Marathon #3!!

Cool and comfortable this morning, as I took a taxi from my hotel to the start of the race. I don´t understand the math on this one, but I had NO soreness left in my legs from the marathon in Luxor only two days ago.

I was there early, so I managed to find a cup of coffee. Not your typical American stuff--it was served in something a bit bigger than a shot glass and was pretty thick. They served two packets of sugar with it, and there was a good reason for that.

All the different running clubs were decked out in their colors. When you sign up for a race here, you give your running club name. I, of course, put Grand Rapids Running Club on mine. I think I´m the only member here.

Starting time was 9:00. I lined up near the 4:15 pace group, led by a guy who was doing a Grouch Marx impression--big cheesy painted on mustache and eyebrows, and a big fake cigar to complete the look. I had no inclination that I could run a 4:15 as my third marathon in a week, but it seemed like a fun group.

Starting gun! The route is all city streets until the last 7K or so. A few nice parks here and there, but lots of city. I fell in with a group of people from Great Britain for a while, welcoming the English speakers. That´s one of the things we take for granted I suppose, but in a country where the dominant language is Spanish (duh, it´s Spain) there are limited numbers of people to talk to. "Animo!" is the common cheer from the sidelines. ("I animate" technically, but more like "look alive, go for it" in context.)

I was feeling good all day, finishing the first 20K in two hours. I had a pretty good idea by then that it would be my fastest of the first three continents. Running a marathon marked in kilometers is fun too, because they go by a lot faster than miles. OK, there´s 42 of them instead of 26, but what the heck. All day I was following a member of the 100 marathon club (it was his 180th today) and I used him to pull me along. Somewhere between 35 and 36K I lost him. I think I passed him actually, but I just don´t know. It was about that time that we went off road and thorough what looked like a campus for the last 7K. People who had passed me all day were now in front of me, slowing down as we counted the kilometers up to 41. I encouraged lots of people as I passed, most of whom couldn't understand me but smiled anyway and were happy to have someone there. At 41, we started running down a long walkway which led by the stadium. I could look over and see the finish line inside the stadium, then ran past it and around the outside, finally moving over and down the ramp. Just 3/4 lap to go, past the 42K mark, 195 more meters to the FINISH. YES! Somewhere around 4:26 chip time, and 4:29 on the gun. Marathon #3 in the books!

The finisher medal was real nice--not a medal at all, but a crystal "trophy" with runners in the middle and the name of the marathon on the bottom. Very cool!

I wandered around until I found a taxi for the trip back. Legs still feel good. Not quite sure why, but I hope it keeps up. I get a week off now--Antarctica is scheduled for the 26th. Tomorrow I get to goof off all day in Valencia before heading for Argentina to meet the Marathon Tours Group.

Hey. Maybe I should mention this: CITY TO CITY RUN to Defeat Malaria. Donating Bti (bacillus thurengiensis var israelensis) to Equator Belt Countries. This bacteria naturally kills mosquitoes without disrupting personal health or environment, as opposed to spraying DDT. More info at http://malaria.pledgepage.org/