I got to the hostal where I was staying which was also Fuego Y Agua staff headquarters. I saw some familiar faces and got emotional and tried to hide it. I talked to my friend Yishai and he said to get my things together to race in the morning and that really helped. I closed the door to the room I was in and saw a message on my phone. It was from a dear friend I have come to love and value a great deal. I think it said something like if I went missing he needed to know how to find me. At that moment it was exactly what I needed and I was much more calm. I think I laughed a little too at the thought of a former Marine searching some small island for me.
Race morning started out well. I woke up without my alarm got prepared and made my way down to the start near the beach. I signed my waiver, got assigned a number and a yellow strip of material to tie around my arm. I walked down the stairs to the beach for gear check and met up with the other yellow team members. We were instructed upon the signal we would run down the beach pick up 5 pieces of bamboo and run about 3k down the beach. We were also told the first team done would get an advantage. They would be the decision maker for the clock starting time and all participants after that would be at a time disadvantage.
Meeting Gabi Stephens the Race Director's sister at check-in. She is wonderful!
I should note I gave my team fair warning that I am slow. I am fully aware that I am a horrible team player. I have signed up for team events, kept myself at a gym I hated in their team stretching warm up just to try to improve. I am the me in team. It also stresses me out and I worry about pushing myself too hard. As soon as I heard go I ran to the bamboo and helped a guy pick up the other end after about 500 yards and feeling like I couldn't keep pace with him I passed off the bamboo. We needed to make a raft to float to a little island to retrieve some items, run to our color sticks and begin digging to the bottom of that stick to find a treasure and search a plantain field for small yellow bags at eye level. All these challenges provided puzzle pieces once that puzzle is complete you can continue on as individuals. The rocks fell off the raft so some of the teammates came back to rebuild the raft. One guy Dylan was so good with the raft and paracord lashing. I felt frustrated like I wasn't contributing so I was glad when my teammate Morgan asked me to dig in the sand. I was grateful for long fingernails, but there wasn't any treasure under the stick I dug so off I ran to the plantain field. I couldn't find a bag on a tree and then I heard a teammate yell she found it. I was so happy for her and our team. The puzzle was constructed and we each took a chicken egg that was brought back in a container from the island. It seemed some had broke and that I got the last unbroken egg. I also realized at that point that the container I had in my pack to keep my egg safe was missing. It had fallen out of a side pocket. I had a backup in my pack filled with my fruit and nuts. I emptied out my peanut snack container took off my event buff that was a gift and asked it to keep the egg safe. It's far too early in the race to begin talking to inanimate objects, but I did not want to buy or barter for an egg it would cost me valuable time.
I pinned my bib to my shirt and began a run down a road to the first individual task. I was so excited to use my machete that my friends at All Seasons Gardening and Landscaping had sharpened for me. I got to cut plantains off a stalk and have them weighed. They needed to be 20 pounds. I put them in my grain sack and weighed them. Yishai said you're going to need to add more. The scale read 14.6. He said,"I'm sorry I'm not trying to be a jerk." He is one of my favorite friends and race directors he's always so kind and at that moment that just made me laugh. I added more and the scale read 22.4 he said I could take out 3 and continue. This bag would be with me until I was instructed to drop it.
A few weeks ago I read a statement that said,"It isn't the load you carry, but the way you carry the load." This phrase would continue to go through my mind as I found a way to carry the 20 pound bag of plantains across the back of my shoulders. Sometimes I would change that carry to my left hip.
I caught up to a guy Dave that I recognized from social media. I was thankful to have him to talk to. I had another friend say there was a little market if we needed anything before we began the ascent up the volcano. Something told me to stop there. I gave the sweet lady 20 cordobas for a small bottle of water and emptied my Fluid Passion Tea Performance powder into it. I wish I would have tried to catch back up to Dave here, but I didn't I just pushed forward at a pace I was comfortable with.
I arrived at the next challenge which was a tree climb to retrieve a length of rubber tubing to make a sling shot. I tried a rope climb technique and became frustrated I wasn't able to pull myself up the tree with my arms at all. Some other runners put a plank to step out to the tree on and I tried again and my calf cramped. I decided I would continue on without the rubber tubing and I would find a way to make a sling shot with my tire tube and paracord.
Having a heart to heart with the tree with my signature hands on hips.
I continued climbing up the volcano trail that was incredibly well marked. I was having a tough time and I looked up only to see a rock with the words Don't Give Up written in chalk. It reminded me of those same words that had been spoken to me a month prior just before I was told I didn't make a course cut off. I continued to push forward and caught up to some runners I was really surprised to see. One guy was really thirsty and told me his hydration bladder had been punctured. I handed him the remaining fluid in my water bottle as I knew I still had my emergency canteen as well as Fluid Performance in my pack. He drank it and up the hill he went. Some of the runners would joke I gave him rocket fuel and ask what was in that water. Fluid is a company that I absolutely love who has been generous enough to sponsor me. It is also the only product I use in training and on long runs as it hasn't ever given me an upset stomach and I find I rarely need food when using it. Some more runners would say they ran out of water and I saw one runner put his hand on a muddy bank and water came out. I realized it was from the plant and I told him so he poured the cold water on his head. I later learned from Morgan that the lifestraw in that plant to drink the water would have also been a great idea. We all discussed the idea of ditching the bag of plantains. I said I was continuing with mine because I didn't want to leave a trace. A couple more hours go by and that idea of missing the course cut off become real. I decide even if I miss it that I want to continue to the top. 4:00 pm cutoff passes and I cut open my grain sack lose the plantains and continue climbing. I feel so guilty at wasting a food source for the locals and also for leaving a trace. I am almost to the top of the volcano and the guide tells me I need to turn around. I see Tony and he is also really thirsty so I pour the blueberry pomegranate fluid into my emergency canteen and tell him to gulp it down. He doesn't quite finish it catches up to Rob and asks if Rob can have the rest of that drink of course I say yes. The two of them continue down much faster than me and with a separate guide. Another guide is following me. He took a phone call while following me and in his broken English tells me it was his father. I felt so guilty for keeping him away from his family that I tell him he can leave. He tells me no and I realize I have no choice, but to keep moving. I honestly just wanted to be left alone and I contemplated sleeping up there until morning. I was warm and after all when was I going to use that emergency blanket taking up valuable real estate in my pack. I was grateful for my smartlite headlamp that I paid $2.12 on Amazon. At times it was really dark I was really nervous, held back tears and I scooted down the trail like a crab using my arms to propel me. I was happy to meet other runners at the bottom and get a ride back to the start. I thought a cold shower would feel amazing, but it turns out I really learned to be thankful for a warmer shower at home. While climbing the volcano carrying that bag of plantains I said this is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity meaning I never needed to do it again, but truth is that Survival Run is so hard I almost want to see what the next one will provide.
The day following Survival Run I went across the street to Villa Paraiso to have breakfast. I then went with my friends sons to Ojo De Agua to swim and relax. That evening I went to Camp Estre with friends and staff for dinner and was happy they had curry. I did not want to try any new foods while I was on this trip so I was glad to have something I was familiar with.
My last full day on the island was my favorite aside from the day of the run. I walked down to help out with the beer mile. I helped take money and get the backpacks and school supplies together. It was great to see that the runners generously donated close to $1000. Luis Escobar traveled to be there and he helped a sweet Elderly Nicaraguan lady to the stage. She was selling empanadas for 10 cordobas each that is ridiculously cheap in comparison to US dollar. She would reach to her purse to make change as she sold each one and I would tell her to keep all the money. She was so humble it was so hard for her to accept. She reached for my arm and asked me if I understood Spanish. I told her I did as she pointed to the sky and said,"God bless these people." I finished talking to Patrick Sweeney and he helped the sweet lady off the stage.
I went and rented a bicycle to ride to the coffee plantation.I was told it was down the road and a left turn to santa cruz. I was riding and passed the cutest Down Syndrome boy having a lollipop on the curb in front of his house. He yelled hola and happy tears just fell down my face. I kept pedaling and felt like I must have gone way too far. I stopped and asked a man walking his pack horse. He said I needed to turn around and make a turn up the road to Finca Magdalena. This road was like a pitted rocky fireroad and I wished the bike I was riding didn't sound like it was going to fall apart. So I hiked the bike up the road to the coffee plantation where I enjoyed coffee and lemonade and met two sisters who were visiting from Boston. I rode the bike back down the dirt road scared I was going to fall while trying to ride through the sand and loose gravel. I stopped back at Camp Estre for lunch and rode back to return the bike.
Garden view at Finca Magdalena
In the evening the event hosted a bbq and I sat with Margaret and got to get to know her background. She was doing the race coverage and social media for the events and did an amazing job and always seemed to be there when I needed her.
I came back to my room and got to talk to my dear friend Corinne who was a big reason for me committing to do Survival Run. She was preparing for the birth of her son.
My last morning on the island I was up to watch the 50k and 100k ultrarunners start and then took a taxi with my friend's son to the ferry and we began our boat ride, flight and lay overs back to the U.S.
This was an incredible time filled with so many incredible moments. I'm glad I took the time to capture some of them. I'm grateful for the runners, staff, new friendships, volunteers and the generosity of all the islanders who helped me.
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