Day 4: Back down, drunk on oxygen.: A fast half-marathon on pavement.

Jacqueline Windh / 06.11.2013

The last two days of this race are a complete switch from the first three: now down to about 2000 m (6500’) elevation, and shorter routes all on paved route. Good news for the road-runners!

I was very glad to have packed my road-runners for today. We started the half-marathon distance route in the village of Rimbik, with the townspeople lined up and cheering our departure, for a downhill run, dropping 425 m (1400’) to cross the Ladoma River, then climbing up 500 m (1600’) on the other side of the valley to finish at a place called Palmajua.

Rex Whittle, who is here for his seventh running of this event and who knows the routes, gave some good advice. He warned that the first part of the descent was extremely steep - even though it was all paved, to take care with the downhill run.

I was surprised by how well I felt, and how strong my legs seemed, on this fourth day of racing. The start was extremely steep, just as Rex had warned, but I ran it confidently, knowing that it wouldn’t stay that way. As usual, the group quickly spread out, and I had great views of the faster runners winding back and forth on the switchbacks below me. We were running down steep vegetated slopes, in some places agricultural with beans and corn and other crops, in others through pretty little villages with huge flowering trees including some impressive  poinsettias.

I was prepared for the downhill and the uphill, but I what I was not prepared for was the long flat section, between the 4 km aid station and the river crossing at the 9.5 km mark. I had enough left in my legs to run the downhill, and to jog/hike the uphill, but running that flat was really taxing. Once on the uphill, more switchbacks winding through lush jungle and forest, I felt great, jogging and hiking past several racers who had finished ahead of me the previous day.

Buses awaited us at the finish line, taking us back to Rimbik for a second night at the same hotel. Tomorrow we would be bussed back to this same place for the final day of racing, a 27 km (17 mile) run that would take us back to Maneybhajang, where we started on Day One, to complete the entire loop course.

By now, I had set myself a goal to complete the entire route in under 30 hours. If I could run today’s half-marathon distance in under 3 hours I would be on track to make that goal (remember, we are up at 2000 m altitude, and the second half of the run was a 500 m climb). So I was very happy to finish in 2:20 - three days out of four bettering my “best scenario” goal time.

Rankings today saw a few changes. The Spanish team had started conservatively over the first few days, but today they showed us that they still had some charge left in their batteries, with three of them finishing in the top five men. The UK’s Clare Glazebrook, who had been second woman on all three previous days, had a tough day, in tears at one point - I assume due to tired legs that just weren’t performing.

Here are results for the top three:

Men: 

1. Martin Cox (UK) 1:26 - 1st overall

2. Dan Dosedel (USA) 1:36 - 2nd overall

3. Juan Carlos Rodriguez (Spain) 1:43 - 3rd overall

Women:

1. Marit Holm (Norway) 1:47

2. Fiona Bugler (UK) 1:51

3. Thamar Houliston (South Africa) 1:55

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