So far so good on the race directing front. It is amazing how much I did not think of when I got into this though!! Nothing I am unable to handle, but next year will be much easier.
Matthias is just getting over a very bad case of strep throat, he got sick almost five days ago now but is feeling much better. The first night he got sick Yalkiria and I took him to the hospital in Moyogalpa. The doctor told us it was a form of tonsilitis, gave him a huge shot of penicilin in the butt (which Matthias hated very much) and a bottle of antibiotics. Matthias seemed to be getting better, but as soon as the antibiotics wore off he got very sick again. I thought for a moment I was going to have to bring him back to the US for treatment. I decided to take Matthias to see Dr. Tabatha Parker, a doctor in the nearby town of Los Angeles (not the one in California). Dr. Tabatha works for Natural Doctors International (NDI) and runs the small clinic on Isla de Ometepe. After running some tests on him, Dr. Tabatha told us it was strep and prescribed more antibiotics. The second batch of antibiotics seemed to do the trick and Matthias is almost back to normal.
I am sitting at the Managua airport waiting for Paula and several other runners to arrive from Austin, Philadelphia and Boulder. Matthias and I left Ometepe this morning after getting some race logistics out of the way. I have been missing Paula very much and cannot wait to see her again. We are going to have a whole lot of fun with this event!
Abigail is extremely helpful and has completely immersed herself in her position as volunteer coordinator, aid station coordinator and absolute badass. Yesterday she gave me a list of all of the food and supplies needed for the aid stations. I bought most of the food but we ordered the fruit and perishables for delivery on Friday night before the race.
Aid station logistics are going to be pretty crazy, we are now planning on full fledged stations on top of Concepcion and Maderas. This means almost 100 lbs of food and 15 gallons of water need to be hauled up each volcano. Abigail and Ebelio hauled 10 gallons of water up Maderas yesterday. I wish I could help with this type of volunteering, but I spent the day organizing and shopping in Moyogalpa. Sometimes the race director has to miss out on all of the fun.
Brad and Nyla (of Traverse Trail Running) arrived yesterday with their four children. The two Italian runners, Alex and Franco also came on the same ferry. I met Franco at Copper Canyon Ultramarathon this past March and it was exciting to see him again. I still cannot believe I am putting on this event, it is surreal that I even have anything to do with it. These are the sorts of things I read about other people doing in travel magazines, not something I do… Excitement is definitely building!!
