Stage Four: Guayabo to Rincon De La Vieja (50 kilometers) “I’m having a harder time than I expected, and have reset my goal,” said Doone Watson, forty-nine, from Calgary, Canada, slogging through the stiff headwind along a dusty gravel road. “I came here wanting to place high, but now I just want to finish, so I can be the first woman to finish all three Coastal Challenge expeditions.”
The fourth, 50-kilometer stage of the Coastal Challenge Expedition Run started at 5:45 a.m. with a steep, rocky climb up Miravalles volcano—the first of two volcanoes the runners would ascend. “It reminded me of Mt. Mansfield (near Stow, Vermont) where I train at home,” said Debbie Tirrito, fifty-one, from Burlington, Vermont. “The view was amazing,” noted Marlo Tadashore, twenty-nine, from Peterborough, Ontario. “We just had to stop and take a picture of the sun coming up through the fog surrounding the volcano—it was amazing.”
Bev Anderson-Abbs, forty-two, from Red Bluff, California, the women’s overall leader, again led the women’s field through the stage, but had thoughts of a different nature about the gnarly descent. “It was everything I hate on a downhill: long and steep, with loose rocks,” she said. “My quads were screaming!”
The scorching sun emerged from the hazy sky as the flock of sixty runners (forty-two in the Expedition category and eighteen in the Adventure category) traversed several geothermal areas, leaping across a drainage stream to keep their feet dry, then heading up the next steep climb to Rincon De La Vieja volcano. With Anderson-Abbs pushing the pace, second- and third-place women Ligia Madrigal and Irene Hale lifted legs along the rutted roads that followed.
“I loved the last section after PC [checkpoint]-4,” said Anderson-Abbs, of the bushwhacking, rock-scrambling section along the river. “I hooked my water bottle to my waist belt and swam around the rocks—the cool water felt so good.” Despite the heat of the competition, she admitted to “needing to stop and gaze at the spectacular waterfall,” before climbing a winding staircase to the road, and running the final three kilometers to her fourth consecutive victory in 5:50:49.
The overall winner was Javier Montero, finishing in 5:16:00, while Ligia Madrigal and Irene Hale rounded out the women’s field in 6:41:27 and 7:10:21, respectively.
Stage 5: Junquilla to Punta Descartes (32 kilometers) Following an hour-long bus ride to Junquilla, a quaint town near the Pacific coast, fifty-eight racers trotted out of town at 7:00 a.m. under sunny skies, following a pocked, sandy road. The course followed an undulating course on dirt, for the fifth, 32-kilometer stage, highlighting the toasty, desert-like dryness of Costa Rica’s northwest region. “It was hot in there and I lost track of my electrolytes,” said Anderson-Abbs, who reported feeling a bit spacey. “I popped some Sunsweet Plums and felt a lot better.” Again, she won the women’s division, placing fourth overall in a speedy 3:06:23.
Back in the field, runners moving at a slower clip saw white-faced monkeys and green parrots screeching from treetops, much-needed distractions from the day’s “stifling heat” and their “aching quads.” The 500-meter beach run to the finish was a welcome treat for all—many of the racers peeled off their sand-covered shoes and socks, and dove right in the refreshing, cool water.
Overall positions remained the same, with Anderson-Abbs now leading the women’s field by nearly two hours. She plans to “walk-jog and have fun hanging out with people,” for the last stage.
Photo: Doone Watson, forty-nine, from Calgary, Canada, races in the 2007 Coastal Challenge
