Last weekend we drove north from Santiago, towards Chile’s central coastal mountains. Pitching the tent on the 2000m summit of Cerro Viscachas, we waited for the front runners to come through this half-way point on the inaugural La Gran Travesía 100k mountain race.

I thought we had messed up the timings. But just as the light turned gold, two chaps popped over the ridge. It was another six hours of cheering and snapping before the final runners made their way through.