The Coastal Challenge: Stage One

Anderson-Abbs reported having her own mud fun. “I heard that mud-sucking sound with each step,” said Anderson of the final muddy decent to the finish. “The next thing I knew, I lost my shoe in the mud and I was just wearing my sock.” She spent the next few minutes up to her elbows in mud, yanking her soaked shoe from the “oopy mud.”

Feet fully clad, she hammered the remaining slick knolls to win the women’s division and place seventh overall, in 2:50:28, 28 minutes behind the overall day’s winner, local racer Juan Carlos.

Seventeen minutes later, Madrigal crossed the finish in 3:07:51, taking second place in the women’s category. Others trotted in over the following hours. “I love being out for long days and being part of this country’s amazing landscape,” said Helling, who reached camp in 5:18:15, holding a rib she bruised on the last downhill. “I was so excited by the lush, green field that I pushed it a little too hard.” Despite the injury, Helling says the fact she heard the volcano rumble “made it all worth it, and while my legs are not ready to go right now, I’m eager for tomorrow.”

Photo: Beverly Anderson-Abbs, forty-two, the 2005 race winner from Red Bluff, California, races the 2007 Coastal Challenge.