Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Mexico Overcast

Total Time = 1h 39m 59s Overall Rank = 55/244 Age Group = M18-39 Age Group Rank = 31/82

DW and I flew out early Friday morning to get to Cabo. This was our first destination race and since I switched jobs fairly recently, I don’t have much vacation so this was just a 3 day weekend trip for us. This was also my first trip to Cabo. DW was interested in doing this race since it was advertised with an insert in my race packet at CIM and was billed as a sort of “CIM South.”

In the Cabo airport, the crowds of passengers were entirely gringo. On the way out of the airport, we were hit by the onslaught of taxi and hotel hawkers. We had arranged for a package flight/transport/hotel package so we just to make our way past all of that and find our transportation. Weather was overcast (as predicted) and not too hot. We loaded up in the van which already had passengers and we were the last to fill the van. The others in the van were a group all together and they were all from Texas. Here, it was definitely a case study of being able to take a group out of Texas, but not taking the Texas out of the group (no offense to Texans – I have relatives who live there).

We check into our hotel, the Pueblo Bonito Rose, which was nice. The hotel was right on the beach, the room had all the usual amenities (our room was even equipped with a kitchenette), and we were walking distance to the main part of town.

After getting settled, we walked to the mall where registration was set up. It was easy enough to find the mall, but once in the mall, we had difficulty finding where registration was located. There was a sign at the entrance of the mall for the race, but no one at the information booth and the random people we asked had no idea about what we were talking. We also didn’t spot anybody who looked like they were racers and had registration packets in hand. So, we wandered outside of the mall a bit and into town to see if we could find anything or see anyone else with race packets. It was sprinkling a bit outside. We walked out along the marina behind the mall. We even walked all the way over to Cabo Wabo where the post race party was to see if anyone knew anything over there (they didn’t). We came back to the mall and wandered around to the other end. We were going to back to the hotel and double check where the registration was supposed to be and we bumped into another couple looking for the registration as well. DW found an athletic shoe store and asked in there and they told us “upstairs.” The upstairs part of the mall isn’t really anything, but there was a section outside. Outside there are more shops and there was a section with massage tables and time share info. Then the other couple caught a sign (finally!) right near there that said “welcome runners” and we found the registration area.

As we registered, I noticed that the registration list only had about 200 names on it. I wasn’t sure how big this race was going to be, but it seemed like it was going to be smaller than I thought. In my registration packet, they give me the race instructions in Spanish (because of my name, it might be easy to think I am of Hispanic descent) which I can’t read, but DW’s instructions are in English, so no problem. By now, it was already 4:30 or so and we decided to just hang around the mall and wait for the pasta dinner which started at 6:00pm.

At 6:00pm, we went to the place with the pasta dinner and they were still just setting up. After another 15-20 minutes, we were able to go in to sit. We waited for others to arrive and spoke to others who sat at our table including two older couples (the women were doing the race) and a couple of younger women from Indiana who were both doing the race. While we were waiting, we were given Siera Azul bottled water (coca cola product who was sponsoring) and later fanta orange or sprite (more coca cola products. The race would have Siera Azul water and Powerade…yes, more coca cola product).

Before dinner was served, there were a lot of announcements (done bilingually) about the race organizers. They explained how important the race was and how they met racing standards by having a certified course (i.e. distance was certified) and their use of timing chips to guarantee the accuracy of the results. Then they introduced the pacers who were former Mexican race champions (2:09-2:10 marathoners). That was pretty cool having them as pacers.

It’s a bit past 7 by now and we’re starving and finally the pasta is served. Okay, I’ve never been to one of these pre-race pasta dinners, plus I’ll admit I’m a food snob and even somewhat of a pasta snob (we usually have fresh pasta that we either make ourselves or buy). Dinner was bread and two chafing dishes with either mac and cheese in one and some other white fat laden sauce with a few veggies (carrots and peas I think) in it. I ate a plateful of the mac and cheese, which was basically like watered down Kraft mac and cheese and a little bit of the white stuff and then ate a few extra helpings of bread. Oh well good enough.

Alarm goes off at 5:30, I slept well enough although I didn’t wake up 2-3 times in the middle of the night to urinate like I normally do, so this probably meant I was dehydrated. Had a glass of water. I had a zone bar (chocolate mint. The fake mint flavor makes me think of thin mint girl scout cookies) for breakfast with my coffee.

Had to decide what to wear. Big decision you know? First, stepped out on the balcony to check the weather. Not too cold, so that was good. Forecast had 30% chance of rain. I wanted to wear my new Louis Garneau tri stuff because, one, it looked pretty good and, two, I wanted to try running a half mary distance in tri clothing to see how it would feel since I’d have to do that in the upcoming long course races I have this year.

At about 6:30, we walk over to the mall where the race starts. It’s just starting to become more light. There are all the racers milling about and the music is blaring.


DW and I only did a couple quick strides and then we lined up to race.