At 4:00 am, I woke up to the sound of my phone beeping. The first thought was I hate morning swim practice. Then I remembered that the last morning practice I had was over four years ago back in Ithaca, which seems like a world away now. I picked up my head and remembered that I was in Negril, Jamaica and it was time to get up and get ready to run a half marathon…Great, why do I always put myself through this kind of stuff… was the watered down version of the next few thoughts that went through my mind.
Slowly dragging myself out of bed, I immediately started to regret the three plates of pasta, bread and fruit that I had eaten the night before at the free dinner. But tell me, how was a PCV, living off of a steady diet of mac and cheese (the fake stuff), veggie mince and rice supposed to turn away from the first site of real pasta in almost 6 months? Oh well, that is why I have gotten up so many mornings over the past few months at 5 am, so that I’m ready for this early stuff, right? What is an extra few pounds of pasta in my stomach?
After washing up and a few handfuls of dry cereal, I came back into the bedroom of the house I was staying at and saw my girlfriend, Liza, still in bed…even more motivation to get dressed and go run 13 miles. I paid my money, got my free tee shirt and ate my free dinner, I might as well drink the free water and Gatorade along the course too. I put on my red Cornell running shorts that I have been using ever since my freshman year and my tank top that Liza and another PCV, Tami, helped me decorate the day before. As I start putting my shoes on, Liza sits up and takes a picture, saying that she wants to document the occasion. Great, that’s all I want are pictures at 4:30 in the morning.
Slowly dragging myself out of bed, I immediately started to regret the three plates of pasta, bread and fruit that I had eaten the night before at the free dinner. But tell me, how was a PCV, living off of a steady diet of mac and cheese (the fake stuff), veggie mince and rice supposed to turn away from the first site of real pasta in almost 6 months? Oh well, that is why I have gotten up so many mornings over the past few months at 5 am, so that I’m ready for this early stuff, right? What is an extra few pounds of pasta in my stomach?
After washing up and a few handfuls of dry cereal, I came back into the bedroom of the house I was staying at and saw my girlfriend, Liza, still in bed…even more motivation to get dressed and go run 13 miles. I paid my money, got my free tee shirt and ate my free dinner, I might as well drink the free water and Gatorade along the course too. I put on my red Cornell running shorts that I have been using ever since my freshman year and my tank top that Liza and another PCV, Tami, helped me decorate the day before. As I start putting my shoes on, Liza sits up and takes a picture, saying that she wants to document the occasion. Great, that’s all I want are pictures at 4:30 in the morning.Now it’s off to the race. As I step outside for the first time, I’m a little shocked by how cold it is. I have gotten used to Portmore where, even at 5 am, it isn’t much below 75 or 70 at the lowest. Here, it’s probably in the low 60’s. I remember that it is December and I’m walking outside in shorts and a tank top at 4:30 in the morning…just try doing that back in Philly and see how far you make it. I walk the mile or so to the town square where the busses are picking up the runners and volunteers and taking them to the start and water stations. As I run to get on the last bus, I start to here a few laughs after I passed by some people standing on the side of the road.
When I get to the start line, the sky is dark but the organizers have put a whole line of tiki torches along the side of the road to light the first hundred meters or so of the race. A steel drum band is playing in front of a nearby resort and a whole group of runners are getting themselves ready on the road. Among the crowed, I find Scott, a PCV who is running the 10K race and a few other PCVs who are volunteering at the water stations and finish line. I do a few quick stretches, jump up and down a few times, and wait for things to start, hoping that my knee doesn’t start acting up on me. Again, I hear people behind me laughing a little bit.
There is a very short speech and then, at 5:15 am on the dot, the starting beep goes off. Wow, this is the first non-“Soon Come” thing I have experienced in Jamaica. I was really expecting to stand here until 5:30 or 5:45 before taking off. At least we will be able to run most of the race before the sun fully rises and heats the place up.
The race goes by quickly and without any incident, which is always good for these types of things. I run the race as I like to. Start out in the middle of the pack and slowly work my way up through the crowd so that I am continually passing other runners. I know it is a bit cruel to the other runners, but it motivates me to run faster to pass other runners and feeling like they are trying to chase me down after I do it. It is funny though, after passing some people, I hear laughter rather than the usual mumbled curses.
The best part is the fact that the water stations are every mile and, at most of the water
stations, there is at least one PCV that I recognized and cheered me along. The other really good part of the race is at the finish line, a guy with a machete is chopping coconuts so that all of the runners can have some fresh coconut water after we finish. Nothing like drinking coconut water straight out of the coconut! The stuff really is better than Gatorade in helping to re-hydrate you.While I am drinking my coconut water, tired and a bit dazed, I hear a group of people standing behind me laughing and yelling, “Rice and Peas! Rice and Peas! Can we have a picture?” I turned around and walked to them. I held my coconut in one hand, a banana in another, and gave them the best smile possible after running 13 miles. “No, turn around, we don’t want a picture of you, we want a picture of the back of your shirt!”
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