Where

The National Altitude Training Centre at Font Romeu. This is situated at 1850m above sea level in the Pyrenees on the French side of the border between France and Spain. It is the perfect facility for altitude training closer to home than Kenya! It is incredibly popular with European athletes in spring to prepare for the coming track season. Surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery, it is an inspiring area to train and the high altitude makes it ideal for any middle distance athlete hoping to boost their performance back at sea-level.

Accommodation

There is a lot of accommodation available in the village of Font Romeu as it is also a popular ski resort in winter. There are hotels, chalets and apartments to rent. However for most training groups and athletes, the best place to stay is at the National Altitude Training Centre where accommodation is provided in 'The Tower'. The Tower has 7 floors and 140 beds and offers both single rooms and double rooms. All rooms have free Wi-Fi and there is a restaurant onsite that provides fresh meals using local produce with the menu specifically devised to suit athletes by in-house dieticians and nutritionists.

Price

For a single room with full board it is 55 euros per night. For a twin room with full board it is 110 euros per night. Full board is recommended as it provides (as well as food) free access to the majority of the facilities and basic medical services.

Travel

To get there it is possible to either fly into France or Spain as it is so close to the border. If flying to France, the closest airport is Perpignan airport which is 73km away from Font Romeu and takes around one and a half hours to drive there. If flying into Spain there is a choice of either Girona airport (which is 177km away) or Barcelona airport (which is 179km away). The transfer time from both to Font Romeu is around two and a half hours. It is possible to arrange transfers from any airport via the training centre.

Training Facilities

There is a 6 lane 400m track complete with long jump, high jump, pole vault and throwing facilities. There is also a large weights room complete with free weights and weight machines whilst it also has a section for cardio training complete with bike machines and running machines. As well as the weights room, there is an additional weightlifting room which has a large selection of bars, supports and weightlifting platforms. There are two swimming pools, one is 50m x 15m with 6 lanes while the other is slightly smaller at 25m x 10m with 4 lanes. The natural scenery is also perfect for off-track training, set in the Pyrenees there are hundreds of trails and quiet mountain roads surrounding the centre which are suitable for long runs, tempo training and hill sessions! There are also facilities at the centre for other sports such as basketball, ice skating, climbing, football and rugby.

Fun

For fun you can check out some of the other facilities at the centre such as the ice rink or the climbing wall. The village of Font Romeu has a cinema and many lovely patisseries and bakeries where athletes can enjoy some downtime. There is also an animal park and thermal baths. The scenery is breath-taking and there are many hiking routes around the area.

To Book

For reservations at National Altitude Training Centre, follow this link to their website:http://www.cnea-fontromeu.com/#/en--reservation