Pura energía

Pura energía, the slogan for this year's Maratón de Santiago, and plastered all over the city on Adidas advertisements.  This past weekend 25000 runners took the streets of Santiago for the marathon (42 km), half-marathon (21 km) and 10km race.  Here is the brief recap of my experience, hopefully much shorter than the race itself!

Look, there I am (somewhere...)!

Getting there:  My apartment is just 7 subway stops from the start/finish line at the Palacio La Moneda, the seat of the government in Santiago.  Logistics for arriving on race-morning seemed all too easy, so I was somewhat worried about 25000 people all having the same idea.  But, I boarded a train at about half-capacity, most of the others wearing the orange marathon t-shirt. Where were the rest of the 25000?  The marathon started at 8:30, the 10K at 8:45, and the half-marathon at 9, so by the time I was arriving, most of the other runners were already at the starting line. 

Pre-race celebrities: el Profesor Rossa and friends.

The start:  The Chilean cheers which had begun on the subway continued as we waited for the start, and I was getting pumped -- Chi chi chi, le le le, viva Chile!  I almost got carried away in the latter part of the 10K start, which would have been rather anti-climactic considering I was planning 21K.  At the last minute I found the 21K start.

The starting gate was wider before the start line than after, and with 9000 21K runners funneling through, it doesn't take a physicist to realize that this will slow everyone down. Finally, we were released onto one of the main streets through downtown Santiago, and the runners took over -- including the sidewalks, the dirt path that divides traffic in both directions, and even the road in the other direction where traffic hadn't been officially blocked but which came to a stop anyways.  Although I started slow, then over-excitedly ran too fast for a couple of km, after a few km I found a good groove.




The big climb: At the runner's expo on Friday, I was told that the toughest part of the course was km 15 because there was a big climb.  I thought about several bike rides I had taken along the same road, and couldn't remember any incline whatsoever, so I figured that km 15 was probably the toughest part of the course because... it was km 15! Nonetheless, in the back of my mind, I was dreading this section.  In fact, it must have had some incline, but the only way I noticed was because the final 6 km were slightly downhill (not-so-complex calculations show that a circuit that starts and ends at the same place must have net incline of 0), and it was glorious to roll into the finish line! 
 




The finish line: Having passed the 20km sign, I made a final kick and ran triumphantly through what I thought was the finish line, only to notice everyone around me still keeping pace. Likely there was a sign that said something like "you're ALMOST there" that was lost in translation to my exhausted brain.  Those "bonus" ~100 m were the longest of the race, but also exciting because at the same time, the winner of the marathon was finishing on the other side of the road.  Yes, he started just 30 minutes ahead of me, and finished 42 km at the same time that I finished 21 km. Also sighted at the finish-line: my Chilean astronomy professor, whom I finished shortly after. We recapped the race (more exhausted spanish), collected our delicious fruit prize, and I headed back to the finish line to see the first female finish the marathon. 

Female winner of the marathon, looks quite fit!

What's next? I'll continue to train in the streets of Santiago (even as the smog sets in this winter), because it's great to know a city by foot, and I'll look for more races of all distances.  And, I'll proudly wear my bright orange race shirt ("polera"), which I have noticed are extremely coveted here, worn before, during and after the event.  Just one step closer to being a Chilean "runner" (yes, they even use the word runner in Chilean spanish)...

The marathon polera: a status symbol on the streets of Santiago.