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FLRC Newsletter - June 2004 |
| Seven Continents | |
I started running marathons in 1995 with the idea that I would one day qualify for the Boston Marathon. Three Wineglass Marathons later I was no closer to my goal than when I started. But in September 1998, Dave Morgan and I decided to travel to Berlin to run the marathon. As one of only 4000 women in a field of 21,000 and in my first large marathon, I found it easy to break with and follow the male runners and finally accomplish my quest to qualify for Boston (3:53:16). This was just the start for me. Dave had already gotten the continent bug and was planning a trip to Antarctica in February of 1999. I was content to focus on Boston. So Dave went off to Antarctica in February and I stayed and trained for Boston—no continents club for me.
Dave was very successful on Antarctica, winning his age bracket, and I had a great Boston (3:53:37) and finished off 1999 with the Marine Corps Marathon in October.
We began planning for our 2000 marathons, and Dave wanted to go to New Zealand to run in the Millennium Marathon on January 1, 2000. Marathon Tours offered a package that started in Auckland, New Zealand, moved to Hamilton to run the race, included an option to walk the Milford Trek, a five day 50 mile trek that starts on the South Isle and climbs from the rain forest on one side to Milford Sound on the other. The trip then continued to Australia and finished in Fiji. There was no way I would have missed that trip! We started in Auckland and viewed the America's Cup team training. The marathon at the turn of the millennium was neat with all the New Zealanders out at 6 am on New Year's Day, many watching in their bathrobes!!
We flew on to Sydney, with trips to the Olympic Village and several performances in the Opera House, then on to Port Douglas, were we snorkeled and scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef, finally finishing in Fiji with a climb to a mountain village. And so I added a new continent.
We also ran in Boston in April 2000, and in Medoc, France, in September. Medoc was certainly a party marathon. We joined the French for the pasta party at a French Chateau with wine and baguettes on every table, great food, and the French dancing a conga line around the tables after consuming the wine. Everyone (except us) dressed up for the race. I ran the whole race with a guy in a blond wig and wearing a prom gown. The best were eight guys in black leotards with blond wigs and breasts. They were made up to look like Playboy bunnies. There were aerial acrobats to entertain us before the start, and we ran through 59 chateaux with wine and brass bands at every one. Luckily they also served warm tea and dried fruits for those of us who wanted to finish the race. At mile 23 they served oysters on the half-shell with white wine chasers. This is one stop I couldn't pass up, figuring you only go round once I ate four oysters and washed them down with two small cups of white wine. I still finished before Cleopatra, complete with chariot and six bearers and two strawberries that I had been following the whole way. It was a great race and one that we would easily do again. The following day there was a 9-mile walk through the same vineyards to sample the wine. Unlike race day it was sunny and hot and the wine wasn't first-growth.
Then on to Philadelphia in November to finish up the year 2000 with four marathons.
We started 2001 with another Boston and then a lovely trip to Stockholm for a marathon in June. Stockholm is a beautiful city of 42 islands or archipelagos. We stayed on nearby Lidingo Island and had a delightful time visiting the old city and exploring the nearby coastal waters. The Swedes had a great pasta party, and Dave won a blue and yellow hat because he had on his hundredth Boston jacket. The race was beautiful, a two-loop affair that ran over numerous bridges and throughout the 14 largest islands that make up the city. It was cool for June, and we even had a thunderstorm with small hail.
We had also decided to run in China in 2001. First we had to decide between the Great Wall marathon and Beijing. Beijing sounded like the easier of the two, so we planned again to go with Marathon Tours for a three-city tour of Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai in October. The trip started with a flight from Detroit on October 11, just 30 days after 9/11. There was a 30% dropout rate. We flew over the polar ice cap to land in Beijing. Beijing was a busy city with 13 million bicycles and crazy traffic. It is very polluted; in Tiananmen Square we couldn't see the colors of the kites flying overhead. Race day was just as polluted, making it a very difficult race. But we both finished, and another continent was complete. The trip led us on to Xian, an ancient farming city and home of the famous terra-cotta soldiers. These terra-cotta statues—including life-size soldiers, horses, and chariots, which number some 8000 strong—were hidden in several tombs to protect the Chinese Emperor in the afterlife. They had remained buried for 2200 years, and most of them were shattered but have been painstakingly restored. We were awestruck when we first viewed them and continue to marvel at their complexity. We finished our trip with a visit to the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai and ate more Chinese food then I ever want to see again, including tortoise.
After skipping Boston to run London in April of 2002, we set our goal on Africa. Our plan was to run a marathon in Arusha, Tanzania, and then climb Kilimanjaro. We spent nearly every spare moment planning and purchasing equipment to climb the mountain. We arrived on July 29 and spent the next few days acclimating to the nearly 5000-foot elevation. Race day was perfect with an overcast sky and about 60°F. The race started with a loop in town and then and out and back, so we saw the front runners. It finished in a stadium. The altitude didn't seem to bother us. I actually finished as the third-place female and won a hundred thousand shillings (about $100, which I donated back to the race). Then on to climb Kili, which took us nine days (seven up and two down). It was undoubtedly the greatest accomplishment we have ever achieved. It was cold, dusty, dry—and BEAUTIFUL. Go there now before the glaciers disappear. David had now completed all the continents, and here I was with six to my credit and it was obvious that I should probably go on to finish the other two.
We finished 2002 with the Chicago Marathon. Dave actually developed a hernia before climbing Kili and was still able to complete Chicago in an excellent time and had surgery the following week. Chicago is a beautiful place, but the race was poorly organized in 2002 and we had trouble getting to the start line and retrieving our belongings because of the crowd. I hear it's a fast race, but the crowd really set me back there.
So the planning for the last two continents began in earnest. I knew a friend from the Beijing trip was going to Antarctica in 2003, so I decided to join the February trip. Dave decided to return and perhaps run a second marathon on each of the continents. Unfortunately, that was not to be—at least this time. He fell on ice at mile eleven and sustained a humeral neck fracture near the shoulder. After he was stabilized by the doctor who really had wanted to run the marathon instead of provide medical care, Dave sent me back out to finish. It took six and one half hours including the accident. At least I was able to finish. The winds were very strong, gusting 35–40 mph, and I ran in heavy Gore-Tex running shoes and wind pants. I worried all the time because I visualized that they might be airlifting Dave out. But he stayed and completed a very difficult trip, which culminated with hurricane force winds (75 mph) and 45-foot waves. We were on an ice class research vessel (6500 tons), but it stood still in this storm. We missed our connections out of Usuahia, and it took Dave about 12 days to get back to Corning for medical care. Initially the ship's doctor had predicted that the break wouldn't require setting, but it was broken in four places and he ended up having surgery with a titanium plate and eight screws. Five weeks later, we both ran Boston. I ran my best time ever at Boston a 3:53:28. Dave ran in a sling and finished. By August, he had recovered well enough to travel, and we went to Russia to run the Moscow marathon and visit the Golden Ring and St. Petersburg for their 300th anniversary. It was a great race I set a PR of 3:50:16, and Dave completed his run as well. The visit was difficult since they have a Cyrillic alphabet and almost no one speaks English. We had several disturbing run-ins with the gypsies, but are glad we were able to see Russia and run there. I finished the year with the Montgomery County Marathon in the Parks. It is a very fast race (3:51:18) with a considerable amount of downhill. It is very professionally staged, and most of the club members who direct it are Boston alumni. It was very cool (32°F) to start and is a good Boston qualifier.
We spent two months in Florida, and I decided to try my hand at running Disney. It was a crowded race with about 10,000 marathoners and almost as many half- marathon runners. It was also very cold—about 39°F—to start, but got very warm as the sun came out. It's a fun race but my string of 3:50s came to an abrupt stop and I only finished fourth in my age bracket.
When we got home, we got serious about finding a South American marathon to complete my quest for the seven continents. We considered Ushuaia in Argentina, but couldn't get enough info on it. So Santiago became the race of choice. We had no idea at the time, but it was the best choice as well. The race was produced by Olimpo Productions, with Rodrigo Salas as director. It was one of the most professionally run international marathons that I have participated in. The director spoke fluent English and was extremely helpful with the online entry. He responded quickly to our e-mails and made sure we had clear directions to registration and the pasta party. The race was supported every 5 kilometers by Go race fluids, had Power Gels at 30k and finished with plenty of fluids and more pasta. The results (no chips) were posted by 3:30 pm, and the age bracket awards (which I won) were beautiful blue velvet plaques and small gifts (sport watches and towels).
So I have completed the continents. What's next? There is always Rome, Reykjavik, Davos, and the Midnight Sun race in Norway.
We are planning to run in Dublin in October of this year, and I'd like to find at least one more marathon before that. Maybe I'll run the 43 remaining states. I'd like to try a triathlon and maybe an ultra. Even more exciting, we met a New Zealander in Santiago who was also completing marathon on all seven continents, but he had also summited the seven highest (with New Guinea thrown in) peaks on all seven continents, including Antarctica and Everest. His name is John Gluckman, and you can find his name on both Marathon Tours Seven Continent's list and the Seven Summits list. So now Dave and I are thinking of maybe returning to South America to climb the Aconcagua. The possibilities are endless!
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