Costa Rica’s Coast to Coast is back this April for Year Nine.
Jacqueline Windh / 02.01.2009
Costa Rica’s Coast to Coast is back for Year Nine. This is the perfect event for racers who are wanting to gain more experience in international, multi-day racing. It is a long-running event with a really good track record, and organizer Mike Lapcevic takes great care of all of the teams, from the front-runners right to those at the very back of the pack. Mike’s aim is that every team who starts the C2C crosses the finish line under their own steam, and he gets very creative with short-course options in order to give teams every opportunity to get themselves there.This year’s race runs from the morning of April 19th to the morning of the 25th - a total of 6 days of racing - but faster teams could finish in more like 4 days. About this year’s route, which starts on the Nicoya Peninsula and crosses the country to the Atlantic (Caribbean) side, Mike says:
This year’s route is longer than normal but not necessarily harder. The route will remain secret until the start but we can tell you that there will be equal amounts of time hiking, biking and paddling across Costa Rica. At some point during the race there will also be a couple of ropes sections. Teams will be given a list of UTM coordinates revealing the location of the check points that they will have to reach. Route choice between check points will be a critical part of the race. We expect the top teams to start arriving at the finish sometime during the morning of April 23rd. At the finish, teams will stay in cabins on the coast and have the opportunity to rest up and enjoy the arrival of other teams.
The whole event runs from April 17th - 26th. Teams will be met at the San Jose airport (Costa Rica’s capital) by a C2C representative on the 17th and taken to their hotel, to prepare for the gear check and then transport to the coast on the 18th. The finish line cut-off is the morning of the 25th (fast teams get to enjoy a few days on the beach, cheering in the later arrivals). That afternoon, everyone is transported back to their hotel in San Jose for the evening awards ceremony, and then transport back to the airport is provided to teams the following day.
So, basically, if you can get yourselves and your gear to San Jose airport, organizers take care of everything else. Teams that register by January 15th get a discount rate of $3200 for the ten-day package (you don’t need to have all team members\' names in place in order to register).
I’ve been down to this race twice before, and can totally vouch for the event - great people, and well organized. And Costa Rica, of course, is amazing, with the diversity of terrain - jungles (with real monkeys!), world-class rivers, active rumbling volcanoes, wave-washed sand beaches, and high country that exceeds 3000 m in elevation. I’m not yet sure if I will be able to make it down there again this year, but I am sure hoping that my schedule will permit. This is an especially good race for racers wanting to push themselves to new distances in AR - those who are experienced in the disciplines and who have several one-day races under their belt - because the organizers are so supportive of everyone - providing a challenging race for the elite teams up front, but paying just as much attention to the racers further back.
First prize is free entry to next year\'s 10th anniversary C2C - a special edition which will traverse Costa Rica from Panama in the south to Nicaragua in the north.
I hope to see some of you down there this April! Check out: www.ctocrace.com
