Coban International Half Marathon

The Cobán International Half Marathon is a famous event. Many Kenyans and other internationals come to run and try to win the grand prize. There are about 15,000 runners, I think. I was nowhere close to being prepared for this run. I never practiced. Trey wanted to come and visit me, and yes, I used it as an excuse to check out Cobán. My goal was to finish the half marathon, and at least run half of it. Trey, on the other hand, the marathon runner he is, was trying to get a decent time.

Trey, a buddy of mine from back home, came down to visit for a week. As soon as he arrived, we spent a ridiculous amount of time traveling to Cobán. It was my first time going to Cobán, and definitely the first time running a race in Guatemala. Same for Trey, actually it was his first time outside of the US. He got his passport just before this trip. Even tho some would argue that Guatemala isn't for the beginners, he survived his week away from home with flying colors. Of course, he had a great guide. :-P

We went out Saturday night for dinner with some volunteers; we had to have a beer before going to bed early.



Sunday morning, Keenton woke us up at 5am with pasta for breakfast. It was a bit early, but I was thankful for the breakfast. Keenton lives right on the route we would have to run. We walked to the starting point, and met some other volunteers and friends of volunteers who would be running.

The race started with a bang, but of course, we couldn't move for almost 10 minutes. Trey took off early and left me in the dust early on. I ran at a comfortable pace at first with Jim, one of our friends that worked for PC. Shortly tho, I felt the need to pee, and told him I'd catch up to him. I never did. I continued at the same pace, but never caught him. I ran 12.5 km (more than half of the 21 km, hehe). At that point there was a huge hill and my legs said no more. So I walked until the road reached Cobán again and with the crowd cheering me on here and there I forced myself to run in very short spurts. Especially when I noticed some of our friends were cheering me on, I made sure at least for a little while to look like I was kicking ass. :)



The last kilometer, I subconsciously went into turbo mode and ran full speed dodging all the slow pokes until I crossed the finish line jumping around and swinging my arms in the air so happy I finished. Quickly tho, the half marathon staff asked me to stop my monkeying around so they could take off the microchip. I stood still, and they still seemed to take forever to take off the chip. I cramped up hard and bad and was hopping around and writhing in pain until 2 Guatemalan Red Cross guys came over to me and helped me walk it off. They asked me to sit down, but I could barely bend my knees so I just kinda fell backwards. After a quick massage with some Ben Gay I was up and about again to receive my medal and a cup of Coke. Talk a bout random, as I was expecting bananas, but I guess they ran out. A bunch of friends were waiting outside and congratulating me and asking me what the hell took me so long?

Trey's time: 1:50 - Not as good as he expected, but with the altitude and traveling to another country with a long and uncomfortable journey, not bad either.
my time: 2:46 - Not bad, assuming I didn't practice at all, and I did run 13.5km total, more than half of the race.


We went to eat at Pollo Campero afterwards with some friends, since Trey didn't know about the Latin craze, and even though it was sposed to be fast food, it still took us about 2 hours to get our food, eat, get the bill and pay. We had originally planned to leave after lunch, but my legs cramped up bad and decided we weren't leaving until Monday morning. Extra recovery time was necessary for me, and the most amazing volunteer from the Cobán area graciously offered to give me a massage too. How could I refuse her generous offer? :-P