Fun Running

Springtime is race season in BA. The mildest most pleasant time to run so there are races every weekend throughout October and November. Los Halcones try to run them together as often as possible. This past Saturday I ran an 8k with Gaby and Corinne ( a relatively newer Halcone from SF but living and studying here, getting ready to marry her Chilean boyfriend). Martin rode alongside us for half the race taking photos and shouting encouragements "Vamos chicas, muy buen, faltan poco (just a little bit to go!). Some runners carried their homeland flag - Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile. The top 3 male finishers were skinny minny like Martin and in their early 20s. The female finishers were all at least mid 30s (some looked early forties).

Yesterday was the BA Marathon. Our team captain Judith of Holland and Martin had always planned to run it together - her first and his umpteenth. Several weeks past they tried to conjole me into running the first half with them. More to aid Judith in pacing herself for the rest of the race as she has trouble with any pace but a near sprint. Much as I wanted to be a good teammate and help her out, the thought of keeping up with the two of them for another half marathon sounded like torture. I'd learned my lesson from the half marathon I did back in August. Although I'm enjoying running 4 or 5 times a week - the distance thing just isn't my gig anymore. 8 or 10ks are just fine by me. So, to their disappointment I passed but promised to come cheer them on. Laura and I met at 10:30 and found our way to the course. The BA Marathon is only 5 years old. I guess running as a sport is fairly new to the area so they've yet to really nail the course (this year was painfully far from the center of the city and impossible to find parking or buses for spectators) or publicize it in such a way that the community comes out to cheer on the athletes. I was shocked to be one of just a handful of cheerleaders along the race route. Laura commented that she thinks its more of a cultural thing. That Argentines don't cheer, support, inspire, motivate each other the way Americans do. Not in sport and not at work either. Interesting observation coming from a Portena. We stood at KM 39 for about 25 minutes before spotting Martin and Judith. She was walking with head down and a defeated expression. Martin looked irked and fed up. We screamed and cheered and ran out to greet them - running alongside them both for a few hundred yards to get her going again. I hadn't thought to wear my running clothes and shoes otherwise would have finished the final 3K with them. We waved them on and walked on along the route to the end. At the finish line there were more people but nothing like what I'd expected - maybe 200 people if that. The race ended at Parque de los Ninos - a scenic spot next to the river with lots of wide open green space and bbq pits. The grass was littered with the weary bodies of marathon finishers - stretching, drinking water, eating bananas or just plain collapsed in the sun. We found Judith and were introduced to her boyfriend 6.5 ft tall Floris (also from Holland). She eeked out our team motto "Fue duro pero lo hice - it was hard but I did it". She said she was feeling good and confident through KM 30. then at KM32 she hit "the wall". walked off and on till the end. We tried to ease her mind of it as much as possible - finishing at all is such an accomplishment and at least she ran in the final kilometer. But Martin was harder on her. He was so disappointed - his team captain, his star athlete, the fastest and most promising runner. He kept harping that if only she had continued on as she had done the first part of the race. He could not let it go. I helped them both stretch out their sore muscles and we all headed home. Next weekend is the biggest race of the year in BA. Its the Nike 10k - more than 25 thousand argentines participate. For some, its the only race of the year.