Hit the Road!
After 3 days in the mountains (even if much of it was on cobbled track), the last two days of the race are on the road. This race is a strange mixture of terrain but the variety gives everyone a chance to shine and today and tomorrow it is a day for the road runners.
The race began at 09.00 in the courtyard of the Sherpa Lodge in Rimbik, where half of the racers are staying, but before leaving there was a short briefing from Mr. Panday. The Race Director told them they had all complained when they had to get up early, but that when they had the chance to lie in that morning most had been up and wandering around at 06.00! It was true, for one reason or another sleep is elusive on this race, but no one could now blame the altitude and the extra oxygen and rest had refreshed everyone, even those injured or ill.
The race set off with all the runners leaping over the low hedge around the courtyard and racing out of town through the bazaar. As they left the town they passed another school where the children were out clapping, all lined up in their neat uniforms. Mostly they were chanting ‘welcome’, but after a stop by the Argentine duo they were chanting ‘Argentina, Argentina’!
The first part of the route was all downhill, following the road down 5,000 feet and passing through small roadside villages and farms on the way. The road was overhung in places by huge red flowering Poinsettias and almost all the houses had rows of pot plants outside and gardens full of flowering marigolds. The views may not have been of towering peaks but this stage brought the race closer to the local people who responded to the waves from the racers and their calls of ‘Namaste’. The cameras most runners carry were just as busy as they were on the earlier stages!
After a series of big switchbacks, from which runners could see the bottom of the valley far, far below, the road passed through an area of mining activity, now seemingly largely disused. In places water courses ran across the road, and in among the disused machinery there were small groups of workers breaking rocks with hammers to produce hardcore for construction. Elsewhere there were workers in the fields and in the villages where the aid stations were set up small crowds gathered to see the runners. They were just as curious as to what the strange vegetables on display in the shops were. (Many are looking forward to having time to shop in the bazaar later in the afternoon as so far the programme has been so full they’ve not had time for that.)
After the descent and crossing the river came the inevitable climb. It’s up and down every day! This took runners through a less populous area, past large stands of bamboo and up to the finish at the Palmajua forest bungalow. This overlooks the road where the race finished and two brass pots of marigolds had been set on each kerb, with the finishing tape held between them. The weather was blisteringly hot (some of the runners are very pink with sunburn), and there was little shade there, but it was a pleasant place to finish the shortest stage of the race.
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