I came to Costa Rica to take part in The Coastal Challenge. With 6 days of trail running, 225 km and 10.000 m of climbing, all through the tropical heat and humidity, it was just crazy. Check out this video to see how the course looks like:
TCC is a stage race, with 6 days that cover between 23 and 52 km each. Each evening there’s a new camp set up. It’s a supported race, unlike Marathon des Sables. Runners who competed in both (such as Chema) claimed that TCC was harder. During MDS you have to carry all your gear and food, but the course is mostly flat and very runnable, while the desert air is dry and a lot less horrible than the humid atmosphere of Costa Rica. I’ll just have to take his word for it.
Let’s briefly go over my gear. 2 pairs of shoes: La Sportiva Ultra Raptor (solid, lots of padding, very comfortable) and Inov8 Roclite 295 (lighter and faster, with less padding). My old Quechua Extend 0-12L backpack with a 2L bladder. An old tent I bought years ago from Carrefour – if you ever go camping in humid weather, bring something that lets the breeze blow through; my tent’s net was rather small and inside it felt like a sauna. Didn’t have any sleeping bag, a silk liner was more than enough. Had a small repair kit and some plastic bags, always useful.
Had a bunch of warm weather clothes. Also took a fleece and a pair of pants. Looking back, those were completely useless, as there’s no possible way for the temperature to drop below 25 degrees C at night. Regarding food, the gels and energy bars were vital. With the heat and effort, I found it very difficult to eat trail mix or those Costa Rican galletas you see in the lower right corner. Muffins and “Prajitura Casei” were a decent option for trail food. Relied a lot on fruits, eating a quarter of a watermelon at every checkpoint. Also took salt pills every 90 minutes or so.
In the electronics corner I had my DSLR (which I kept in camp), an Olympus TG 850 waterproof camera (with a flippable selfie screen!), a GPS, headlamp (a must!), a tablet (to write these blog posts), a Kindle (barely used) and a bunch of chargers and batteries. Health related, I had a first aid and blister kit (which I didn’t use, since the doctors there had plenty of supplies), sunscreen (vital!), along with the usual toiletries.
The race registration and pre race briefing took part at the Best Western Hotel in San Jose. After registering, I chilled by the pool, waiting for the briefing to start.
After a short artistic moment with some dudes juggling with fire or whatever, the briefing started. Some points I remembered, mostly from the medical staff:
– beware of the heat, it’s the number one danger during the race
– immerse yourself in every stream you cross, it will help cool you down
– do not become like shrimp; each year we have people with their faces completely red from the sun, like shrimp; don’t be a shrimp
– yes, there are venomous snakes; if you see one, leave it alone, do not selfie yourself with it
– do not be worried of snakes or other such dangers; the major reasons people quit are dehydration and foot issues
– if you’re going for the top spots, you are only allowed one IV; at the second IV, you’re out of the ranking (so if I’m not competing for the win, I can get unlimited IVs? is there a wait list or I just shout “Paramedic”?)
