- ON WITH THE SHOW!
The running bug hit me a little more than 2 years ago. When I found out that I was going to be a health volunteer in the Peace Corps, one of the things I wanted to do was start a running group in my site. Luckily, I was introduced to one of the most progressive, get-stuff-done Nicaraguan counterparts upon arrival and was invited to teach Zumba at his gym.
Last year, I told him I was running the Fuego Y Agua race on Ometepe and that struck his interest to find out that I like to run. He, too, is a runner but wasn't able to participate in that race, nor the half marathon in Jinotega. Between those two races, I came to him with an idea to create a race in Jalapa for the members of the gym and the community and he was all for it.
I started right away asking companies like Gatorade and Nike for sponsorship, and though a lot of those contacts were "swing and a miss" I got a couple of "hits" from companies like Thorlos and RoadID (who donated socks and bibs/race packets, respectively). I also contacted my mom in the states and she was able to spread the word to some of her coworkers, who generously donated money that we will use to buy shirts for the participants. Over time, business owners of Jalapa donated things too, like transportation, prizes and water that were to be used on race day.
We set up a registration website for those who had internet access, which also allowed for Peace Corps Volunteers to sign up and participate as well. I found used a half marathon training guide that we posted at the gym that the members could look at and properly train for the race over 12 weeks. As the weeks went on, the members of the gym became more weary of running such a large distance. 21 kilometers is 13.1 miles! Though I've run that distance multiple times, it is still a scary number! My counterpart and I discussed and decided it was best to add two more races, one of 14k (about 9 miles) and one of 10k (about 6.2 miles). With those three races in total, more interest rose with the community.
The time grew nearer, and on June 14th, the day had arrived to start the race weekend process. We had 43 people signed up to run and on registration day, an extra 6 struck interest in participating as well. Though not all 49 people showed up, we still had a great turnout of 31 runners: 16 in the 10k, 6 in the 14k and 9 in the 21k! We had a short orientation about proper "fueling" and what food to eat the night before as well as went over what will be happening on race day the next morning.
The day of the race, we all met up at the park at 4 in the morning. We had a bus take the participants to each starting line and then returned to Jalapa to set up the finish line. At each starting line, we had a responsable ("person in charge") who led warm up stretches and was the official time. When their clock struck 5:00am, they started running.
I had a business PCV friend come in from the department of León to help me with organization and logistics and I don't know what I would have done without her help! We set up the time sheets for each race, got my camera ready for the "photo finishes" and waited for the runners to start coming in. We didn't have to wait long! The first finisher from the 10k came in only 55 minutes after starting! After she finished, people kept coming in left and right. One of the best things I'll look back on fondly is that after finishing, the racers didn't want to go inside and stretch; rather, they wanted to stay outside and cheer on everyone who was finishing. I was so touched (and kind of relieved to not have to teach yoga! I've never taught it before!) to see the sense of community they all had.
More runners came in and people who had finished stuck their hands out for high fives and cheered loud; no matter it was 6:30am on a Saturday morning! At about 8am, all of the participants had finished their races and we had a quick awards ceremony. We thanked all of our sponsors, donators and volunteers...because honestly, it would not have been such a success without them.
My counterpart's brother had custom made trophies for the first place winners of every race, and we presented those along with the other prizes for the top 4 finishers of every race. After the awards presentations, I was ready to say one more gracias a todo, but my counterpart took the mic away (the local news channel was there filming for a presentation later that night...I'm trying to get a copy of it!) from me.
From a tightly wrapped jacket, he pulled out a beautiful glass plaque that was dedicated to me. It read (translated from español):
Fit Gym Jalapa
Más Allá del Oro
Recognizes
Carolina Dean
For your hard work in the organization of the first half marathon from Musulí to Jalapa of 21 kilometers to benefit the Jalapa population. For your valorous support with your knowledge to have a better health and live a healthy lifestyle in accordance with this sport.
I was touched; tears filled my eyes. It is so beautiful and I'm so excited to show it off (CAREFULLY!). Getting it back to the states will be interesting, but this plaque will be with me forever. My counterpart announced to everyone that we have wishes to do this event again...IN 6 MONTHS! At first I thought, WHAT?! but now, I'm ready and I'm excited to plan the next event in the racing series. As time grows on, we're hoping to create more popularity and even raise money to benefit different populations that struggle here in Jalapa: disabled children, diabetics, etc.
I took LOTS of pictures. Like my camp, I created a special album on Google for you all to look at them. ENJOY! If you want to help out in any way for the next marathon in December, just shoot me an email!