March: Born to Run

Thanks Google Earth.

Our next big adventure was much more relaxing and brings us into March.  Before Beth and I went to Cap-Haïtien, a previous volunteer sent me the link for an organization called "Run Haiti" that was sponsoring a 20K race though a town in the south of Haiti called Jacmel.  "Run Haiti" is a non-profit that was founded in 2012 that works to encourage "health, wellness and adventure" while promoting "exercise and healthy lifestyles" and "respecting and honoring the beauty of Haiti."  (http://www.runhaiti.com/foyer/).  The founders work at a medical clinic outside of PAP and have been working to implement preventative activities that promote health and well being.  Activities include the sponsoring of a series of community 2K "races" in which people of all ages and of all abilities get together to run/walk/have fun.  I hemmed and hawed for a while as to whether or not I wanted to or was physically able to do the race and I finally decided to go for it.  It's a pretty cool organization and I was thrilled to be able to support their efforts as well as see a new part of Haiti.

Carnaval props.  Beth and I wanted to go
to pre-Carnaval in Jacmel but it didn't
work out.  But we did see some of the
props that were used throughout the city and in
this gallery.

For me, I run for several reasons.  One is because it's a great excuse for me to eat even more than I already do and not feel bad about it.  Another is because, I have had wonderful people to run with and it was a great way for us to spend time together.  It also provides me with some "me time."  My mind won't focus on anything else except the path in front of me or maybe whatever tune just came on in my playlist.  And most of all, it's a great way to see and experience the place that I am currently inhabiting.

An art gallery.  Jacmel was much more artsy than other
towns I had been to.  There was so much vibrancy
 and color in the art that we saw.

While I run for the same reasons here, the act of running is a completely different experience.  I take more precautions of where and when I run because who knows what could happen.  I only run on main roads and I always have my phone and a swiss army knife.  Despite the fact that they are "main" dirt roads, they are in pretty rough shape and one must step carefully.  You also have to compete for "sidewalk" space with tons of other people and donkeys while motos and tap-taps whiz by.  You have to be on your guard at all times to make sure you don't get hit by something or trip on the gazillions of rocks and hurt yourself.  In addition to all of this, 90% of the people you run by shout "blan, blan" after you and you get the occasional slightly disrespectful or vulgar phrase muttered as you pass by.  So, it's not the most relaxing and enjoyable way to run.  But, every once and a while it is.  One time, I was doing hill repeats up the mountain behind our house, and one girl would run the last 40 feet or so with me every time I passed by her.  Her father offered me a glass of water and would cheer me on as I passed by their house.  After a little while, there were 10 other kids running around after me having a grand old time.  It's moments like this that make you forget about all of the not so nice interactions and make you love Haiti and its people even more.

The race trail.  There were about three miles of pretty steady
uphill to about 1000 feet.  The races that I ran in South Africa
were a little more intense than this, but my lack of
training as well as the heat, made me a little nervous
about the strenuousness of the course.

The two long races that I’ve done in the past, I ran consistently for months before hand.  I never really got to this point for this on.  I hadn’t been running consistently before hand and I only found out it about a month before hand and about a week of this was spent in Cap Haitian with Beth.  Even though I still wasn’t sure I was physically ready to run 20K when the longest I had really run was about 40 minutes on flat ground, I signed up and Beth, Frankie and I made our way to Jacmel.  Here's how we got there:  1) motos from Gros Morne to Gonaives (50 minutes); 2) van from Gonaives to PAP (3+ hours); 3) van breaks down (an hour on the side of the road waiting for them to get the necessary parts to fix it); 4) find new tap-tap to take us the rest of the way (1 hour); 5) motos from one station to get to the station for Jacmel (20 minutes); 6) get mobbed by bus drivers and wait for bus to fill up (35 minutes); 7) road to Jacmel up and over at least one mountain range (2 hours); 8) get dropped off in the middle of nowhere outside of Jacmel; 9) have to find motos to take us to where we need to be (20 minutes); 10) arrive safely at Donna and Dick's house.

This was one of the only public trash cans I've
seen in all of Haiti.  Usually it just gets thrown
on the ground.  Obviously, I had to use it.

All in all, it took us 6 different vehicles to get us to where we needed to be and it took us all day to get there.  And we only traveled around 160 miles.  Needless to say, travel here is definitely not the most efficient.  But we were all excited to be there and to be able to spend some time together.  Donna and Dick live in the same town as me back home in Maine and they split their time between Haiti and the States.  Donna has been doing this for years and has a beautiful house in Jacmel that is in the middle of renovations after being partly destroyed in the earthquake.  It just so happened that they were going to be in Jacmel during the race and were so gracious as to open their home up to us.

Jacmel itself had a very different feel than other cities I've been to here (ok - so just really PAP and Cap Haitian).  It seemed a little less populated, had a slower pace and was more artsy.  All of the buildings seemed older and there are beautiful murals and mosaics all around.  It is right on the ocean, with a beautiful boardwalk winding its way along the coast.  The government has been working for a long time to make it more of a tourist destination, but the progress is moving at a snail's speed.  Anyway, we spent three days in Jacmel, exploring the town, running (only I did that) and hearing Donna's wonderful stories from Jacmel 20 years ago and about all of the crazy people that have passed through her house.  It was a great weekend, a great race and great people to share it with.

A mosaic.

The race started at 6:30am so we could be done before the sun got too hot.  There were 18 people registered for the run, but only 16 actually ran.  I came in 7th with a time of 1:55:18.  My goal time was about 2 hours 30 minutes because I really was not prepared for the 12 miles (20K).  But, considering the amount of time I trained, and the fact that I essentially took a week off of running during that time when Beth and I were in Cap-Haïtien, I like to think that I pretty much crushed it!

Pictures of the run:

The runners!  (Donna's photo.)

The beginning.  That face.  Trying to look my best for the camera.
Clearly making nice smiles at 6:30am is a challenge for me.
(Donna's photo)

The starting line!!  (Beth's photo)

And we're off!  (Beth's photo)

The early morning sun!  (Run Haiti's photo)

(Run Haiti's photo.)

The first river crossing.

(Run Haiti's photo.)

The climbing begins.  I thought I was going to have a much
harder time with the uphill. 

The first view of the ocean.  This was one of the most
beautiful and exciting runs I've ever done.

Just a casual, knee deep, river crossing/traffic jam.

Please don't hit me!!!

And the photo finish!!!  (Run Haiti's photo.)

My first gold medal!!!  (Donna's photo.)

In the afternoon after the race, we traveled to Bassin-Bleu, a local tourist attraction and swimming hole.  It's a series of three pools connected by waterfalls that make for beautiful scenery and lovely swimming.  I was really excited about seeing the pools and swimming, but it was actually a little crowded.  Regardless, the water was refreshing on my already sore muscles and the scenery was beautiful.

Killin' it Katie.  Frankie and Beth look so cute, and then there's me.

This one looks good from a distance.  My face kills it...again.

Heading home to Gros Morne.  (Donna's photo.)

Check out Run Haiti's promo video.  It's pretty cool - http://www.runhaiti.com/promo