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2008 Figarol
Images Merri Melde
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A Championship in Figarol
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Jordi Arboix Santacreu
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Image by Manuel Sanchez
Images of the Day
 The Finish |
 Phase 5 |
 Phase 4 |
 Phase 3B |
 Phase 3A |
 Phase 2B |
 Phase 2A |
 Phase 1 |
 The Start |
Saturday April 26 2008 - Figarol
Legend has it that the famous bandit Sanchicorrota put his horse's shoes on backwards to confuse his pursuers through the area that is now the Bardenas Reales Natural Park, in northern Spain. It is a varied semi-desert landscape of wind- and water-eroded clay hills and gullies, croplands, and pinewoods. It is home to numerous mammals and birds of prey; and on April 26 2008, it provided part of the backdrop and trails for a different kind of horse chase: the 2008 Campeonato de Espanya - the Spanish Endurance Championships in Figarol.In the Navarra region of northern Spain, bordered by the Basque country, France, Aragon, and La Rioja, the small village of Figarol for the first time hosted the Spanish Championships. Fifty-three entries, including 2 Portuguese and one Norwegian rider, took on the 160-km challenge over trails of hard-packed roads, grass trails, and asphalt, with a good round of hill-climbing in the first and third of six phases.
Included in the mix were four former Spanish Champions: double champion Miquel Vila - 1997 and 2006 (also World Endurance Champion in 2006), Marc Comas, Bernat Casals, and Eloina Fernandez Vega. Actually, there were five Spanish Champions if you count horses - and this little horse cannot be overlooked. Half arabian from his sire, and part Percheron and Anglo-Arabian from his dam, Rayito is a little roan that can do it all. Rayito and Eloina finished third in 2005, 2nd in 2006, and 1st in 2007 (and 15th in the 2007 European Championship)... would they repeat this year?