Stage Two: Rancho Margot to Tierra Morenas (60+ kilometers)
“I’ve never been so wet in a race,” said Georganna Quarles, fifty-two, from Duck Key, Florida, after charging through a thigh-deep river at the start of the 60-kilometer (36-mile) second stage of the Coastal Challenge expedition, a Costa Rican adventure race going from Rancho Margo to Tierra Morenas. “I’m always picking my way through puddles, but this was so freeing and fun!”
With wet feet, sixty-one racers started the long, arduous day, trudging along an abandoned, muddy jungle trail surrounded by marshy wetlands inhabited by bright yellow and black birds, while howler monkeys perched in trees overhead. With Ligia Madrigal hot on her heels, Bev Anderson-Abbs, forty-two, on Team Sunsweet, powered the women’s field over the creaky wooden bridge to PC-1 (Checkpoint One). “I was excited; it was a long day,” said Anderson-Abbs, Vermont’s 100-mile champion, who was intent on extending her lead. “But I was surprised by the horrible wind that kicked up as we climbed up to PC-2.”
Although the foggy conditions obscured the spectacular view of Lake Arenal and Arenal volcano usually visible from the checkpoint, the competitors had no time for disappointment, as they grabbed sandwiches, nuts, and energy drink. The pressure was on. All racers needed to reach PC-3 at the 42-kilometer (26-mile) mark within seven hours, or be reassigned to the “Adventure” category. In an attempt to bring in racers of all fitness abilities, the Coastal Challenge offers both a 200-kilometer “Expedition” length race, and a 100-kilometer “Adventure” distance.
Quarles’ husband Greyson, an avid triathlete and admitted “roadie,” registered for the Adventure category. So did Marlo Tadashore, twenty-nine, and her boyfriend Jamie Capisciotto, thirty, both from Peterborough, Ontario. “We just took it at our own pace, but I’ve never been on the go for so many hours,” said Marlo, who was on the course with Jamie for nearly nine hours. “I was really tired, but the scenery was so beautiful that it inspired us to keep moving forward.” She admitted that the banana and Coke she got at “a little town” helped, too.
Doone Watson, forty-nine, a veteran from Calgary, Canada, returning for her third Coastal Challenge, got a little Coke kick herself before charging onward to make the time cut. “I was running with Tim [her husband], Tayna, and Glenn, and we were having a great time chatting and enjoying the ever-changing course conditions,” she said. “But when we stopped for a snack, I looked at my watch and realized how much more we had to go.” While Tim and Tanya were too beat to pick up the pace, Doone worked with Glenn to beat the clock. Not only did she make the time cut, she “got a second wind” and passed several racers along the final stretch of white road, where fifty-mile-an-hour winds were furiously turning windmills. Crossing the line in 9:11:31, Doone reveled in the cheers she got from the leaders, who were refueling with chicken soft tacos, pasta, and fresh fruit.
Juan Carlos Zuniga won the overall stage in 5:57:34, holding the overall lead. Anderson-Abbs remained the women’s leader, finishing in 6:52:10 and with fifty-five minutes on Madrigal, who crossed in 7:47:50 for second. Meghan Hicks of Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, took third in 8:30:09. Forty-three racers remain in the Expedition category.
Stage 3: Tierra Morenas to Guayabo (18 kilometers)
The third “recovery” stage from Tierra Morenas to Guayabo took racers on a gravel road that connected the two towns with rolling climbs and sweeping descents. Overall positions stayed the same. “It was a chance for racers to rest up for tomorrow’s super-hard stage,” said course designer Rodrigo Carazo, with a sinister smile.
Picture: Georganna Quarles, fifty-two, from Duck Key, Florida, races in the 2007 Coastal Challenge