Tough Terrain on Day 3

Jackie Windh / 21.03.2016

Today’s route would be 45 km, with a total of 1788 m elevation gain and loss. Not be our longest day in terms of either km or elevation but, RD Rodrigo Carazo warned us, our toughest terrain as well as longest in terms of hours on course. It was also our first day with a time cut-off: we had 7 hrs to make PC3, the 23.5k mark. (Sure, sounds easy... but read on...)
The day started our way up the Barú River for 8 km: at times on bouldery river banks, but much of the time wading upstream in anything from ankle-deep to chest-deep, and occasionally swimming.

Personally, I LOVED the river. I am probably one of the only ones. I am actually not that great a runner, but I am really good on rough terrain. I used my pole today (and to great advantage), and by a few km into the river section I had passed a LOT of people, including third- and fifth-place females Amy Gordon and Melody Hazi. (I knew that they would soon take that back from me - but I was really happy to be making such good time on the start of such a tough day).

I had been blowing through the aid stations this whole race (in large part thanks to the UltrAspire Kinetic race vest I was trialling instead of using a pack - I never had to take it off!). But once out of the river, I spent 15 minutes at PC1 cleaning my feet, socks, shoes and insoles, getting all of the river gravel out - time invested in foot care that I knew would come back to me manyfold over the three more days remaining in this race. Even with that long stop, very few of the people I had passed in the river showed up while I was at the PC.

Then the climbing started: first, a few km on a a steep “rolling” road (rolling is not the right word - the “rolls” were much steeper than what we would normally consider rolling!) up to the famed and very beautiful Nauyaca waterfall. We crossed below the falls, then headed up a very steep and very rough jungle trail, where both Amy and Melody soon passed me.

Then I was alone. For a very very long time. Climbing, climbing, climbing, and then finally out on a more open ridgeline. Now out of the jungle, the heat of the morning sun suddenly seared my skin. Then I descended back into the jungle, and then wading up another stream. By now I was running into other racers here and there, all of us struggling to move through this very tough terrain. into another stream. Eventually w came to another absolutely gorgeous waterfall, delicate spray streaming down a tall rock face. Two Spaniards who had passed me in the creek stopped to go under it and take photos. 

But I was getting worried about the cut-off. PC2 was on the mountain peak - and judging from the amount of water coming down this falls, we were nowhere near that point yet. And, already nearly 6 hours had elapsed! So I trudged on, up and up through more jungle, until finally breaking out to a  dirt road up top.

I made the cut-off with 40 minutes to spare, wondering what would happen to the rest. I had made really good time, and I knew there were a LOT of people behind me. (I later found out that organizers decide to extend the cut-off by an hour). 

Now for a lot more “rolling hills”, before a very steep descent. It was Day 3, and my quads (for some strange reason) were suddenly feeling really strong. I got into a really good and steady downhill pace, feeling great, in a fantastic headspace, just feeling super-strong and happy.

Until...

Until I realized that I had not seen any flagging tape for some time. Well, I knew that cows eat the stuff, and that village children like to make bracelets out of them. And that you can start to doubt yourself and play head-games and lose confidence. And besides, I was feeling so strong on the downhill, and didn’t want to turn around and climb back up what I had just run down so well.

But, eventually, I had to admit: I had missed a turnoff. A car came down and they stopped and told me it was 2 km back. They offered me a ride down, but I was not ready to give up on this race yet.

So I climbed all the way back up and found the turnoff. The flagging was hard to see in the shade of the bright late-afternoon sun - but it was most definitely there. My mistake. Damn. I had lost 40 minutes (and had only beat the PC2 cut-off by 40 minutes - I did not yet know it had been extended). Was I last now?

Well, the quads still felt good, so I ran this downhill, right down to PC3 - where I was thrilled to see four or five racers standing around. I didn’t need to stay long - filled the water bottles and got out of there. 

I had planned to walk the final beach section, but I was actually feeling amazing and ran most of it, eventually gaining almost a half-hour on those I’d passed at the aid station. I finished the day in 11:30 - disappointed that that time included a 40 minute detour, but very pleased that that mistake had not affected me too much.

Still, I was pretty trashed and exhausted when I hit camp - those 40 minutes could have been well used for showering, eating, and overall recovery! But right away, fellow racer Julia Jahr-Olivas (she’d run Adventure, so had been in camp a while), and one of the racers’companions Robert Martzoff, saw me come in and they helped me set up my tent. Again - how those little gestures of help make such a big difference to the people in need!

Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Iain had won the stage for his third straight day, in 5:11. Gonzalo was second for the third straight day - but it meant that Iain’s total lead had grown to over 40 minutes. Barring anything unexpected, defending champ Iain Don-Wauchope would be hard for anyone to catch now.

The women’s race was much tighter, though. The day had started with only a minute and half separating Elisabeth and Ester. However, Ester had another strong day, finishing 15 minutes ahead of Elisabeth, so she is now the women’s leader. Tomorrow will be another very rough day for terrain - our biggest day for elevation, with 2054 m over the 35k route, and the rough stuff definitely favours Ester.­

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