If I had to sum up todays run in one word, it'd be "difficult". Most of us had no idea what we were in for. The day started out early, really early, 3:30 AM early. As I groaned to myself "what am I doing" I went about stuffing all my posessions into the 24 gallon action packer I was impressed that I actually got everything into it. The boxes really aren't that big when you consider you have to fit a tent, sleeping bag, running clothes, camera, food, laptop and all the other things one needs for 6 days of running. But I digress. Around 4:30 dutifully file onto the charter bus they have hired which will take us to the start, a supposed 3.5 hour drive.

We don't even get out of San Jose when we have the first casualty. The gentleman sitting behind me has a head cold and is prone to motion sickness and doesn't feel well as soon as we start moving. I help him open the window and use the curtans to divert some air to him but it is not good enough. He rushes to the front of the bus and gets the driver to stop. The rush of fresh air is a welcome relief, but prolongs the inevitable. Several minutes later the driver just barely opens the door in time to make way for lost breakfast.

The next hour and a half is a relatively good ride, and we get to a roadside cafe and stop for a bathroom break. We spend a few minutes there and everyone piles back on the bus. Not more than 10 minutes later we crest a hill and see a series of wires in the air and signs for zip lines. The bus pulls over and we wonder if we get a suprise start. Unfortunately one of the smaller busses has a flat tire. They transfer everyone off that bus and we continue on to Rancho Margot. We arrive with about 2 hours to the start, so people start milling around taking advantage of some of the local bathrooms and concessions. As the start time comes near we gather and get a few last minute instructions and prepare to run out of the little park procession style and onto the course. With a somewhat unceremonial countdown we start our 220 km run.

As we run out of the small town of Fortuna, we are treated to a gentle climb toward some hills. This serves to spread the pack about a bit, I can see the leaders about 400 meters ahead of me. As we get closer to the hills, I realize they weren't kidding when they said we would warm up quickly. Not only was I drenched in sweat in the first 15 minutes, we turn a corner and see the road go up. Nearly straight up the biggest hill around. Still feeling good, I tell myself to take it easy, pace myself, there's lots of time. As we climb through the fields, and onto a private ranch, the humidity keeps rising and the slight breeze we picked up is not very comforting. The road turns into a trail with stairs as it really gets steep. Finally, we reach the tree line and plunge into the rain forest. It was a spooky transition, as I've never been in a forest like that before. The light grows dim, the mist settles in, and the slight trail we had turns into a web of tree roots and chanels where the water has eroded what little trail there was (see photo).

We go up, and up, and up, and finally when we can't go up any more, the trail turns into a thick soupy mud. The kind every hasher dreams about. I felt a little second wind kick in as it felt like I was at home in Atlanta on some Black Sheep trail. We traverse the top of the hill we are on and the trail takes a sharp turn downhill. As steep as it was going up, we are now going down the other side. It's a very wet and slippery decent, but much faster than the climb up. I think it took an hour to go up the 900 meters we climed, but less than 20 minutes going down. As we reached the bottom the trail turned back into a road, which I had hoped would take us to a nice easy finish. I should stop hoping now. We get to a small town on the lake under the Arenal volcano, and trail starts to go up again. I see signs for museums and butterfly conservatories. That would be a nice place to finish I think to myself. Instead we head for the hills again, and climb another 300 meters to a hill which gives a beautiful view of the lake and the cloud shrouded volcano.

At the top I hear faint cheers and figure I should be close now. I crest the hill and see a river snaking through a valley, paradise. I am inspired by the cheering and try to pick up the pace, as I've started cramping pretty badly, my legs completely lock up in protest and I am forced to walk down to the finish. Threes hours and twenty minutes after I start, I cross the finish line. that is the longest 1/2 marathon of my life! It's only an hour behind today's stage winner, but I feel good about it. I quickly plunge into a cool pool and wash off the trail that decided it have more fun staying with me. It's much welcome relief for this tired body.

As I sit here in the local bar and drink a beer and make this entry, I ponder what lies in store for us tomorrow. At 65 km, I hope it's not as hard as today was. I want to wish all of you reading this around the world thanks for all the shout outs, keep it up! All the competitors appreciate it as they are printing them for us to read.

Peter