Volcano Race

Road races were just getting started last year in San Salvador, but this year they are in full force and I believe that I have done 4 races in less than 4 months. This is the greatest concentration of races that I’ve ever run including the time surrounding my marathon training a little over a year ago! However, after running an “8K” which turned out to be a 6K mostly up hill on trails, a 6.4K (yep, 6.4), and a “10K” which turned out to be about 9K, I had the chance to run my favorite race I’ve ever run…ever. It was a 14K up San Salvador Volcano on dirt/rocky trails called “El Reto del Volcan” [The Volcano Challenge].

Now, prior to running it, I was a little apprehensive about running up a volcano, which I estimate climbed about 2600ft or around 800m. However, I decided it was novel to run up a volcano, and I like novel experiences. Granted, I hadn’t run more than a 12K at any point in the recent past, but surely I could scale a volcano over 14K if I just ran slowly enough! So, we left my friend’s car at the top and were bussed down to the starting point with a group of people looking much more hard core than I felt. Before the start, I kept reassuring myself, “You’ll finish…just keep running!”

When the gun sounded around 7:10am, I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was starting out slowly knowing that we had a lot of volcano in front of us. The weather was pleasantly cool, with a refreshing breeze and a bright blue sky. As we began our ascent, I marveled at the gorgeous, green trees along the path that opened up at opportune places along the path to display ever-increasingly amazing views of the other volcanoes in the distance with clouds gently resting on top like a crown and Lake Illopango sitting at its base. At times, an overview of the city was visible, and others times only nature. As the morning wore on and the sun heated things up, we rose in altitude and it got cooler negating the warming effects! The first third of the race was a fairly gentle, but steady incline and I was nearly giddy with delight to be running amongst such beauty. As the incline increased, I kept enjoying the views and continue to press on slowly but surely. The race wore on and I realized I was passing people; that’s always exciting! Don’t be mistaken, I was running SLOWLY, but others would walk and slow running beat walking up a steep hill.

With no mile markers, I really had no idea how far I’d gone except I figured I should be able to finish in about 2 hours…8 miles…uphill…15 minute miles. I’d been going for about 1:15 when a man told us we had only 2K left…what?! Only a little over a mile to go?! I was stoked! Yeah, pretty sure he lied, and knew we’d never see him again to complain. That was the toughest part: mentally thinking you were going to be done at any moment only to find another turn and yet more uphill. However, I did reach the end and with a legitimate time of 1hr 47min! I would have been pleased with any time because running up a volcano is an accomplishment in itself, but it was fun to have exceeded my non-existent expectations!

Finally, as if gorgeous views, friendly co-runners, beautiful weather, and good results weren’t enough, they fed us a full, sit-down breakfast at the end of the race with views looking out over the volcano! Best. Race. Ever.