Challenge 18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons: The Trans-Pyrenees in 17 days and solo

The challenge of crossing the Pyrenees from sea to sea in 18 stageswas born from the idea that anyone who prepares properly will manage to cross the Pyrenees, even if they believe that the time factor is an excuse to achieve this apparently unattainable dream.

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How did the idea of crossing the Pyrenees in 18 days come about?

In the summer of 2020, after the encirclement and when the "New Normality" was established. I decided that I was going to cross the Pyrenees from sea to sea on the High Pyrenean Route. Due to the conditions at the time, I had enough free time to walk it at my leisure, before I was called back from work. So the time to cross the Pyrenees was no problem.

I called this crossing of the Pyrenees "My Romantic Crossing of the Pyrenees". The reason for the name was simple: to cross the Pyrenees from sea to sea, climbing as many mountains as I wanted. That crossing ended successfully in the Mediterranean in 53 days, with a total of 11 summits, 9 of which are over 3000 metres high, and that is why I made it romantic.

In 2021 I published the story on YouTube and it was quite successful with the community of fans of the Pyrenees and especially "The Trans-Pyrenees". Since then I never stopped receiving comments and messages from people who dreamed of crossing the Pyrenees and the vast majority of them told me something in common "I don't have that many days to fulfil my dream of crossing the Pyrenees from sea to sea".

I have always enjoyed helping people and trying to motivate and inspire them to enjoy life, because there is only one life and you have to make the most of it. However, I couldn't just turn up at all the workplaces in my community and fight with their bosses to extend their summer holidays. So I spent several years thinking about it, until one day, I was inspired by the greats.

Crossing the Pyrenees fast and light

I remember that day perfectly well, I was surfing the internet and I came across a news item that one of my YouTubers American trekking, had succeeded in completing the Pacific Crest Trail in 83 days, a trail that is over 4000 kilometres long and in which you walk at altitudes of more than 4000 metres above sea level.. The achievement was not only incredible because of the time taken to cover the route, but it was also incredible because absolutely the entire route was done on foot, without forced marches, without assistance and using the night to rest. His secret was mainly to go ultralight.

When I saw the news I did a mathematical calculation. I calculated the daily kilometres, average kilometres per hour and bearing in mind the shortest route of the High Pyrenean Route. The result I obtained was that By travelling an average of 40 kilometres a day, he could cross the Pyrenees in 18 days. With the same discipline as he did JupiteHikes in the PCT, without assistance, without running, without forced marches and without having to walk at night.

I remember that my eyes sparkled with this almost divine inspiration, as I had 20 days of summer holidays at my workplace and it was just the time I needed to prove that I could cross the Pyrenees from sea to sea in a typical summer holiday in Spain, which is usually comprised of 20 days. One day's journey to get to the start of the route, 18 days of walking and one day's return journey home, completed my summer holiday in June.

How did I prepare to cross the Pyrenees in 18 days?

It is well known that there are cases of elite athletes who have crossed the Pyrenees running in perhaps 10 days. Although I am not an elite athlete myself, in fact, if you look at my curriculumI had given up smoking 5 years ago. I had been a heavy smoker and I was very sedentary. So, I am neither an elite athlete, nor am I a superman, nor am I an outlier. I'm just a normal guy who has been doing sport for 5 years on an "almost regular basis".. So it was clear that I was a long way from doing 40 kilometres a day in the Pyrenees for 18 days in a row.

The plan for success was meticulously detailed. Choosing the 20 days of holidays at the time of the year with the most hours of sunlight, finding the lightest equipment for the occasion, plotting the shortest route along the High Pyrenean Route and the part where I lacked the most, which was to get the necessary physical strength to successfully achieve such a feat.

Maigua Ojeda, a professional athlete specialised in ultra-distance and stage races, took care of the training and nutrition. My coach had two difficulties in making sure that I was fully prepared to achieve such a feat. The first was that I only had 5 months to prepare. The logical thing to do would have been to prepare physically and when you are ready to start the challenge. The other difficulty was that I had a small tear in my meniscus and presumably the doctors told me that I would never be able to run again, nor would I be able to overdo certain activities.

During these 5 months of preparation, everything revolved around the "18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons". The training, the diet and the relentless pursuit of a backpack with a maximum base weight of 5 kilograms was quite an arduous task.

At the beginning of those 5 months, it seemed that what I had proposed was going to be impossible, in fact almost nobody believed that I would be able to do it, but as the months progressed, I began to believe that it was going to be too easy. Not only because Maigua Ojeda did an excellent job with me, managing some exercises to strengthen my knees and since then I have not had any more meniscus problems, but also, I went from 78 kg to 68 kg, I had a very athletic look, a great capacity of resistance and if that wasn't enough, I had managed a backpack with a base weight of less than 5 kilograms.

The 18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons challenge begins

I remember perfectly well when I started the Transpirenaica, in the Cantabrian Sea, in front of the Higuer lighthouse. I looked very strong and very ultralight. My whole community took it for granted that I would make it, due to the good preparation I had done and the ultralight equipment I was carrying. That overconfidence that my community had placed in me made me uncomfortable. They saw me as a superman, as if I belonged to a celestial dome or to the elite, and I was only doing this because I wanted to show that with effort and hard work, anyone can do the Trans-Pyrenees if they set their mind to it and prepare properly. I didn't want to show any kind of cockiness by crossing the Pyrenees fast and light.

By luck or the whims of fate, two problems had arisen right at the start that were going to hinder my feat and once again make it an almost impossible challenge. It was snowing in the central Pyrenees and it was expected to rain for the next two weeks. This "bad luck of fate" was all I wanted. If I managed to cross the Pyrenees in the worst possible conditions, nobody would come to me with excuses for not wanting to do the Trans-Pyrenees and even less, if the person who decided to do the challenge, found the ideal weather to cross the Pyrenees in their summer holidays.

During the route, and to summarise, as there is a series of several chapters on my YouTube channelIn the following section, I will summarise some of my setbacks.

Arriving at Respomuso I had a fall that could have been fatal, luckily I only hurt my ankle. As my ankle did not rest, the pain increased every day. Near the Guingueta de Aneu, I thought about giving up and honestly, that should have been the indisputable option. However, there was a part of the community that had put their hopes in me and if I was not able to do it, they would be unable to do it, despite the only thing I could prove was a mathematical calculation I made at the time.

Dreams come true if you work for them

And against all odds, after 17 days of walking under intense, almost monsoon rains and having added 40 additional kilometres in a Pyrenees with some areas that were impassable due to snow, which added up to a total of 19 marathons, I managed to reach the Cap de Creus lighthouse, completing the "Challenge of the 18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons in 17 days. Without assistance, without the need to run, without forced marches and without night walks. So now, dear reader, no more excuses, if you want to, you can do it.

Quick Guide GR 11

with everything you need to know before undertaking the Pyrenean Path