The Coastal Challenge: Stages Two and Three

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