Mi primera carrera

I ran my first race here in Guadalajara.  I have to say it was quite the experience.  We arrived around 7:30pm and wandered around.  Overall, it was the typical race scene... except that everyone was wearing very bright colors and there was a ridiculous amount of neon in people's outfits.  Though I have to be honest, the neon colored tutu's were DELIGHTFUL.  I laughed and judged everyone for buying neon colored running shoes for the event until my friend tells me that most people own neon colored running shoes... um. SAY WHAT?  I love Mexico.  Where else do you get people who just naturally gravitate to neon colored items?  AWESOME.  We decided to hit the bathrooms (porta-potties) before the race... typical of most outhouses that I've visited in Latin America... no toilet paper.  I decide I can wait.

We wander around and notice a place to put on neon paint.  Cool!!  Where's the line? .... oh... um... yeah, not that cool.  Keep in mind the race consisted of about 6,000 people and the area to put on paint had the capacity to handle about 10 at a time.  I'll let you imagine the line.  So, we decided it was getting close to 8pm, so we started prepping for the race.  We put on the colored lights they gave us when we registered for the race and tried to figure out how to wear our glow sticks considering we'd lost the little plastic connector.  We ended up "sewing" them around our shoelaces... it was kind of cool looking.

We entered the start area and did some warm up.  There were quite a few people wandering around, but we were definitely the first few entering the start area.  We took lots of pictures and then milled around as we waited for the race to start.  Things started to get pretty packed as people pushed to be in the front of the group for the race.  They had a Gatorade inflatable arch across the start line that started to deflate ON TOP OF PEOPLE.  Needless to say, I found that extremely entertaining... until no matter how many times they re-inflated it, it kept deflating.  Since it was the start line, they couldn't start the race until it was fixed.  After a while, people started shouting, "¡Ya queremos salir!" or roughly translated, we want out!  Every once in a while people got worked up and I seriously wondered if I was going to see a small mob riot.  Definitely exciting times! ha ha!  Eventually they got it fixed and we were off.

After a harrowing first 3 minutes of the race in which I seriously thought that if I tripped I was going to be a goner (I imagine the feeling is similar to running with the bulls), things calmed down and then piled up again.  We ran into a bottle-neck of people... so we decide to skip it and cut across the grass to skip the pile-up.  We probably only cut off about 15 feet or so of track and I was willing to cheat to avoid being stuck in the middle of a mess of bodies again.  Afterwards, it was pretty smooth-going.  Lots of people all lit up with lights running at night.  The best part was when after a little bit of an incline, we turned around to head back the same way we had come and upon turning around you could see everyone (either still trudging up the hill or free-sailing it downhill) with all their lights and neon colored running-wear.  It was quite the sight.  Six-thousand people running at night.  It was rather breath-taking... though that could've just been the side-effects of running up the hill.

My next favorite part was half-way through the race at the watering station.  At the races I've been at, they've always had paper cups that were more like toilet paper folded in such a way so it could carry water.  Here, they had very sturdy Gatorade cups.  That didn't stop people from chucking them while still on the run.  Now, imagine it.  When you drop a sturdy paper cup, it makes a kind of hollow "pop" sound.  There were thousands of people running this thing... so it seriously sounded like someone was trying to make music out of it.  It definitely put a smile on my face.

I successfully got to the finish line without a hitch, except for the fact that the finish line wasn't easy to cross because there were a bunch of people packed in behind it.  Apparently the organizer's of the race weren't expecting 6,000 people to register.  By the look of the "receiving" area they had blocked off, I say there were expecting 1,000 to 2,000 people.  We were packed all together like sardines as the blocked off area was supposed to guide you to water, food and the ultimately the dance party.  Now, I know I've used the expression "like a can of sardines" before, but let me tell you that unless you've been outside of the United States, you have NO IDEA what the expression really means.  And if you've never been stuck in a can of very sweaty/odorous sardines, then you will never really understand what I suffered.  Let me just say that even though I'm a very sweet, kind person pretty much ALL the time... ;-) I was tempted to lose control to my "mob mentality" and break down the "crowd barriers" and declare myself free from the hell that was this sweaty group of frustrated and thirsty people.  I BARELY made it out (nearly 45 minutes later having crossed about 30 feet of space) without losing all dignity and patience.

I MUST make a disclaimer here.  This ridiculous attempt at organization from the event staff is abnormal.  Generally these type of events are well organized and go off without any major issues.  Clearly, this particular group of organizers were inexperienced.

Despite losing my temper at the end, I have to say that the race was quite enjoyable.  A great experience to add to my collection of memories in Mexico.