The Coastal Challenge continues in Costa Rica this week, and we’re following Rock/Creek Race Team member Jaclyn Greenhill‘s progress. She started the race strong ending in first place on Stage One. Monday’s Stage Two results have been posted, and Jaclyn finished another challenging day in the jungle in second place. Here’s a teaser from the race report:
What a difference a day makes. Following a relatively short, 33-kilometer first day, competitors at the 2009 Coastal Challenge (TCC) encountered a mountainous day-two route that featured more than 2,200 meters of elevation gain over 39 kilometers. With temperatures hovering in the mid-90s, the field of 70+ competitors battled sun and sand in a course that moved from the misty, muddy rain forests of Savegre Valley to the sundrenched sand of Playa Dominical. The competition is also heating up as the top three male competitors continue to jockey for the lead in the expedition category.
“We designed stage two to give competitors their first taste of wild Costa Rican terrain,” said Rodrigo Carazo, race designer, who forewarned competitors at the pre-race briefing that day two would test their determination. “We started them (competitors) on a climb through dense rain forest to give them a taste of the hills, and then challenged them with a lot of technical trail running through mud, grasslands, and streams.” […]
Ligia Madrigal of Costa Rica finished first in the women’s expedition category with a time of five hours and 59 minutes. Madrigal, who gave birth just eight months before the event, created her own brand of cross training for this year’s TCC; she often woke around 4 a.m. to get in a few hours of running before spending the rest of the day working and taking care of her baby.
“I got seven hours of sleep last night and it made all the difference,” said Madrigal, who, because of her role as a new mom, hasn’t had more than a few hours of sleep since giving birth. “The course was amazing and the views were incredible. You could see the mountains, the water, everything.”
Americans Jaclyn Greenhill (6:09) and Kelly Ridgway (6:18) placed second and third, respectively, in the women’s expedition category. Ridgway, a first-time TCC competitor, said at one point she thought she lost her shoe and sock in the mud, but could only find her shoe. “I couldn’t find the sock anywhere, and then realized it was still on my foot but covered in mud!” She also had rave reviews about the course: “If I die after this race I will have truly lived.” [Full report online]
I can’t wait to hear first hand about this race from Jaclyn! It sounds like fun and definitely something to put on the “life list.” I’m also anticipating the updates from yesterday and today. I’ll post as soon as I hear anything about those.