On December 8, I ran the Farley Hill Marathon in Barbados. This race is part of the three-day Run Barbados weekend, which also includes a half marathon and several shorter events.
I considered doing their
gold medal challenge, which includes a one mile fun run on Friday, a 10K race
on Saturday, and the marathon on Sunday.
If you do that, you get medals for each race, plus an extra medal. I did something similar six years ago in Bermuda.
I lost interest in doing
the shorter races when I looked into the schedule and the logistics. The mile started at 8:00 PM on Friday. I would’ve been more interested if it started
two or three hours earlier, but racing that late in the day would mean putting
off dinner until 9:00 PM or later.
That’s awfully late to be going to dinner when you’re trying to stay on
an early schedule in anticipation of an early start time on Sunday.
The 10K race on Saturday
was also too late in the day. It started
at 4:10 PM, and it was on the opposite side of the island from where I was
staying. Not only would I be running a 10K
race at the hottest time of the day, but I wouldn’t get back to the hotel until
7:00 PM at the soonest, and I probably wouldn’t eat dinner until after 8:00
PM. Doing an extremely hot 10K roughly
12 hours before an extremely hot marathon and only getting four hours of sleep
didn’t sound like fun to me. Instead, I just
did the marathon, and I spent the rest of the weekend enjoying a tropical
vacation.
Wednesday, December 4
Delta has one daily
flight from Atlanta to Barbados, and it
leaves in the morning. They do that so
the same plane can return to Atlanta in the afternoon. That’s common with Caribbean
destinations. They do one daily
round-trip.
If I took the earliest
flight out of Minneapolis, I would only have 49 minutes to make my connection
in Atlanta. That’s not much time when
missing the connection means waiting a full day to catch the next flight. Also, winter departures from Minneapolis are sometimes
delayed, because they have to de-ice the plane.
Rather than risk it, I flew to Atlanta Wednesday evening and spent the
night at a hotel near the airport.
There are lots of nearby
hotels with airport shuttles. I chose a
hotel next to the Georgia International Convention Center, so I could take the
sky train instead. If you’re familiar
with the Atlanta airport, that’s the same tram you would take to get to the
rental car center. I didn’t get to my
hotel until 10:00 PM, so I tried to get to sleep as quickly as I could.
Thursday, December 5
I got up in time to eat breakfast
at my hotel, and then I took the sky train back to the airport for my flight to
Barbados. I arrived in Barbados in the
late afternoon and took a taxi to my hotel in Bridgetown. Taxi drivers in Barbados don’t take credit
cards, but U.S. currency is widely accepted.
I stayed at the Hilton
Barbados Resort, which is located at Needham’s Point. I had an ocean view room. This was the view from my balcony.
Needham’s Point is the
former site of Charles Fort. Most of the
fort is gone, but remnants of the fort are still in place.
There’s also an old
lighthouse, which is no longer in use.
It looks a bit out of place next to the much larger hotel.
I had plenty of time for
sightseeing over the next two days, so I spent Thursday evening relaxing at the
resort. One of the restaurants at the resort
was an Italian restaurant, which gave me an opportunity to have pizza in
Barbados. For those keeping score at
home, I’ve had pizza in 52 countries now.
Friday, December 6
I was up early, so I went
for a run before breakfast. At 6:30 AM,
it was already in the 80s, and it would only feel hotter if I waited until the
sun was higher in the sky.
I started out running
along the main road going south. It was
a busy road, so I did my best to stay on the sidewalk, but the sidewalks were
narrow and didn’t always go through.
After about a mile and a
half, I saw a place where I could leave the road to get onto the Richard Haynes
Boardwalk. I had read that this was a
popular place for running, so I was disappointed to learned that it was less
than three quarters of a mile from one end to the other. I saw other runners going back and forth, and
I decided that was preferable to running on the roads.
I don’t generally like
running on wooden surfaces, but I liked the way this boardwalk was
constructed. It felt solid, I didn’t
encounter any trip hazards, and water could drain through it, so there were no
puddles.
There was a strong
breeze. In one direction, it cooled me
off. In the other direction, I really
felt the humidity. I ran back and forth
a few times and then followed the road back to the resort. When I was done, I was dripping wet. That was a good preview of how the marathon
would feel.
Friday was the last day
that I could pick up my race packet, and packet pickup ended at 3:00 PM. That why I needed to fly to Barbados on
Thursday. Packet pickup was at Courtyard
by Marriott, which was about a mile from the Hilton resort. After breakfast, I walked over to Courtyard
to pick up my race packet. While I was
there, I inquired about where I could catch a bus on race morning.
We had our choice of
T-shirts or tank tops. I chose the tank
top, because I don’t get those as often.
My race packet also included a hat, a phone holder, and two key chain
bottle openers.
Walking to and from
packet pickup, it felt intensely hot.
The temperature was only about five degrees warmer now, but the sun was
high in the sky. It was the sun that
made it feel so hot.
When I’m on vacation in
another country, I normally spend my free time walking around town doing
sightseeing. It was much too hot for
that, so instead I spent the rest of the day at the resort. I had lunch at the beach bar, went swimming,
did exercises in the fitness center, and spent a lot of time just hanging out
at the beach.
The Hilton resort had
five restaurants. For dinner, I went to
their Bajan restaurant.
When I’m traveling, I
seek out local beers. I tried a couple
Barbadian beers, but Barbados isn’t really known for beer. They’re known for their rum. After dinner, I had a rum flight.
Saturday, December 7
I got up early again to
go for a run before breakfast. This
time, I turned the other way on the main road, which allowed me to see more of
Bridgetown.
I spent most of the day relaxing
at the resort. A brief rain shower
chased everyone away from the beach.
When the rain stopped, I went swimming, and I briefly had the whole
beach to myself.
Just as I was leaving the
beach, it started raining again. That
second rain shower brought the temperatures down. When the rain stopped, I could comfortably
walk into town, where I had early dinner.
I gradually adjusted my
sleep schedule, going to bed earlier each night. I had no trouble getting to sleep, but I woke
up a few hours later and had trouble getting back to sleep.
Sunday, December 8
Sunday was race day. The race started at 5:30 AM, but the start
and finish were on the other side of the island. There were buses to take us to the start from
Bridgetown, but I would’ve needed to walk into town to be at a bus stop by
3:15.
I met a couple from Oklahoma
who were taking a taxi to the start, and they were willing to let me share
their taxi. I met them in the lobby at
4:00.
The temperature was in the low
80s when we left Bridgetown. The
humidity was high, as it always is in Barbados.
One nice thing about the warm weather is that I didn’t need any extra
layers to be warm enough. I was perfectly
comfortable leaving the hotel in my running clothes.
When we arrived in the start
area, there was a strong wind off the coast.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was only 74 degrees on that
side of the island. The wind off the
coast was bringing in cooler air.
The marathon and half marathon
both started at Barclays Park in St. Andrew Parish. The course was a 13.1 mile route. The half marathon was one lap, and the
marathon was two laps.
Before the start, they
announced that there were 77 runners doing the marathon and 207 doing the half
marathon. I was surprised the race
wasn’t larger. This is a well-organized
race with lots of support, so I was expecting hundreds of runners.
We started running just before
dawn. In the finish area, there was plenty
of light, but as we headed out, it was still somewhat dark. There was enough light to see the road, but I
couldn’t see much of my surroundings.
Within a few miles, there was plenty of light.
I started at a pace that was
much slower than my usual marathon pace.
I knew the humidity could break me if I tried to run too hard.
Aid stations were
plentiful. There were 10 or 11 aid
stations along the course, and we would pass each one of them twice on each
lap. I needed to take in a lot of
fluids, but drinking at every aid station would’ve been excessive. Occasionally, I skipped one.
We started out running along
the coast, but there were two out-and-back sections that took us inland. We followed the main road for about two miles
before starting the first out-and-back section.
Running away from the coast, it
was slightly uphill. I also no longer
felt the strong breeze that I had felt earlier.
I was forced to slow down.
It was on this first
out-and-back that I got my first look at the faster runners who were already
coming back. It would be a long time
before I reached the turnaround. This
section had several turns. I didn’t see
the turnaround until after the last turn.
Coming back, it was slightly
downhill, and I felt the breeze again.
My pace was faster in this direction.
This side of the island was mostly
rural. Several times during the race, I
saw farm animals.
I didn’t even notice when we
turned back onto the main road. Before I
knew it, we were beginning the next out-and-back section.
This section was also somewhat
uphill, and we had a tailwind. That
might sound like a good thing, but I was counting on the wind to counteract the
high humidity. When I didn’t feel a
strong breeze, the humidity made it feel more tiring.
When I reached the turnaround,
I commented to the runner next to me that it would be easier coming back. He thought I was referring to it being
downhill in this direction. When I
mentioned the wind, he thought that was a bad thing. He said the wind would be tiring. I only cared that it helped to cool us
off. I think he was a local runner, so
he wasn’t faxed by the humidity.
After we returned to the main
road again, the road gradually curved away from the coast. This last section was also noticeably
uphill. The hill got more tiring as we
got closer to the far end of the course.
Getting to the turnaround was
tiring, but as soon as I turned around, I sped up. After the turn, it was noticeably downhill.
By now, I had already run nine
miles. We only had to run the
out-and-back sections on our way out.
From here, we would have a fairly direct route back to where we started.
I felt the need to make a
bathroom stop. I remembered seeing a row
of port-o-potties near one of the aid stations.
I needed to hold on for about a mile and a half before I got back to
them.
When I got there, I stopped to
use a port-o-potty. The first thing I
did was check to see if there was toilet paper.
There was, but it was a new roll, and it wasn’t easy removing the
plastic wrapper.
Most port-o-potties are pit
toilets. These ones needed to be
flushed. When I was done doing my
business, I stepped on the foot pedal to flush, but nothing happened. I eventually opened the door and told the guy
who was waiting that I wasn’t able to flush.
As it turns out, this guy wasn’t a runner. He was the guy who was there to service the
port-o-potties. He told me to go ahead
and he would take care of it.
As I resumed running, I felt
the cool breeze hitting my soaking wet running clothes. That immediately rejuvenated me.
For the rest of the way back to
the start/finish area, I was running into the wind. At first, it felt refreshing, and I started
to speed up. Eventually, the wind got
stronger. Then it was tiring running
into it.
With about a mile to go in my
first lap, I started to get views of the coast.
I would’ve had these views earlier, but it was too dark to see much when
the race started.
I finished my first lap in
2:17:43. That’s about what I
expected. I wasn’t sure how much I would
slow down in the second half. The sun
was higher in the sky now. In addition
to the humidity, the heat of the sun was now a factor.
As I started my second lap, I
had the wind at my back. I no longer
felt the cooling effect of the breeze.
Instead, I started to feel the sun.
I had to be careful not to overheat.
I saw lots of runners heading
toward the finish line, but there weren’t nearly as many running in my
direction. The runners doing the half
marathon just had to do one lap, and then they were done.
I saw a runner heading toward
the finish who looked like one of the fast runners I had seen earlier. He had a marathon bib, and he was wearing bib
number 1. I had barely started my second
lap, and he was already finishing his.
He was on pace to finish in about 2:30.
When I got back to the first
out-and-back section for the second time, I remembered that it was slightly
uphill going out. It didn’t slow me down
as much this time. I felt a breeze this
time.
There weren’t any half marathon
runners on this section, but I saw faster marathon runners coming back. Many of them were smiling and encouraging the
runners who were still headed out.
Seeing how cheerful they were lifted my spirits.
Coming back on that section, it
was downhill, but I didn’t feel the breeze as much. I wasn’t any faster coming back than I was
going out.
After coming back to the main
road, I knew it wasn’t too much farther before the next out-and-back. As I got closer to the roundabout where we
would turn, I noticed that I was catching up to one of the faster runners I had
seen earlier. It was a runner who had
been way ahead of me not too much earlier.
Now, she was walking.
As I was about to catch up to
her, I heard her tell another runner that she had missed a turn. I asked her about that when I caught up to
her. Then she asked me what distance my
watch was reading.
I had run just over 18
miles. She had run two miles farther
than that. I ran with her as we started
the second out-and-back.
Her name was Magdalena, and she
asked me to let her know when we finished the next mile. There weren’t any mile markers, so I only
knew the distance from my watch.
At the time, we were at about
18.5 miles. I didn’t know if I could
keep up with Magdalena for another half mile.
She was a faster runner, and I was finding her pace to be tiring.
Eventually, I said, “I hope 19
comes soon. I don’t know how much longer
I can keep up with you.” Then she said
she would stay with me for the rest of the race, and we could go whatever pace
I wanted. After that we slowed down a
bit.
The next time we reached an aid
station, we both walked while we drank.
Then Magdalena needed to keep walking a bit longer. I was fine with that.
Coming back, it was
easier. At first, we were both
running. As we got closer to the main
road, Magdalena started walking again.
Knowing she would need to run two extra miles was taking a toll on her
psychologically.
She was expecting me to go
ahead, and she asked me to wait for her after finishing, so we could exchange
contact information. I said, “I’ll wait
for you now.” I was planning to stay
with her to the end of the race, even if we had to walk most of it.
We walked for a few
minutes. Then another runner caught up
to us, and he encouraged us to get going.
Hearing that, Magdalena immediately started to run again.
At first, we were running at a
pace I found easy. After getting back
onto the main road, Magdalena started to speed up. I had to work hard to keep up with her when
she was running.
We were now on the last segment
before the final turnaround. Magdalena
said she thought she was getting dehydrated.
I suggest that she drink two cups at the next aid station and also pour
a cup of water over her head. She did
that at most of the remaining aid stations.
Soon we saw a pickup truck
going slowly in the other direction.
They had a cooler filled with water bottles and ice. Magdalena paused to grab a handful of ice. I suggested she put ice in her hat and let it
melt on top of her head. I’ve found that
to be effective in hot weather ultras.
As we got closer to final
turnaround, it was uphill. The same
runner who caught up to us earlier caught up to us again. He encouraged us to resume running. Magdalena said she would start running when
we crossed the next bridge. We ended up
walking all the way to the turnaround.
She said she might be able to run the rest of the way once we made the
turn.
After the turnaround, it was
downhill. We both resumed running. I had trouble keeping up again, but I worked
to keep up with her. Eventually, she
asked if we could take a walking break.
I was relieved. I was about to
ask her the same thing.
For the rest of the race, we
mostly ran, but we sometimes needed a walking break where it was uphill.
At some point, Magdalena
realized that in spite of running two extra miles, she was still going to break
five hours. That lifted her
spirits. When we passed 24 miles, she
had already run a full marathon distance.
That also seemed to lift her spirits.
She had lost her focus earlier, but now she was back in the zone.
We took one last walking break,
but we started running when there was only one mile to go. As we reached a small hill, I had to ask her
to slow down, so I could keep up with her.
As we got closer to the finish
area, Magdalena saw another woman ahead of us.
She said she wanted to pass her, if we could. I was game to try. We both sped up, but I couldn’t keep up the
pace. I told Magdalena to go for it if
she could, and I would catch up to her in the finish area. She ran hard to the finish, but I don’t think
she caught the other woman. I followed
at the best pace I could, finishing in 4:43:04.
After drinking some water and
making a bathroom stop, I went back to the finish line to see how I did in my
age group. The marathon results weren’t
posted yet, but I learned that I placed second in my age group. In addition to my finisher medal, I received
another medal for my age group award.
Despite running two extra miles, Magdalena also placed in her age group. All of the runners we met were impressed with her result.
There were busses back to Bridgetown at 9:30 and 11:30. The 9:30 buses were mostly for people who ran the half marathon. I wasn’t fast enough for those buses. I had to wait about an hour for one of the 11:30 buses.
The bus ride back was an
adventure. The road was bumpy, and the
driver was going fast and playing loud music.
I got dropped off at the bus
stop closest to the Hilton resort. From
there, I had to walk about half a mile.
As soon as I started walking, I felt the intense heat. It was about 10 degrees warmer in Bridgetown
than it was where we were running. Also,
the sun was now high in the sky.
By the time I got back to my
hotel room, I was both hungry and thirsty.
I didn’t have anything to eat after finishing the race, and despite
drinking much more than usual, I don’t think I drank enough to replace the fluids
I was losing.
I finished a bottle of water
that I had in my room. Then I took a
quick shower before heading down to the beach bar to get something to eat. I was planning to have a big dinner later,
but the restaurant I was planning to go to didn’t open until 6:00. I just needed something to tide me over until
then.
I spent the afternoon relaxing, and I eventually had my post-race pizza at the Hilton resort’s Italian
restaurant.
I didn’t need to get to bed
early, but I got sleepy shortly after dinner.
I got the most sleep I’ve had in weeks.
Monday, December 9
I was up early enough to go for
a short recovery run before breakfast. My
route took me around a horse racing venue, and I saw several horses being
brought to the track.
My flight back to Atlanta
wasn’t until late afternoon. I didn’t
need to leave for the airport until 2:00, and I was able to get a late
checkout. That gave me enough time to do
a workout and have lunch before leaving for the airport.
I got to Atlanta around 9:00
PM. I could’ve connected to a late
evening flight to Minneapolis, but I didn’t relish the idea of coming home from
the airport at 1:00 AM. Instead, I’m spending another night at an airport hotel in Atlanta and I'll wait until Tuesday
morning to fly home.
I’m staying at the same hotel as before, so I was able take the sky train to and from my hotel.
