Race Report: 2019 Marabana Marathon

On November 10th, I ran the Marabana Marathon in Havana, Cuba.  Since 1960, the United States has had an economic embargo of Cuba.  This embargo has changed over the years, but United States citizens are generally prohibited from traveling to Cuba unless they obtain a permit from the Treasure Department.  In the last decade, it’s become easier to obtain a permit to travel to Cuba.  Now, there are enough people traveling there from the U.S. that commercial airlines have daily flights to Havana.

I traveled with an organization called Project Hemisphere, which has a group permit for travel to Cuba.  I booked the trip through Marathon Tours & Travel (MT&T).  MT&T booked our hotel accommodations and helped us get our Cuban visas.

Traveling to Cuba takes some advance planning.  U.S. banks aren’t allowed to do business there, so you can’t use credit cards or get cash from ATMs.  All transactions are cash, and once you arrive there’s no way to get more money.  You have to bring enough for the whole trip.  Most of my expenses were pre-paid, but I still had to have money for incidentals and a few of my meals.

I’m used to being connected wherever I go, but on this trip, I felt like I was as far off the grid as I’ve ever been.  I usually buy an international phone plan that gives me virtually unlimited talk, text and data for $10 a day.  That wasn’t available for Cuba.  I could use my phone there, but I had to pay roaming charges.  The least expensive way to stay in touch with Deb was via text messages.

Thursday, November 7

Delta Airlines has one daily flight to Havana, which departs from Atlanta.  I wanted to give myself as safe a connection as possible, so I took the first flight of the morning out of Minneapolis.  That gave me a scheduled connection time of two hours and 17 minutes.

My first flight departed at 5:20 AM.  For international flights, they recommend arriving three hours early.  That wasn’t going to happen.  The security checkpoints don’t open until 3:30, so there wasn’t any point arriving any earlier than that.  Even still, I had to get up pretty early.  I seriously had a “what was I thinking?” moment when I set my alarm clock.

I arrived in Havana just after 1:00 PM.  That was about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  The international arrival process didn’t take long, and soon I met one of the MT&T greeters inside the airport terminal.  There were 67 people in our group, and most of the flights were arriving at about the same time.  MT&T brought us to our hotel in two motor coaches.

One of the first things you notice driving through Havana is all the old cars.  Cuba doesn’t have its own auto industry.  Prior to 1960, they imported cars from the U.S.  Since the embargo started, they haven’t been able to do that.  Most of the cars you see around the city were built in the 40s or 50s and have been maintained ever since.  If you see a newer car, it was imported from Russia or China.  In Havana, every day is like a classic car show.

We stayed at Parque Central Hotel.  That hotel was conveniently located for the marathon.  The race started and finished about a block from the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel at 3:00.  Check-in time isn’t until 4:00, but most of the rooms were ready.  Mine was one of the few rooms that weren’t.  In fact, mine was the only room not ready by 4:00.  While I was waiting, I exchanged some of my money for Cuban Convertible Pesos.  That’s the currency that foreign visitors can use.  Residents use a different currency.

When I finally got into my room, I turned on the AC, so the room could start cooling down.  Then I went out for a short run.  The old capitol building was just a block away from our hotel.  I didn’t want to venture too far away on my own, so I ran past the capitol building and did laps around two small parks that were next to it.  I only ran about three miles, but that was enough to give me an appreciation for the heat and humidity.

The capitol was originally used as Cuba’s parliament building.  After the communist revolution, it fell into disuse.  Recently, they’ve been restoring it.  When the restoration is complete, it’ll be used as the seat of government again.

Our hotel was also the packet pickup location for international runners.  After showering and changing clothes, I had just enough time to pick up my race packet before meeting the group for dinner.

Our only group activity on Thursday was dinner.  For dinner, we went to La Guarida, an old Creole restaurant which was featured in the movie, “Strawberry and Chocolate.”

The hotel had air conditioning, but it wasn’t very robust enough.  When I went to bed, it was 77 degrees in the room.  I could feel cool air coming out of the vents.  It just wasn’t enough.  That first night, it took me several hours to get to sleep.

Friday, November 8

I joined some of the other runners for a short group run before breakfast.  We ran the beginning of the marathon route.  It was nice to get in another run, but it didn’t leave me much time to shower, change clothes, and eat breakfast before we had to be ready to leave.

Our group was so large that we divided in two, each with its own English-speaking guide.  Our first stop for the day was Havana’s largest cigar factory.  Here, we learned about Cuban cigars and saw the workers hand-rolling them.

Next, we went to a day care center run by Sister Theresa Vaz for children aged two to four.  They depend a lot on donations, so some of us made cash donations and others brought clothing or supplies.

In between our stops, our guide told us about Cuban life and Cuban history.  We had lunch at a private paladar on the edge of town that has botanical gardens with dozens (perhaps hundreds) of varieties of fruit trees.

After lunch, we went to Finca Vigia, which was Ernest Hemingway’s home from 1939 to 1960.  It’s a four story home with a pool and tennis courts.  It’s ten miles outside Havana, but you can see the capitol from there.

Wifi isn’t widely available in Cuba.  There’s only one ISP, and that’s operated by the Cuban government.  Most homes aren’t connected, and most businesses are on a nationwide intranet, instead of the internet.  Most people can only go online by buying a card that gives them one hour of access time and then using it at an internet café.  Our hotel was connected, and they gave each of us an access code good for 20 hours.  Unfortunately, you could only get a connection on the ground floor.  Friday afternoon was the first time I had enough free time to sit in the lobby and check my emails.

We were on our own for dinner that night.  Our guide recommended some local restaurants, but the hotel had a dining area on the roof, where they also had a pool.  I joined a few runners for dinner on the roof, where I was able to have pizza.  As it got dark, we had a nice view of the capitol building with the lights on.

All day, I had my room shut with the drapes closed and the AC on.  The room wasn’t any cooler than it was on Thursday.  It was only because of sheer exhaustion that I was able to sleep that night.

Saturday, November 9

On Saturday, I had more time to enjoy breakfast before meeting the rest of the group to start our itinerary for the day.  Our first stop was a craft market.  We got there just as they were starting to set up for the day.  The first level had vendors selling souvenirs.  The second level had artwork.  I spent too much time browsing through the first level and didn’t make it to the second level before it was time to leave.

Out next stop was a boxing academy.  We saw young men getting instruction on boxing.  Boxing and baseball are two of Cuba’s biggest sports.

Next, we went to Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro.  This is a fortification originally built by Spain to defend the harbor.

From Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro, you get good views of the city from across the harbor.

Then we began a walking tour of Old Havana.  One of the sights we saw was La Catedral de la Virgen María de la Concepción Inmaculada de La Habana.

This is the Museum of the Revolution.  In front of it is a tree of lights.

Halfway through our walking tour, we stopped to have lunch at Al Carbon.  Then we continued walking through Old Havana.  This is Castillo de la Real Fuerza, a 16th century fort built by Spain.

This street is paved with bricks, but the bricks are made of wood.  This was done to reduce the noise from carriages.

After our walking tour, we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon.  I spent part of that time online, organized my clothes for the race, and then went up to the rooftop pool.

Later, we had a pre-race dinner with chicken, fish, and two kinds of pasta.  Nobody walked away hungry after any of our meals.

I went to bed as quickly as I could, but it took a couple hours to fall asleep.  Then I got about four hours of good sleep.

Sunday, November 10

Sunday was race day.  Our hotel started their breakfast service early that day.  I went downstairs at 4:30 to eat a light breakfast before returning to my room to get ready for the race.

The race started at 6:30.  The starting line was about a block from our hotel, so I didn’t have to worry about waiting in line to use a port-o-potty.  We met in the lobby for a group photo at 6:00.  Then I made one last bathroom stop before going outside to line up for the race.

It rained hard for most of the night, but the rain stopped about 30 minutes before the race.  It was about 73 degrees at the start of the race.  I expected it to get up to 80 by the time I finished.  It was cloudy, which was good, but we still had to deal with the humidity.  In Cuba, the humidity is always about 110 percent.

                   

The course was a 21.1 kilometer loop that we had to run twice.  Only 16 people in our group were doing the marathon.  Most were doing the half marathon, which was only one loop.  There were also a few doing the 10K race.

I lined up in what I thought was an appropriate place.  At 6:15, the wheelchairs started and the rest of us moved forward.  Now, I was much closer to the starting line than I expected.  Most of the runners around me were doing the 10K.

Even though I was surrounded by 10K runners, the start was congested.  For the first few blocks, I had to work hard to get around slower runners.  By the end of the first kilometer, however, there was plenty of room to run at my own pace.  I was pacing by feel.  I wanted to start at a pace that felt about the same as my effort in races with cooler temperatures.

At two kilometers, I checked my pace.  I was averaging 5:05 per kilometer.  At that pace, I would finish in less than 3:35.  That was a Boston qualifying pace, which is much faster than I expected to start.  My goal was to break four hours.

I was already feeling the humidity.  Sweat was running into my eyes.  I had to remove my sunglasses to wipe the sweat away.  I wondered if I would be doing that constantly throughout the race.  I decided to back off a little and let other runners go by.

We were now running along the Malecón, where big waves were crashing against the sea wall.  Sometimes the waves would splash over the wall, drenching the sidewalk and part of the street.  Our guide had advised us to run in the middle of the street, so we didn’t get splashed with seawater.  I usually run the tangents, but here I stayed in the middle of the street, even if it meant running farther going around a bend.

Most of the runners around me were either running the 10K race or the half marathon.  I wanted to be able to follow another runner whom I knew was running the marathon.  I saw a woman from Spain go by.  Her race bib was on her side, so I could tell it was a marathon bib.  I could also tell that her pace was too fast for me.  I didn’t try to follow her.

At three kilometers, my time was 13:49.  Either I ran the third kilometer in 3:40 or the kilometer markers couldn’t be trusted.  After that, I assumed their locations were only approximate.

At four kilometers, my time was 19:54.  Previously, I thought it was just the 3K marker that was off.  Now, I had to consider the possibility that the first two were off, and I was actually running faster than five minutes per kilometer.  In cool conditions, that pace would be comfortable.  In Cuba’s heat and humidity, it was crazy fast.

By now, I was seeing runners coming back on the other side of the street.  They were doing the 10K, which was out-and-back.  I wondered how much the field would thin out as I passed the 5K mark.  It thinned a little, but there were still quite a few runners.  The half marathon had a large field.

I was wearing a Marathon Globetrotters singlet with a “10 countries” badge on the back.  Another runner commented on that, and I explained that the badge was out of date, and this was actually my 39th country.  His name was Charlie.  He lives on London, but used to live in New York.  As we continued talking, I learned that he and I had done several of the same races, including London, New York City, Twin Cities, Comrades, and Midnight Sun.

Charlie’s pace felt a little bit fast for me, but I continued running with him because I was enjoying the conversation.  I was no longer checking my pace at every kilometer marker, but my pace was just a little slower than five minutes per kilometer.

Just before 7K, we left the Malecón to run back into the city.  Up until now, the course was flat, but the rest of the loop would have rolling hills.

The aid stations had bottled water, but no sports drink of any kind.  To ensure I wouldn’t “hit the wall” in the late miles, I brought half a dozen gel packets to eat throughout the race.  I ate the first one as I reached an aid station at 7K.  On average, I wanted to eat one every 6K, but I always waited until I was approaching an aid station.

The water bottles were half a liter, which was more than I could drink at once.  Not wanting to waste water, I carried the bottle with me and drank as much as I could.  When I couldn’t imagine drinking any more, I poured the rest over my head.  That was effective in cooling me off.

At about 8K, it started to rain.  At first, it was just a gentle sprinkling.  That felt perfect.  It was just enough to keep me cool.

Now that it was raining, I no longer needed to pour water over my head.  At the next aid station, Charlie and I split a bottle of water, so we didn’t have to waste too much.

At about 10K, Charlie noticed another runner had a shirt from Russia.  Charlie asked him if he spoke English.  As it turns out, he attended college in Boston and spoke perfect English.  Charlie asked him if he would recommend the Moscow Marathon.  I asked him about the White Nights Marathon in St. Petersburg.  The three of us ran together for another kilometer or two.  Then the runner from Russia said he couldn’t maintain that pace and had to back off.  I decided this was also a good time for me to back off too.  At times, I felt like I was struggling to keep up with Charlie, particularly on the hills.  We both let Charlie go, but the two of us continued to run together and talk.

Somewhere around 11 or 12 kilometers, the rain suddenly got much heavier.  Now it was a downpour, and there was water running across the street.  It got increasing difficult to avoid running through deep puddles.  I’m not a big fan of rain, but I no longer had to worry at all about overheating.  As long as it was raining hard, I could maintain a fast pace without it taking a toll on me.

At 15K, the runner from Russia said he had to let me go too.  I felt like we had been slowing down in the previous kilometer or do.  He was doing the half marathon and was getting into the tough miles.  Now that I was on my own, I sped up again.  With the heavy rain keeping me cool, I could run fearlessly.

At18K, I reached an intersection where we had to cross halfway before turning right.  Here, the water running across the street was an inch or two deep.  My shoes filled with water.  For runners who came through here later, the water was above their ankles.

In the last kilometer of the first loop, I had to make a few turns in rapid succession.  After the last one, I saw the capitol on my left.  Farther ahead, I could see the start/finish area. Runners nearing the finish of the 10K made a U-turn and joined us just before the finish.  The 10K and half marathon runners stayed to the left to finish.  Those of us doing the marathon stayed to the right to begin another loop.

I finished the first loop in 1:47:02.  I was still on pace for a Boston qualifying time.  I knew the pace I was running was only made possible by the rain.  If the rain stopped, the second half would be much hotter.  Right on cue, the rain stopped.

The first turn of the second loop came after just two blocks.  There were enough half marathon finishers wandering through the street that it would have been easy to miss this turn.  I remembered it.  There was also a course marshal who was watching to make sure nobody missed the turn.

Just after that turn, there were volunteers handing out plastic pouches filled with an orange flavored drink.  I had enough gel packets to take care of my caloric needs, but these pouches didn’t hold as much fluid as a water bottle.  I could drink the whole thing, so I didn’t have to waste any water.  They were only available at certain aid stations, but I drank them instead of water whenever I could.

Now that we were past the half marathon finish, the field really thinned out.  I could see a runner about a block ahead of me.  I didn’t want to be on my own, so I worked to keep him in sight.

One of our guides had told other runners doing the marathon that they would need to move to the sidewalks in the second loop.  She might have just meant runners who were going to be close to the time limit, but I assumed the worst.  It wouldn’t be the first time I ran a two-loop course where there was traffic in the streets after the first loop.  That’s what the Bermuda Marathon is like.

I was most worried about the long section along the Malecón.  I didn’t want to have to move to the sidewalk, knowing we would get splashed by the big waves.  As it turned out, we didn’t have to.  The course was still blocked off to traffic, so we could run in the street.

I saw 10K runners still coming back on the other side of the street.  I wondered if the street was still closed to traffic because of them.  What would happen when we passed the 5K mark?  As it turns out, we always had at least one side of the street to ourselves.

Now that we were next to the sea, I felt a strong wind.  It felt like it was a tailwind, yet it was strong enough that it still cooled me off.  Now instead of the rain keeping me cool, the wind kept me cool.  It also helped me pick up my pace.

I looked up and saw a flag blowing in the wind.  It was definitely a tailwind.  Then I noticed it was an American flag.  I didn’t expect to see many of those in Cuba.  I was running past the United States Embassy.

In the center of the street, there were storm drains.  The covers were removed to relieve the pressure from the waves.  When a big wave came crashing in, it not only splashed over the sidewalk, but it sometimes caused water to shoot into the air through the storm drains.  I made a point of avoiding both the sidewalk and the storm drains.

The waves were getting bigger.  In one place, they splashed all the way to the middle of the street.  Sand was washing over the street.

At 28K, I left the Malecón for the second time.  Soon, I once again turned to head away from the coast and into the city.  I was two thirds done with the race, and I was still on pace to qualify for Boston.  I started up a long gradual hill.  Without either rain or wind to cool me off, I had to respect the heat.  I eased up a bit going up the hill.

For the rest of the race, there would be turns almost every kilometer.  I had been passing other runners since the halfway mark.  Each time I passed one, I looked ahead to see if there was another runner to follow.  I was worried about missing a turn.  They didn’t have a lot of markings at the turns, but they always had course marshals looking out for us.

After making one turn, I couldn’t see anyone ahead of me.  I briefly hesitated, wondering if I turned in the wrong place.  Two spectators recognized my confusion and enthusiastically confirmed I was going the right way.  When I was all the way around the next bend, I once again saw a runner ahead of me.

The weather kept changing.  It briefly started sprinkling again.  That helped.  At other times, the sun came out.  That didn’t help, but I was far enough into the race that I knew I could tough it out if I got hot.

I checked my pace at every kilometer.  The placement of the markers wasn’t always accurate, but my pace always seemed on target to finish in 3:31 or 3:32.  I realized at halfway that breaking four hours was in the bag.  With 9K to go, I started to gain in confidence that I would break 3:35.

I got the impression that I had paced myself better than most of the other runners.  I passed the runner from Spain who was too fast for me near the beginning of the race.  Later, I passed Charlie.

At about 36K, I noticed one corner of my race bib was drooping.  The race bibs were similar in style to the race bibs usually used in European races.  They don’t hold up well in rain.  The paper gets soft, and they tear easily. One of the safety pins holding my bib in place had torn through the paper.  I had to come to a stop briefly, to re-pin it.

As I resumed running, I immediately felt one of my insoles slipping forward in my shoe.  That can happen when water gets between the insole and my orthotic.  I think stopping and starting was the catalyst to make it slip when it did.  With 6K to go, I could live with the discomfort.  It’s worst on hills, and the rest of the loop was fairly flat.

After another two kilometers, a different corner of my bib was drooping.  I stopped again to re-pin it.  I was trying hard to pick up the pace.  Stopping twice didn’t help.  Fortunately, I only had a few kilometers left.

At 39K, I had a scare.  Suddenly, I was barely on pace for 3:34.  Did I lose that much time stopping to re-pin my race bib?  Was I slowing down?  I suspected that kilometer marker was off, but I took no chances.  I poured it on.  I really wanted to get a Boston qualifier in this race.

I had gradually passed other runners since the halfway point.  Now I started to pass several people who were walking.  I had caught up with the back of the pack of the half marathon.

At 40K, I was back on pace, but I still took no chances.  I continued to accelerate.  Just past 41K, I recognized exactly where I was.  I knew the last three turns.  Then I would see the capitol again.

As I ran past the capitol, I could see the finish line.  Now I ran with urgency.  In prior years, this race sometimes ran out of finisher medals.  They use the same medals for the 10K, the half marathon, and the marathon.  Since all three races start at the same time, the marathoners are most at risk of not getting a medal.  I started passing people as if my medal depended on it.

As I was approaching the finish line, I was once again directed to the right.  I finished in 3:29:42.  That shocked me.  I qualified for Boston with more than five minutes to spare.  I never thought it would be possible to do that in this climate.  The rain was a game-changer.

Now I looked for volunteers handing out medals.  They were all on the left side of the street.  I went over to them, but I was on the the other side of a barrier.  One of the volunteers pointed ahead.  I saw some tents in the next block and assumed I was supposed to get my medal there.  When I got there, I asked, and they pointed back to where I came from.  It wasn't until later that I realized I was probably misdirected to the wrong side of the street.  The volunteers handing out medals probably assumed I was only finishing my first loop, so they were telling me to keep running.   I went back and found a place where I could get over to the left side of the street.  Then I walked through the tent on that side and got my finisher medal.

Out hotel was so close to the finish line that I accidentally walked right past it as I continued through the finish chute.  It was only after walking back to the hotel that I realized how fast I ran the second loop.  I ran negative splits by more than four minutes.  That was certainly unexpected in a race where the second half was the hot half.

After stopping at my room to get out of the wet running clothes and change into my swimsuit, I went up to the roof to take a dip in the pool.  Then I changed clothes and had lunch at the poolside dining area.  I usually eat pizza after a race, but the pizza at the hotel wasn’t that good.  Instead, I followed a different tradition.  I celebrated a BQ with BBQ.

I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel and talking to other runners.  Later, we went as a group to a post-race celebration dinner.   I really enjoyed the group dinners.  There were 69 people in our group, so we were always seated at several large tables.  I sat with different people on different days, so I got to know several of the other runners.

While I don’t generally sleep well on trips, I sleep best the night after a race.  This was no exception.  I got to bed late, but slept solidly for at least seven hours.

Monday, November 11

Before breakfast, I went out for a short recovery run.  Now that I was more familiar with the city, I didn’t need to stay as close to the hotel.  I wore my race T-shirt, which is thin and vented.  It’s perfect for running in Cuba.  I ran mostly along the Malecón.  The waves weren’t as big, so I was able to run on the sidewalk.  This is a great place to run in Havana.  You can go for miles without having to cross any traffic.

Some runners stayed in Cuba for three more days.  Those of us flying home on Monday were mostly on flights that left in the early afternoon.  MT&T arranged to have a motor coach take us to the airport together.

The first airport I went through in the United States was Atlanta, so that’s where I went through passport control and customs.  I thought they would ask to see my permit or ask me the purpose of my trip, but it was just like any other international arrival.

I didn’t arrive at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport until 9:00 PM, and didn't get home until closer to 10:00.  It was nice to sleep in my own bed, with a much cooler temperature, but I still didn't get a full night's sleep.  My next trip begins early Wednesday morning, so it’s going to be a quick turnaround without enough time to catch up on sleep.

Long after I got home, I eventually discovered I won my age group.  I don't know what my award was, but it was too late to pick it up. 

Race Statistics

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:29:42

Average Pace:  4:58 per kilometer (8:00 per mile) 

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  391

Countries:  39