Rio Marathon 29/06/08
Put your singing voice on now!
You know the song: “Copa . . . Copacabana . . . la-la-la:” Well, you know how the rest goes.
'How long exactly did you say a marathon really was?'Yippee! I made it to South America, Brazil and Rio and, in so doing, completed one of my dreams: Mid-winter for the Southern Hemisphere of course, so the locals were distinctly feeling the Baltic nip of the 17 or 18°C (when it was at its coldest), whereas we Toochters didn’t.
Entering a marathon where almost everything was either in Portuguese or vague or both made it challenging from the start. Somehow or other I managed to enter on-line and never thought the R$80 (£29 equivalent, including bus trip to the start) was exhaustive on my overdraft.
Marathon route from right to left along Copacabana Beach (34 - 38km) to Botafogo suburb middle of photo
and Flamengo (Finish of Marathon) extreme left of photo
Copacabana Beach in mid-winterAllow me to confirm that that mystical beach of Copacabana (and its neighbour, Ipanema) really do exist: together they constituted the 30 – 38 km stretch.
Ipanema Beach 28 - 34 kmThe start was about 25 miles closer to Argentina than Rio city and was epitomised by a very flat course - except for a few ‘bumps.’ Flat courses - on longer runs - always makes the going tougher, as did the high temperatures and humidity from the start (08h00): 21 – 30°C and humidity between 65 – 80%. Fortunately, the scenery was to die for as it was essentially along the coast the entire way, and this was supplemented by the gorgeous granite mountain vistas on the left almost the whole way (including the ethereal statue of Christ the Redeemer standing gracefully atop Corcovado Hill high above Rio).
Taken at Barra: Looks at view from 21km mark back to start of marathon (at the foot of the hills in the very far distance)The first 18km was in the open, and it was only really when we reached the Barra Tropical Hotel (bet you never thought you’d ever be able to say “Barra” and “Tropical” in the same sentence within the correct context!), that for the first time in my life I thanked the Gods for skyscrapers – but only for the shadows they cast over the route for part of the way.
Running through quite a number of tunnels and in a stretch of road built underneath another road for a few kilometres and then the shade from the palm trees were all rather inviting.
It was only upon coming across a shop sign that it reminded me that I may get a little unexpected local and ‘Portuguese’ support during the race – which proved to be true a wee bit: The ‘Portobello Shop’ sold tiles (very posh ones, no less) and couldn’t resist getting a photo of it.
There were very few non-Brazilians running (which is much of the reason I chose to run this race – makes it more ‘genuine’), with a smattering of Austrians, Germans, Canadians, Norwegians, Japanese, Argentineans and other nationalities.
Running with a small-ish St. Andrews flag meant that a handful of folk recognised our flag and they would gleefully cheer me on with positively supportive shouts of “Escocia.” This support helped me get through the marathon (training would have helped too, so I gather). A week’s eating Brazilian delicacies (which included mostly cheese, ham and pastry bakes and the mandatory cakes) was also rather helpful, I think.
Fellow competitor-to-competitor support was limited overall (which, personally, I thought was quite disappointing). I am unsure the reasons for this, however one can only guess that my not-so-perfect Portuguese was surely a contributing factor.
What a wonderfully picturesque finish we were blessed with: Sugar Loaf as a backdrop along the beachfront of Flamengo. The size of the ‘running bling’ was of mentionable note (I don’t tend to harp on about medals just for finishing a race): There is clearly no shortage of steel in Brazil!
The 3 Brazilian Real (R$) to a £ exchange rate was quite good, although Brazil / Rio is not what I would classify as a “cheap” place to vacation.
The wonderful joie de vie exuded by near enough all Brazilians (even those in the favellas / slums) is a pleasure in every respect: That alone could teach the typical Scot a good lesson or 2. The other social pleasantry was their largely unpretentious ways, especially in terms of the comfortable and relaxed approach to dress and fashion (where I particularly enjoyed their un-vain approach to what they wore, something into which that I feel the typical Brit is sadly, deeply and falsely immersed in).
Taken at the start looking toward the 21 km at Barra: at the foot of the hills in the very far distance where it meets the sea.Are you considering Rio now, I wonder?
So that’s 4 of our 7 continents under my belt: Only Oceania, North America and Antarctica to go and that’s me closer to that coveted ‘7 Continents Club.’ This is for completing at least one publicly-available marathon (or longer) on each of the seven continents: My plans over the next 1 – 2 years include:
Samoan Marathon or the Oz Gold Coast Marathon or the NZ Christchurch Marathon (Oceania),
Reggae Marathon or or the Bermuda Tri-Run (Mile & 10km & Marathon in 3 days) or the Cuban Mountain Trail Marathon (North America).Report Andrew Fraser
http://www.justgiving.com/fraserandrew
http://www.maratonadorio.com.br/site_ingles/index_ingles.htm
