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Published: March 16th 2007
Fin del Mundo Marathon
We had a banquet at the Glacier Hotel that night as were prepared for our second marathon in eight days. The hotel was modern and beautiful, nestled in the mountains below a glacier with a chair lift for sight seeing in the summer and skiing in the winter. Its view of the Beagle Channel, the Chilean hills in the distance and the town below was spectacular. The local organizers came to our dinner and described the course: tents and hot tea after the 7 AM bus ride out, starting in a National Park for 16 km (“many hills, long but not steep”), then into town, out and back to the airport (“here it gets windy”), then out of town to the south, down the national highway up the coastal hills before returning back in to the city center. The day before was windy with alternating sun and heavy sleet and horizontal snow. We awoke to find wind but sun and 40 degree temperatures made it comfortable running weather. The tents at the start were small aid tents set up by the Army and covered with camouflage for some reason as was the cooker trailer heating the tea.
Rabbits were everywhere around the lake as the sun came up on us and it was beautiful. We began to get encouraged despite our legs still sore from the previous week’s challenge. We took some photos and came 13 countries came together for the start. The remainder of our Antarctica group that had opted to stay made up a little more than half the entrants. The run through the forest was beautiful with many birds as we climbed hills along verdant valleys. At one point I looked down to see horses grazing in a green field; across the valley a steam locomotive whistled its way on a track cut along the edge of snowy mountain peaks. We crossed several wooden bridges over mountain streams. I felt like I was in a movie.
The support was terrific with aid stations every 5 km and Army and other military of some sort with locals cheering us on. I forgot about leg pain and drank in the moment.
Eventually we had to leave the dirt roads and made it back to the city. The asphalt made for easier running but we had to watch for cars until we turned onto the road out
to the airport. Windy turned out to be an understatement. We had 50 mph winds in our face for the mile out there. It blew us off the road. I saw Tom hunker down till he was only 3 feet tall trying to push against the wind as we climbed a small hill on the way out. It continued to blow us around on the way back and didn’t get any easier. Finally I made it back to the city for a nice run by a lagoon. I got interviewed for a mile on the fly by a Fox Sports announcer in the back of a four-wheeler. I’d love to see that since there were delicious snow covered mountains the entire time behind me.
The rest of the race seemed to crash from there. About mile 18 I started slowing down and needed some water. At was a sponge stop (which we didn’t need given the low temperatures) I was offered a bottle of water which I was chugging until I realized it was very salty; they had been using it to pour over the recycled sponges from the water tub…
I gagged but kept on running again into the
wind along the coast up the hill. People came back with ankle cuts from where the wind blew their shoes against the opposite leg. The wind again became a challenge but I hung on as we came back into town, this time fighting business traffic as we ran along the city roads. Eventually I saw the finish and heard my name announced as I crossed the finish in 3:39. I was happy considering the wind and my condition. It took me a while to stop shivering from the wind chill. Luckily Tom again came to the rescue with extra clothing and eventually I warmed up enough to take some pictures.
We rounded out the afternoon in the hotel bar after going downtown to sign up for a glacier climb (!) the next morning.
The award ceremony that night was a treasure to behold. The sky outside lit up with lenticular clouds while the race organizers showed up with a pile of yard high trophies. Our group came away with about a dozen age group awards. The Trophies proved to be a challenge to take home. One woman who had an early flight out didn’t realize she had won till we
Fin del Mundo Marathon Winners
Figure getting these trophies in our over-stuffed bagsran to the street as she got into the cab for the airport. We handed here a three level, meter high, loving cup on marble base to her stunned amazement as she pulled away. Whether it made it home is unknown. Tom and I disassembled our first and third place age group awards but still had airport security problems.
Our glacier climb ended up being very hard as we climbed 3000 feet in mud and snow up to the beginning of the glacier. Our desire to climb the glacier itself was thwarted by snow which hid the dangerous fissures and our guide made us stop. Still it was absolutely lovely as we got terrific pictures of the mountains, forests, and snow. It made the all day hike worth the extreme effort on tired legs. We arrived back at the hotel at 6 PM, just when we had told the rest of the group we’d be ready for dinner. We did a quick cleanup and went with 6 others to a super restaurant out on the coast. Our initial disappointment at being told they didn’t serve till 8 vanished when we saw floor to ceiling windows overlooking the bay, warm stone
walls with hand iron work and inlaid colored glass and yard wide steps down to the window from the bar covered with cushions. “Take your shoes off, the floor is heated,” said the fellow in dreadlocks as he brought us beers and turned on the reggae. We relaxed on the cushioned floor for an hour before being serve a wonderful dinner. It was a fitting way to end our trip to Ushuaia.
Return
Our return trip was not without its moments. Our flight which was supposed to be direct from Ushuaia to the Buenos Aires International airport and our bags would transfer through. Instead Aerolineas changed the flight destination to the domestic airport an hour away from the international one. We had to retrieve our luggage, wrangle 39 folks into buses, and get across town in the evening traffic. Arriving there we had trouble finding where to check in again until I was literally grabbed by an employee as I walked around in a bewildered way. He said “Miami?” and when I nodded he dragged my cart through a maze of people around several corners and pointed to the floor in front of a security station. “Here!” is where
we formed a line with the others in the group chasing after me.
Tiffany's story:
We all got checked in, through security, immigration, a maze of duty free shops and to the gate where we were waiting when Tiffany’s name was called out over the speakers. She went to the desk and was told they wanted to search her bags. No problem; she and Tom and made it through security and checked in carrying their bags on a luggage cart together. She waited for a security guard to escort her to the bag and eventually walked off to check it out. She was brought town to the tarmac where they had a paddy wagon with wooden seats in the back and bars on the windows. “Hold it!”
she says. “Am I under arrest cause if not I’m not getting in there and if I am you can just call the embassy! And I want a woman officer present.” They argued but brought the woman officer who was mad as the officer sat in the back while Tiffany rode up front to the luggage area where there were a dozen soldiers around a bag with weapons out.
“We think you
have a bomb in your suitcase. And fossils.” (as if terrorists generally put use fossils as shrapnel)
“Well,” she said, “that’s not true and that isn’t my suitcase.” pulling on the luggage tag.
"Yes it is"
“Do I look like THOMAS Gillman?”
Luckily she knew Tom had disassembled his trophy and packed it on the side to protect it. They freaked a bit when she walked over, zipped open the case and showed them the trophy which said First Place Male 50-55 Fin del Mundo Marathon. She also pointed to the 3 rocks Tom had picked up on our glacier hike. “Not fossils, just rocks. They checked already in Ushuaia. " When she started laughing they got angry but eventually brought her back as the plane was loading. It was a typical way to leave Argentina.
I got my bag completely searched three times more on the way home as it set off every alarm on the way. I wouldn’t have gotten through Buenos Aires security if one of our group hadn’t spoken excellent Spanish and told them I had won the marathon. Tom and I also had major flight problems as we paid extra to get on an earlier
flight which then announced equipment problems and missed out connection in Atlanta. We eventually changed over to Richmond arriving at our original later time but our bags didn’t make it home till the next day.
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Joe P
non-member comment
Amazing adventure
An amazing adventure to be sure.