfect for all 3 days, sunny and about 20 degrees. There were aid stations every 10km or so. I didn’t need to stop for any for this 1^st leg. I prefer to start with more water than stop to refill.

Day 1 ends in Tossa De Mar, a Catalan village with a 12th century dated castle and medieval wall. The ocean dip was very refreshing, almost Wim Hof cold but I’m a bit of a wimp.

The finish line was well stocked with snacks, Spanish omelette, pastries and beer. Part of the event is staying together in a hotel, they had our luggage ready and waiting. The day was celebrated with a group dinner which was a great way to meet the other people.

Today 104 photos and videos were taken, one stumble (probably watching the views and not the ground), 2 impressively bloodied knees.

Day 2 - 48km - 1700m elevation

Day 2 started early and we are driven to the start at Platja D’Aro with a bright sunrise -  only 60 photos but no stumbles.

Today was a Saturday so we shared the coastal path with a few more runners and walkers, always friendly and encouraging. The course was well marked and the only places you could briefly get off track were in the village streets. I reached the 80km group just as they started (18km into my run) and enjoyed running with this group. There were sections where you ran alone, or you could easily stay with a group. The course was obviously very different to running in the Blue Mountains, the closest comparison I can think of was Margaret River Ultra in WA for the coastal single trail but I have never run through fishing villages, through tunnels built to avoid pirates, past castles and medieval walls. The last 7km seemed to be mostly running along the sand, past people swimming and sunbathing.

My family met me at the finish at L’Estartit for tapas and a cold swim, they didn’t see me finish though as they slept late. They were still staying at Blanes

Day 3 -  46km - 1500m elevation

30 photos and videos taken today. Another early start to get to Roses, everyone felt tired even after a good sleep, it was hard to eat breakfast. Another Blue Sky Day. Again, the run was along coastal paths and following an old established trail the Gran Recorrido 92. It left the coast in the middle section up and over past vineyards, olive trees, national park. This was Salvador Dali country. Being a Sunday there were more cyclists, families walking and runners along the coastal sections. Day 3 is tough but it’s surprising how you can keep up a good pace. I chatted with people about their lives in Barcelona and Catalonia and of course about different running events people had done, and Covid. I didn’t meet anyone who had been to Australia although many were keen to one day.

The event finished at Colera. My family met me again and this time saw me finish which is always lovely. (The kids were possibly more enthused to see the lollies at the finish line than they were to see the end of a running event). The runners celebrated with beer and Paella and lots of finish-line photos.

80 people did the long course (120km in 3 days) and 170 the shorter version (80km). The 2 main organisers are avid runners from Blanes and it was a flawless event. It was easy to enter from Australia, the website and their emails had plenty of information. The route was well marked, the checkpoints were adequately spaced, the scenery and trails were varied and interesting. If you can get the time off work I seriously recommend it, and as a bonus it would be a few weeks after the Cinque Terre marathon in Northern Italy next year.

I carried up to 1.5 litres of water and stopped at check points to refill. I tried to run with as little as possible on the uphill legs but also managed not to run out of water at all. I used Hammer Perpetuem solids which I brought from Australia and were perfect, they are small tablets that you chew, each has 33.3 calories. I will use these for G2G but for this we must carry all food for the 7 days, so I am looking at freeze dried meals.

Rapid Ascent has 2 great stage runs in Australia; Run Larapinta and Run Bibbulman.

My next stage run is G2G in September. It’s a 7 day “unsupported” stage run in Nevada and Arizona

I am also running Southern Lakes Ultra in NZ next February (and have a discount code if anyone else is interested

https://southernlakesultra.com/store/southern-lakes-ultra-2025  complete the required information and in the box that says How Did You Hear about Southern Lakes Ultra,  enter SLUKATE)