Why do people run marathons? I've always thought people who ran just for the sake of running without a ball to chase were crazy. But you can't say you don't like something until you've tried it. That's why I decided to sign up for the 22 degree Atlas (one of Guadalajara's soccer teams) half marathon (13 miles or 21 km).
I was convinced to sign up by a fellow teacher and started running short 5k to 16k loops at Colomos park. Bosque los Colomos is a 92 hectare park in the north-eastern section of Guadalajara. Miles of concrete and dirt paths wind their way up and down hills through pine forests and manicured gardens. I immediately fell in love with the park and running seemed like a good excuse to go.
I'm painting the picture that I trained a lot for this race. In fact, I only ran 16k the weekend before and then trained through soccer, climbing at Ameyalli (a rock-climbing gym), playing volleyball and surfing at San Blas. Not exactly the recommended marathon runner's training program.
Most of running marathons is mental from what I've been told, so I decided not to be to worried about being in proper shape.
The race began at 7 in the morning with hundreds of people crowded around Avenida Patria for the start. Music blared and crowds cheered as we passed through the starting gate. We passed huge blow-up Corona and Coca-Cola bottles on our way to 2 hours of non-stop running. The energy of the crowds actually made the experience more enjoyable and fun. I ran with a fellow middle school teacher up to kilometer 16 and then decided I could finish in less than 2 hours. 2 hours is the magical half marathon number to beat. Once I hit kilometer 19 I knew I could run 2 km as fast as I could so I went for it. I sprinted with everything I had left and crossed the finish line at 3 minutes over the 2 hour mark. Darn, well I guess I'll have to run another half marathon before I leave Mexico!
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