Lots of interesting events happened this week: there was a half-marathon and 10k run in Alicante to start the week. Then on Tuesday, the Ukrainians in Alicante marked the 4th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of their country with a demonstration in the centre. And later in the week it was as if San Francisco weather had arrived. Just like the fog rolls in from the Golden Gate, so here the fog suddenly rolled in from the Mediterranean one afternoon. There were also the usual morning walks and of course bike rides.
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On Sunday, a half-marathon and a 10km run were held in Alicante. Both followed the same circular route, with the half-marathon simply repeating it a couple of times. Of course, most of the centre was closed to traffic, so I cycled to the closest point on the route, a roundabout about 6 km from my house. I arrived there just as the frontrunners were passing by. Here are some of the top women runners, on the left Eden O’Dea from the UK (who was the eventual winner of the half-marathon) and on the right Rono Cheptoo from Kenya, who came in third. In the middle is Mónica Pascual from Spain, the winner of the 10km run:
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A bit later, another small group of fast runners passed by:
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There was a very lively and very loud cheering section from the neighbourhood. Their sign says “we are 70% water and 30% fiesta”:
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The runners really appreciated the support (they had covered about 5 km at this point). And with more than 5000 participants, it took a long time before all had passed this point, so the cheering section spent a lot of energy too:
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These guys were really hard core; to run 21 km while pushing the wheelchair takes some effort:
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Another large group of runners:
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As time went on, the runners seemed less focused on their finishing times and more on enjoying themselves:
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And the less obviously athletic types started to appear:
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More smiles:
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Lisa Smith from the UK finished the half-marathon in 2h 50m, one of the slowest times among the women (the slowest woman finisher ran in 2:54) but she did finish and that’s what counts:
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I continued to take my morning walks with Mochi, mainly to the beach:
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Another subject I often photograph are the cats, of which there are plenty around here:
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The photography club in Brussels, Viewfinders, of which I am still a member even though I moved away 25 years ago, has “reflections” as its theme for April, so I have been focusing on those during my walks:
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A restaurant in the neighbourhood, now out of business, but the sign is still there:
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A family of three:
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Another reflection:
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One morning I came across a woman practicing dance moves on the beach:
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The beach is in use year round here, even on relatively cool mornings in February:
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What the tide brought in:
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More cats looking at Mochi and me:
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On Tuesday afternoon I got a message on Teams from a Ukrainian trainee in my old department. She asked if I would sign her flag that she was going to take to the demonstration later in the afternoon, to mark the 4th anniversary of the Russian aggression. Of course I said yes, she came to me office, I signed her flag, and she posed for me:
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Liza had told me that the demonstration would start at 17:30, walking along one of Alicante’s main thoroughfares and ending in front of city hall. After work, I drove to the starting location to walk along a bit and of course to document the event. At the head of the demonstration there was a large banner saying “Ukraine’s victory is a victory for the world”:
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There were quite a lot of people, and a variety of banners and signs:
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Leading the way:
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Four-legged participant:
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Children of war, but safe and sound here in Spain:
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On the way back to my car, I stopped to photograph this relief of workers and farmers along Avenida de la Estación, nicely illuminated by the setting sun:
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In the office, our social club WeArt held its annual general assembly, something that is required of all social clubs. Only a couple of people who are not part of the governing body (I am the treasurer) showed up, as usual on such occasions:
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Kari is the president of the club. He gave a presentation of what we did in 2025 and our plans for 2026:
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Eri makes a funny face:
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Paloma works in my old department. She was one of the two non-board members at the meeting:
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One afternoon I looked out the window at the office and saw what I first thought was smoke, and wondered about whether there was a brush fire somewhere nearby. But smoke from such fires tends to be dark, while this was all white. I quickly realised that it was fog, rolling in from the Mediterranean in the same way fog rolls in from the Pacific in San Francisco. In my 18 years of living here, I had never seen anything like this, and like many others, I stopped on my way home to have a better look, at a point from where I could look north to Playa San Juan:
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Looking south towards the city. The combination of fog and the low afternoon sun made for interesting light:
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The rocks near the Albufereta beach:
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A splash of colour, two girls looking at the fog:
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Two men walking on the wave breaker:
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A paddleboarder in the distance:
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Apartment buildings shrouded in fog:
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An image of spring, near San Vicente, a suburb of Alicante:
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I finish the week with Monica holding Mochi, 8.5 kg of cuteness:
