The Coastal Challenge
Heat and Hydration
Jackie Windh / 23.03.2016
Well, RD Rodrigo Carazo had told us that we could expect to finish this 52k stage about an hour faster than our time the previous day (Stage 4, 35 km). But when defending champ and overall leader Iain Don-Wauchope won this stage in 5:41:29 - over an hour LONGER thank his Stage Four time - all he could do was express concern for the slower runners. It was still a tough course (1811 m elevation), and with longer than usual gaps between the aid stations. The course ended up being tougher than expected, and it was a very hot day.
As usual, we started with a very big climb, hitting our high point for the day just 8 km in, and losing most of that just a few km later. We were on dirt roads through jungle and pasture land, and up top got some beautiful views of the coast. It was really clear to me that we had covered some serious distance southward when a flock of scarlet macaws flew over me, squawking.
It was 16k to our first aid station -our longest stretch yet - so I carried lots of water for me. It’s always helpful for cooling, and I had found that that little bit of added weight was actually saving me time, because I spent less time cooling myself at the various rivers. The roads had all been runnable, and I was making good time. There were at least ten people behind me (that I knew of), and I blew past five or six more at the first aid station (which is where the Adventure racers had started earlier today).
The next 25 km truly were “rolling.” None of the hills was huge, but it was just constant up and down, on dirt roads that gradually diminished into red-dirt tracks through the jungle. It was very hot, well into the 40s C, and it was the first day that I was feeling the effects of the heat. I had a real scare in the Kalahari (KAEM) last year when, on Day 3, I just could not get my body temperature to drop - even after sitting at an aid station in the shade for an hour. I didn’t want that to happen again, so I tried to strike a balance between running as much as possible but not overheating. Others must have been struggling in the heat, too, because almost no one passed me.
Around the 35k mark, I crossed a beautiful little gravel stream with a gentle bank on it. I debated about stopping to cool myself or pushing on. My feet had been relatively dry today, and I was appreciating that - but found I was able to lie down in it with my feet on that bank. I stayed for several minutes, to bring my core temperature right back down, then continued on.
And right after that, I emerged into the sun and a very steep climb up through dry forest. Was I ever happy that I had stopped to cool myself! I passed a Spanish racer who hadn’t stopped, and he was really struggling with the climb and the hot sun.
Up top, we followed a really fun path through somewhat drier jungle, up on some sort of ridge with lots of little climbs and descents. At one point I missed a turnoff. I kept going straight. There was still flagging, but it was different - red, and older, with paint splotches. I proceeded with caution - had they run out of the pink and switched to red, or was I on the wrong trail? But - remembering my costly error the other day - I turned around after a few hundred m and quickly found the flagging at the turnoff I had missed: a very steep descent coming off the side of the ridge.
I was heading to PC4, our 44k mark. This was a long stretch - from the hot ridge climb I had just completed, to more jungle, to a long beach section and then a river crossing (by boat) to the PC. As usual, I had loaded up with extra water, and I ended up being really thankful that I did. I am sure it was a lot more than 12k between these aid stations!
(I asked Rodrigo later about the distances being a lot longer than what he had told us. He said in part that is because different GPS’s come up with different measurements - but also because sometimes he had to move aid stations slightly, having them earlier or later, just because of issues of access. And that made a lot of sense: when I made it to PC3 a lot faster than expected, I congratulated myself for going so fast - didn’t think that the distance might be shorter. But then when PC4 seems too far away, it’s easy to blame the RD for it!).
Once I started hitting some mangrove swamp in the jungle, I figured that the beach and river crossing must be close. But the jungle just went on and on and on. I was actually feeling amazing - well hydrated, and running in spite of the heat. I was amazed to pass Allan Dick, of Ireland, in here. He is usually a strong runner, but he was trudging along slowly, clearly dehydrated and hurting. I asked him if he had any water (he didn’t), not that I had any left to offer. But I didn’t worry about him as I thought the aid station must be within a few hundred m. (It wasn’t).
We did emerge shortly after to some sort of farmhouse with a flowing tap. Although I was out of water, I was well hydrated and still thought that the aid station was really close - but I was happy knowing that Allan would get what he needed here. I doubted that he would be continuing.
But it turned out that there was still a long beach section to go. For most of it, we could follow a sandy track in the palm trees - slow running in the soft sand, but a lot better than being in the full sun on the beach. I ran passed several other racers here, people who had passed me earlier, now reduced to a slow walk.
Eventually the track ended and I was forced to head out to the beach. I could see a race flag way down at the end. This section was WAY longer than I had ever expected. It had really paid off for me that I had never allowed myself to become dehydrated. I had been out of water for over a half hour now, but I was so well hydrated up to that point that I was still fine.
I made it to the river mouth. It was over 100 m across, and I could see the boat over on the other side, nudged up to the sand, as a Spanish racer took ages cleaning his socks and shoes before exiting the boat. I called several times, but he took his time. We had been warned not to attempt to swim it because of crocs! Eventually he finished his washing up, and the boat zipped over for me, and dropped me off at PC4.
The two Spaniards took off as I arrived. Another racer looked passed out in the shade, but the girl at the aid station told me he was fine, just sleeping. (He did make it in, later). I filled up and fueled up quickly, and followed the Spaniards up a very steep and rough jungle trail, which took us out to a dirt road.
By now, I was catching many of the Adventure racers (who had started at our PC1). There was beach, and there was a long suspended bridge over a pond that was completely overgrown with some strange water plants, and then lots of dirt road as we approached the village of Drake.
I had finally given up on running. I can’t describe how painful my feet had been this while day, from blisters acquired over the previous days plus probably some new ones too. I still had the strength to run (a bit), but the pain from the pounding on the road was just too much now.
I suddenly heard a rhythmic grunting behind me, like a bear coming up from behind. It was Allan! He had recovered his juju! I wished I could have run with him, but I no longer had it in me, so I just cheered him on as he looked grimly at me and ran past.
This last section, supposedly 8 km from PC4 to the finish, seemed never-ending. The light was beginning to fade as I finally saw the flagging that had me, and another racer I had caught, descend to the beach for the final few hundred m into camp. I finished in 10:45
There were still many runners out there who would be coming in in the dark. Some, like Spain’s Ernesto Navarrete had planned for that, carrying headlamps with them (he finished in 13:09). But many of them were caught in the darkness by surprise. Canada’s Kandace Carr got a strong round of applause when she arrived, last of the Expedition group, in 13:43. She’s been the slowest racer still ranked in the Expedition class pretty much every day - but she has inspired us all with her toughness for sticking out the long days (and smiling in spite of it all!).
As I mentioned, Iain won the stage again, bringing him to around a 50 minute overall lead over Gonzalo Calisto - so he is looking good to retain his title of defending champion for another year. There were a few twists in the women’s race, though. Leader Ester Alvez took the same wrong turn in the jungle at the top of the ridge as I did, but she continued a lot longer on that trail. She estimates that she did an extra 4 km there - and so Elisabeth Barnes was able to catch her on the course. As Ester explains, there was nothing left to race for that day, so the two of them ran the last 8 km together, enjoying one another’s company and finishing together in 7:42:49.
One day to go - the “Victory Lap”! Still not an easy route, 23km long through some fairly technical terrain - but there is a feeling of happiness and confidence spreading through the group now, as everyone who has made it this far is pretty sure to finish.
SleepMonsters
