Costa Rica: The Coastal Challenge

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Much more than just running an ultra...

Jacqueline Windh / 07.02.2008

Much more than just running an ultra, this race offered a whole lot more adventure on the course than many of us had expected.

I’m on the plane on the way home now, my first multi-day race under my belt. Or the first half of it anyway... My knee is still not great, but I am working on it.

I had really trained for a running race, thinking more along the lines of dirt roads and easily runnable trails. While the majority of the route was definitely runnable, quite a lot of the first two days were on extremely steep, wet, muddy jungle paths that were just not runnable, even by the top competitors. I was not the only one surprised by the terrain that the Coastal Challenge went through – but it was a wonderful surprise! It’s curious that the organizers do not promote this aspect of the race more, because it is right up the alley of any adventure racers – whether you are looking for a race, a week of hard training, or just some good physical jungle adventure through remote and scenic country.

I talked to a lot of the competitors over the final days to get their impressions of the whole event. There were a few smaller organizational issues that many mentioned – the morning race starts and evening briefings running consistently late, leading to a bit of a “hurry-up-and-wait� situation; and all the messages posted to competitors on the race’s website that were never passed along - but these are small issues that should be no trouble for the organization to deal with in future years. While some of the city folk were less than impressed with the showers and toilets, in truth the organization did an incredible job in arranging shower facilities (yes, cold, but still...!) and flush toilets in every one of our camps – quite the feat, considering the lack of infrastructure in the remote regions we passed through. See All Event Posts