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SRRC Race Reports
Corrida San Fernando , Maldonado, Uruguay —January 6, 2009
by
Phil Holt
It had been a warm summer day in January. The sun was setting in the northwest, the glimmer of the first stars in the twilight reinforcing my antipodal confusion. Familiar features of the night sky—the North Star, the Big Dipper, Orion's Belt—had drifted into obscurity thousands of miles ago at the equator. Here in Maldonado, Uruguay, the Southern Cross was the navigational fix.
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| Maldonado |
I’d missed the Rotary Resolution Run on New Year’s Day, but the locals here suggested that the Corrida San Fernando on January 6 would present a decent local alternative for kicking off the running year. Information about the race seemed scant, but as I understood it, the course would start in downtown Maldonado, the county seat, meander through local streets for a few miles, then follow a broad beach boulevard along the coast to Punta del Este, sometimes described as the San Tropez of South America. It sounded like a fun little run.
Registration for the race was somewhat convoluted. You had to go to a Western Union-type kiosk to pay your $4 entry fee and get a little receipt. Then you had to go to a specific running store with your receipt to submit your entry and get your bib number. You picked up your chip and t-shirt at the race itself. It ended up being easier than it sounds.
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| Punta del Este |
The climate in this part of the world is moderate, something like California or parts of southern Italy—occasionally quite warm in the summer but seldom very humid in spite of the ocean. It had been a warm day, and the race was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., just after sundown. So here I was, standing at the starting line at 8:30 in the evening with about 6,000 other runners from all over South America. In addition to the many thousands of individual runners who’d entered the race, I saw lots of groups of club runners. I noticed that many clubs favored mascots rather than locality names, so instead of “Montevideo Road Runners” a club might opt for a name like “Red Coyotes.” Members arrived at the race proudly sporting their club livery and colors. Loudspeakers every 50 feet or so filled the air with music and commentary provided by the local radio station. It turned out that this race is a major regional event, drawing competitors from all over the continent.
Just like races in the U.S., lines formed here at the port-o-johns. What made this experience unique was the fastidious attention to comfort and hygiene. In addition to the usual accoutrements, these included small sinks with soap and running water. After each visit, a custodian would rush in, swab the accommodations, and then allow the next in line.
By the time the start sounded, I had met people from as far away as Canada. After jogging and walking in the congestion up to starting line, the crowd surged across the mats, and I was swept forward in the rush as the field opened up almost immediately. I’ve started at lots of races before, but I was stunned by how fast everyone was running. Competition now blended with conviviality as we charged intently through town. The moon was up, and street lights offered occasional pools of illumination. Local police had various cross streets blocked, and crowds all along the route cheered and clapped and called out the names of runners they recognized. It was fun to run hard knowing that I’d be done in less than an hour.
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| Frozen treat . . . |
After a few miles, we swept down a hill onto the coast road which would take us the last couple of miles to the finish. This was a long flat stretch where we could hear the waves to our right and see the bright lights of Punta del Este ahead to the southeast. If you picked up your pace, the people ahead of you would pick up theirs. Everyone was really racing, and no one was slowing down. I held my place and ran toward the lights, which turned out to be further away than they looked. When I crossed the finish, I’d run a personal best for the 10K distance of about 46 minutes. Putting that in perspective, I was the 661st runner to finish and the 23rd in my age group—a humbling victory. I celebrated with a delicious cup of ice cream from Freddo, a famous chain of shop in the region. As 10K races go, the Corrida San Fernando was an experience that will be hard to match. The beaches, scenery, and countryside of southern Uruguay are simply spectacular, and the people are friendly and generous. Put these folks in running shoes, though, and you’d better be prepared to keep up.
The SRRC would love to hear about your running, racing, or crewing experiences! If you would like to submit a race report, to be posted on the SRRC website, please email srrunner@srrunners.org.