The Coastal Challenge
South Africas Iain Don-Wauchope Wins TCC - Again!
Jackie Windh / 26.03.2016
The overall win appeared to come pretty easily for defending champion, South Africa’s Iain Don-Wauchope. In spite of rolling his ankle on both of the first two days of racing, Iain won all of the first five stages. Coming into the final stage with more than a one-hour lead over second-place Gonzalo Calisto of Ecuador, Iain was able to take that final run relatively easy and enjoy it more, without jeopardizing his win.
The lead had juggled a bit more over the first few days in the women’s race, with both Elisabeth Barnes (UK/Sweden) and Ester Alvez (Portugal) winning stages. But by mid-race, Ester’s proficiency over the rough technical terrain had played to her advantage, and she had a secure lead over Elisabeth. The two ran the end of Stage 5 and all of Stage 6 together.
Both Ester and Elisabeth have confirmed that they will be back for TCC 2017, so it will be interesting to see a rematch here! Elisabeth knows that she needs to work on her skills in the more technical terrain if she is to catch Ester.
One thing that really impressed me, seeing Ester race, is how well she performs in the heat - especially with minimal water. She only carried a collapsible 500 ml bottle with her - such a small amount of water that I feared she would run into trouble on some of the stages in the heat. (I checked in with Iain - he carried up to 1.5 l). But Ester had no problems with dehydration at all. She told me that she trains specifically with minimal water, to get her body used to running this way. It sure must pay off for her in the lack of weight she carries: she ran only with a small hip-belt, never with a backpack.
My total time was 49:42:40, which put me in 38th place of the 68 who started the Expedition full-length race (47 finished all 6 stages). I don’t know what my time was when I did this race 7 years ago (and the route wouldn’t have been exactly the same anyway) but I am sure I was faster this time. I know I had at least one 12 hour day out there back then.
But to me, my greater victory is just how well I ran and how good I felt finishing: no injuries, no undue muscle soreness (sure, everything hurt, but not exceptionally considering what I had just done). Last time I did this race, even though I finished, I really suffered (and swore after that I would never do it again!). I can honestly say that this time, I never had a bad moment, ever! Not even when I got lost, not even when my feet hurt so much that I was reduced to a walk... I was still enjoying it.
So, how does this race compare to other multi-day ultras? Well, first of all, let’s talk about the route. Honestly, this has got to be one of the toughest foot-races out there. This year there were competitors who have completed Marathon des Sables as well as a former Badwater champion - and they all swore that The Coastal Challenge is harder. The biggest challenge is by far the terrain: not just the fact that you complete around 10,000 vertical metres over the 6 days, but also the nature of the routes.
I’d say that 12 or so km of the total 225 km are wading up rivers. A lot of the route is runnable (although very steep) dirt roads - but a real lot of it is technical single-track through jungle, and some of that not even developed enough to call a track, just a slashed-out and flagged route through the jungle. Although the elites TELL me that they ran everything, I’ve seen photos of them hiking out there!
Do I recommend this race? Definitely! I suppose it is not for everyone... the terrain is very tough, so for people who are pure runners and not so experienced on rough ground, it might not be their kind of thing. But I think that anyone coming in from an Adventure Racing background will absolutely love this race. The route is challenging and varied, and you really do get to experience Costa Rica at its wildest over the week: from jungle to mountains to beaches. Race management skills are essential to making it to the end: especially hydration/nutrition/electrolytes, and especially ESPECIALLY foot care (your feet will almost always be wet).
This was the 12th running of The Coastal Challenge. The many years that RD Rodrigo Carazo has been running this race,and refining his procedures, really show well in the near-flawless organization of it. One thing that really impressed me was, after 7 years away from the event, returning and recognizing many of the crew: from aid station volunteers to the foot care people to the kitchen workers, it was all the same people back! And that says a lot for a well-run organization. (Oh, and the food is absolutely amazing: tasty and healthy and race-appropriate). So yes, I highly recommend this race - and I definitely hope to return to run it again, too!
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