Costa Rica: The Coastal Challenge
It’s all your fault!
Jacqueline Windh / 11.01.2008
It’s all your fault! Yes YOU, all you racers – you have inspired your faithful reporter! I will not only be reporting on, but also racing in Costa Rica’s Coastal Challenge in just a few weeks.Yes, it’s true. After all of the races that I have covered for SleepMonsters over the last few years, and inspired by all of the amazing athletes that I have met from all over the world, I have signed up for the Coastal Challenge. OK, so it’s not non-stop… but it’s still a big challenge – a six-day staged run, covering a total of about 250 km. The longest day is 60 km.
I started training about three years ago. My aim was purely photographic, realizing that I could get way better photos if I could cover more ground… get away from the CPs a bit and follow the teams. For a while I had the notion that I could even travel with teams for a few kilometers (I reasoned that, if you guys are pacing yourselves to cover hundreds of kilometers over several days, I could probably jog alongside with you for two or three km at least). Well, I was snapped to my senses at the Idaho Raid Qualifier in 2007… waiting along the course for Golite Timberland to appear, when they showed up I started to jog alongside. I lasted maybe 200 m, still jogging while I watched Marcel Hagener’s backside recede into the distance.
So, OK, I will never be 4 minute/km material. But that’s OK. I am just really glad that I have discovered the world of AR – you have all really inspired me, by showing me just what people can achieve if they push themselves. I am the fittest that I have ever been in my life (at 40-something!) and that is really exciting to me.See All Event Posts
