Marathon 2 - Punta Arenas
We made it back safely to the Chilean mainland from Antarctica yesterday and got straight on with preparing for our South American marathon. We sought out pasta, bread and potatoes. Can you spot the theme? Survival on this adventure is a lot to do with replacing and pre-loading with carbohydrates as best we possibly can. Not always easy in the locations we’ll be when not running - mainly airports.
There was a window of about 20 minutes around 7.00pm where everyone got an almighty slap in the face with the tired stick. Ouch! Red eyes. Grumpiness. Desperate sighs. All the signs were there. It was time for bed. But not before we shoved more food down. Is it healthy to eat just before bed? I don’t care. I don’t have a choice.
And bed.
Up early once again. Time for a quick bite and some words of wisdom from Road Captain Steve. Our extensive research had informed us that Punta Arenas is one of the windiest places on earth. Wind is every runner’s enemy, both kinds…
Imagine our delight then when the gusts inside our shorts were stronger than those outside. Had we pulled a rabbit out the hat and planned to run on the only day in the year that wind goes to sleep down here? No. We hadn’t. Somehow our start line was sheltered.
But there we were once again; brothers in arms; side-by-side; ready to do battle with another 42.2km. This time on Chilean soil.
Today’s efforts took us 21.1km south along the coast - continuously looking east across the dawn’s sun-kissed sea to the land know as Tierra del Fuego, before turning back. We saw dolphins. That doesn’t normally happen. The smooth road and (mostly) flat route was such a welcome break from the cruel terrain of yesterday.
We had two local guest runners:
- Pablo, a local running enthusiast and possibly the friendliest guy on this continent.
- A guardian angel in the form of a local stray dog. He ran the entire marathon with us and fought off several challenges from other, less friendly strays. We thank you Lil’ Steve - we couldn’t have done it without you.
Another very enjoyable run for all.
Dan Honour: 3hr18
Rob Bell: 3hr18
Ben Goodburn: 3hr39
Gareth Williams: 3hr41
Steve Vials (Road Captain): 4hr21
Pete Bocquet: 5hr30
