13 Jul, 2009 @ 12:39
1 min read

Ultra trail under starter’s orders

RUNNERS are preparing for an incredible 240km endurance test.

BBC cameras will be on hand to film around 100 hardy contestants from around the world as they start the Al Andalus Ultra Trail this week.

The five-day challenge, including soldiers and professional sportsmen, starts from Loja today.

The route will see the runners visit several towns and villages in the Granada mountains before making the return journey, through Santa Cruz del Comercio, to Loja.

Sixty professional runners from 12 countries are taking part in this year’s event.

The event also includes 11 teams of competitors.

Among them, a group of soldiers will be running for the charity Help for Heroes and the Afghan Trust. The soldiers will be joined for the final stretch by a comrade who recently lost a leg in Afghanistan.

Organised by British runner Paul Bateson of Team Axasport, his team have spent a year preparing the route to ensure participants have a safe and enjoyable week.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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