The runners are arriving!! I think over half of the runners are here so far. We all met at Lost Ranchitos last night for an informal runners meeting, pretty damn good pizza and early packet pickup.
Paula is here now and we have been having a whole lot of fun. I really missed her like mad during our week apart. Most of what we are doing involves work around organizing the race, but we did get some time to ride the motorcycle down to gorgeous Ojo de Agua (a natural spring pool in the jungle). Matthias and I covered Paula in volcanic mud and enjoyed the warm sun and water. We have also been consuming ice cream at a fairly comfortable level. Eskimo sells rum raisin double scoops for only 10 cordobas (about 50 cents).
Matthias loves it here in Nicaragua, he keeps telling me he wants to live here. The kids run to the store and buy 10 cent packets of sparklers and extremely loud and annoying firecrackers. I am constantly worried Matthias will blow himself up or burn himself badly.
Most of the runners are staying in Hostel IBESA, but there are a few in Hotelito Aly and Hotel American Cafe. IBESA is a very clean but rustic setup. Most runners seem very happy with it, and I think the $4 a night cost helps that a bit. The living room area and kitchen in IBESA are dirt floors, and the bedrooms are 7×9 concrete block walls with only one window. The window in our room does not have a screen on it, and it pretty much stays closed all of the time.
The weather is absolutely perfect for this years event. It looks like it will not get above 85 Fahrenheit on race day! On a normal year it would be reaching the mid 90s or higher. I have had to change the course in a few places. The original course had long sections of beach, but the lake is still flooded from the October rains and the beaches are gone. It kind of stinks considering the turn by turn instructions and maps I printed on waterproof paper for all of the runners.
We had a pretty interesting scare and adventure earlier this afternoon. Paula and I were on the motorcycle riding up to a small cafe for dinner. For some reason I had balanced my money pouch on the handlebars of the motorcycle. The small pouch had my wallet and my cell phone inside. We were not 100 yards from Hostel IBESA when I noticed the wallet was no longer on the handlebars. I pulled a fast U-turn and raced back toward IBESA. We walked around on the street but could not find the wallet. Carlos, the family and some runners came out to help us look for it. Tom Masterson, one of the CO runners came up and told us he had filed a police report for us. After searching a bit more, Paula and I walked up to the police station to file a more detailed report. The police took our information but did not look very interested.
The wallet contained $400 of donations for the race as well as my bank cards.
We raced up to the internet cafe to get my bank phone numbers to cancel my cards. I was on Paula’s cell phone canceling my cards when a woman came walking up to us in the general area the wallet was last seen. She seemed very frantic and told us she saw someone pick up the wallet and take off. We promised not to reveal anything and to keep it secret if she came to the police station with us to tell the Captain. The police station was right across the street and we all walked into the Captain’s office. It was all a bit surreal, the Captain ushered us in and kept motioning us to be quiet. He locked the door and closed the curtains. The woman told the Captain she knew who took the wallet, she even knew where they were at that moment. The Captain looked very serious and ordered everyone out of the office except for me and Paula. We sat there as he dug around in the drawers looking for a key. Once he found the key, he unlocked a rusty file cabinet and pulled out a dusty handgun. He strapped it to his belt, ordered us to sit outside of the police station until he got back, and jumped on a small motorcycle with another overweight police officer.
We sat outside and chatted with the other officers until the Captain pulled up, followed by a nervous couple on a motorcycle. We all went into the office, locked the doors and the couple handed me the wallet and phone. I counted the money and reported $80 missing. The woman seemed shocked that I would “accuse” her of taking anything out of the wallet and the Captain glared at me sternly. There was nothing any of us could do about the missing funds, and I was just happy to get anything back at all, so I told them we would end the issue right there. Carlos from IBESA showed up and recommended I give the Captain a “finders fee” for retrieving the wallet. I paid the Captain $20, this brought a huge grin to his face, then I gave the girl who witnessed the theft $10 for her trouble.
I am not sure if the Captain made a deal with the thieves to keep the $80, but I am amazed that I even got the items back, this is unheard of in Nicaragua.
The volunteer and course marking meeting was at 7pm, we split the marking into three groups to make it more efficient. Our marking strategy is orange/blue flagging, directional arrows and assorted signage. I hope all of it goes well, we are hoping the locals do not tear down the flagging and signs, but the way things go around here…
Paula, Ebelio and I will be marking Maderas from the Porvenir side and Abigail and Simeon (Maderas volcano guide) will be marking it up the Merida side. We are waking up at 5am to begin our day. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day!!
