Peru (Part Uno) - Pacasmayo, Marathon, Chan Chan, and Lima

Arrival………………..

My PC besties Lindsay (Indiana) and Carrie (NYC) came over to my house Thursday night (June 30th) and made me a cake for my early birthday.

We left for Peru at 4:00 in the morning and arrived in Guayaquil, then we caught a 8 hour bus to Tumbes, Peru (the first large city across the border). The border crossing was very easy as long as you take a bus that goes all the way through to another city. We just got off the bus on the Ecuador side, waited in line, stamp stamp, then rode 10 more minutes to the Peru side, waited in line, stamp stamp, and got back on the bus. Then from Tumbes we caught a bus to Pacasmayo, an 11 hour ride and this is also where we slept. This ride was terrible because we were woken up 6 times by police searching the bus and checkpoints. After leaving my site at 4am on Friday we arrived in Pacasmayo at 8am on Saturday.

Pacasmayo……………

Saturday was full of race day prep. Course reviews, pasta dinners, packet pickups. And it was my birthday! I turned 25 in Ecuador and 26 in Peru!

Sunday was the big day! 26.2 miles! Four Peace Corps Ecuador Volunteers ran in the various races. Two of us did the full marathon. Many Peace Corps Peru Volunteers ran as well. It was fun to meet PCVs from another country.

AND WE’RE OFF….The race began on the boardwalk of Pacasmayo and up a rather large hill and onto a rocky dirt road and then to an asphalt road, which was straight but moderately hilly for 6 km. It was was pure desert to the left and to the right with large sand dunes giving the only sense of irregularity. The 5k and 10k runners turned around at there respective points along that long straight asphalt road. Then the rest of us arrived at a town called Jequetepeque (Heck-uh-ta-peck-ay). A number of the residents were outside cheering on the runners. The 21k-ers (or half marathoners) turned around. The few marathoners left (there were only 38 registered runners and only 8 were women) continued on through a dirt road with some vegetation on the sides for a few kms and then more straight desert…so much so that the road was where ever the drivers decided to drive because there was nothing in the way. We ran to the next town called Hauscar. It looked like a wild-west ghost town. There we turned around and ran back through the desert and the town with a funny name and then the boring asphalt road. Now this was my first “oh-shit-this-sucks” moment. Yes it was boring, straight, and asphalt but also windy as hell. The other problem that was sleeping on the bus two nights before made my knees ache terribly. This was my 21k-26k breakdown, I had not yet gotten to the town of Pacasmayo where my friends were waiting with painkillers and Gu and moral support. But I was over half way. Quitting crossed my mind…but not seriously. So I finally arrive in Pacasmayo (28k) just after the top two guys are finishing…I get my boost and go on for the final third of the race. I see another PCV Ecuador friend, Christina (Seattle), who had just finished the half marathon, and get this…she runs with me for several kilometers. She lets me draft off of her (the wind is coming right off the water and is fierce). What a great girl!! Then she goes to try to cheer on her boyfriend (who is finishing up the full marathon) but misses him because she was helping me.

I keep trudging on for what many consider the worst part of the course. It is literally 50 feet from the ocean but is sandy, rocky, and of course, windy. I walked here. I was rather spent and that part sucked. Then I get to a point where I run up a sand dune and am now running on a hard-packed sandy cliff overlooking the ocean. Beautiful. The last part was misconceiving because I wasn’t sure how far it was to the next town…it was a lot further then I had imagined. But I got to it, a small, cute town called El Milagro (meaning “the miracle”) which was empty of life with the exception of a table of drunken men playing cards. Here I turned around for the final leg of the race which was still 5 miles (8k) or so. Finally on a bit of a runners high I ran the last part in really good spirits and at a faster pace. The last two kilometers were very difficult because I had been thinking “I am almost done…” for 5 miles. But then it happened…the last turn, the police sirens going, all downhill, and the finish line…and I was done!

The weather was exactly what I would choose if I could pick the weather to run a marathon in…minus the wind. It was 65 degrees, no humidity, and sunny. My fellow PCVs all finished their races and did very well. Joe (Connecticut) who also ran the marathon, finished 5^th in the men’s race, in just under 4 hours. And I finished 6^th out of 8, with a time of 5 hours 15 minutes.

Chan Chan………………

The day after the race, we ventured to a nearby town called Trujillo. Here were some beautiful ruins. We caught this quick little tour that would take us to Huaca Arco Iris and the city of Chan Chan. I had seen Chan Chan on one of those MSN lists, that read something like “The Top Things to See Before They Disappear”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Chan Then we caught a really nice night bus to Lima. Now when I say really nice, I mean…double decker, seats that lay nearly flat, two bathrooms, bus attendants that served food and drinks, wifi and a “business center”, and TVs with good movies (not showing a single van Dam movie).

Lima…………………….

Lima is a huge city…and cold. Coming from Ecuador, just about the only thing that affects your weather is your altitude. Lima, being at sea level, we assumed would be warm, but this was not the case. In the city we tried to see some museums and some historical stuff…and we kind of did, in between the shopping. We visited the Presidential Palace, an old church with catacombs and the coolest, oldest library I have ever seen, then we visited a modern art museum. Then we bought jeans and shoes and starbucks. Ecuador has expensive, crappy clothes and Peru has really cheap, good-quality clothes. A shopping spree after a year and a half in a third world country isn’t that bad….right? We met up with a cousin of Lindsay's who lives in Lima and ate at Tony Roma's and I drank a Guinness. Good stuff.

Photos...............................

Border Crossing, Pacamayo, and Marathon

Huaca Arco Iris, Chan Chan, and Trujillo

Buses and Lima