Caribbean Running Cruise Day 5 - St. Kitts Rain Forest Hash

I'm not gonna lie -- I was a little nervous about today. We had a very early start -- 6am briefing and breakfast -- to be off the ship at 7. Funny -- no one else was trying to get off the boat with us today.

Today was a traditional hash run -- either 5K(ish) or 10K(ish) in a rainforest preserve. We were being hosted by the local Hash House Harriers, including two cruise favorites:

Percy

Popcorn

We were off the boat so quickly that we had time to kill in the completely empty cruise port...

'nuff said

But then -- wow -- a bunch of funky open-sided buses turned up and we all piled on board for the 20-minute trip to the Wingfield Estate, a former sugar plantation turned nature reserve and batik factory.

wave goodbye to the people on the dock -- you'll never see them again! - photo by Jenny Hadfield

The drive was interesting -- and SO NICE to get away from cruise-world for a while! Minor highlight ... as we went up a hill, we passed a cemetery. I called over to Deborah and said, "Deborah, look -- it's the dead center of the island." She looked at me and said, "Really? Wow. How do you know? Is it because we're going up this hill?" I just stared at her for one beat, two beats, three beats... before she burst out laughing. The old jokes are the best jokes, eh?

When we got to the race site, we dropped off our bags and got ready to run. Percy explained the race markings -- green circles for the 10K, blue circles for the 5K, then look for orange ribbons in the forest reserve.

"when you get in the forest, look for the orange ribbons"

This is of course different from a traditional hash run, where the hare would set off a little bit early and mark the course with flour... but since they had to mark out the courses early, they had to use something a bit more permanent.

It was another hot day, so I was looking forward to getting into the forest. We took a final group photo ... I mean, we were all going to go running in a rain forest, we might not all come back, right?

one crazy! - photo by Jenny Hadfield

Then we started off down the hill to the main road -- sadly, we all knew that that meant we'd be climbing back up later!

We ran along the main road for a stretch, then turned and ran up a hill until the courses split. I'm REALLY GLAD I was running with Wil, because I could barely spot the markings. Lots of running on dirt-and-grass roads. I'm still not sure if we missed part of a loop somewhere but, if so, I think we all did.

Eventually we rejoined the 5K course, running back into the Wingfield Estate at a water stop. I think we were at 2.6 miles or so by our GPS, and the 5Kers we chatted with said they were at 1.1ish. That's when we headed up into the reserve.

The next couple of miles was a little tough. Some broad but steep paths, some single-track trails, and a dry and a wet stream crossing. Lots of climbing up and picking our way down.

A few times we had to squeeze past our fellow runners, but almost everyone was really good-natured about it. (Which was definitely helped by Jenny's pre-race "trail etiquette" talk!)

Wil and I came across the finish line via a short detour, as we had climbed up a bank to avoid a bunch of vans that had just turned up... but we high-fived BJ and John, then drew our cards from Karen:

We also marveled at JUST HOW LONG IT HAD TAKEN US... 1:12 and change to go 4.6ish miles. But, still -- look how great this satellite image of our run looks!

We collected our drink tickets and promptly got a couple of Caribe beers and went back to the shady finish line. Later on we had lunch (hooray for veggie burgers!), a bit more beer, and much more cheering -- especially when Jenny came in with lots of "ducklings".

At some point we joined in on a "tour of the estate" -- which turned out to be a tour up to the batik factory and a visit to a very well-stocked gift shop. After decided we absolutely did not need anything we both said, well, we *could* get new sarongs for summer at Camp Wil-Sun... So back in we went, coming out with sarongs and headbands. What are we like???

A short while later, we had a traditional Hash House Harriers ceremony -- led by Popcorn. There was singing, drinking, a tiny bit of shaming, oh, and lots of drinking.

 

 Not even Coach Jenny was safe...

Richard, who had run the hash on a previous trip, was in for special punishment -- he had to drink a beer out of his (very large) shoe:

Finally, we piled back on the buses for a trip around the island. Lots of churches, lots of abandoned sugar plantations, lots of old sugar plantations converted into posh resorts, and not all that much else. (Apparently the sugar industry closed down in 2005 ... due to plummeting profits. However, the government of St. Kitts converted the old sugar railway into a tourist attraction -- which I would have loved to see... maybe next time.)

We did make one very nice stop at a place where a lava flow from the island's volcano had reached the sea -- very pretty. And, of course, another chance to shop! (Ha!)

Then back on the buses for the remainder of the trip back to the port. I think a lot of folks headed straight back to the ship, but we decided to go for a little walk through the quiet town ... in a lot of ways, MUCH more appealing than St. Maarten. (That said, I can almost imagine living in St. Maarten... )

Eventually we made our way back to the ship, stopping to buy ridiculous color-changing nail polish. Because... toenails.

toes inside

toes outside

Then another typically enjoyable evening on the ship -- dinner, drinks, chatter, sleep.

Caribbean Running Cruise Day 4 - St. Maarten Scenic Run

We met up in the Pyramid Lounge for our pre-race meeting and breakfast. Today we would run along the boardwalk in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

There was a little chaos getting off the ship -- we always arrange to be the first off, but other passengers don't know that ... so when we go swanning by, well, we get some nasty looks.

But we all piled off, Wil being the first person off the ship in our line. However, something odd happened to the software -- the crew kept scanning the SeaPass cards and it wasn't working ... lots of WHOMP game-show fail sort of sounds, rather than PING success sounds. Eventually it worked, but the picture that came up on the screen was Wil. No matter who came through. We encouraged our fellow runners to acquire fake beards for when they came back on board...

We were met on the pier by a very nice Dutch expat who runs a triathlon store called Tri-Sport St. Maarten. (Really embarrassed that I didn't catch his name...) He and his crew had organized our run. We gathered not far from the weird "retail village" at the pier and stood around for a  little while (always with the peeing!) and then listened to the race talk.

yep, that's my camera lens steaming up in the muggy heat!

We would run from the start along the walkway into town, emerging on the boardwalk. The 5K runners would run along the boardwalk until it became hard-packed sand, then run to a turnaround by a green building. (Q: "Is it marked?" A: "It's a BIG building") Then run back past the finish arch to a turnaround, then back out along the boardwalk to the edge of the sand, then back to the finish. 10K runners would do the "long lap" to the green building 3x, then the short lap.

obligatory pre-race photo

marking the start line - photo by John Bingham

Eventually they sent us off running -- the first stretch was a little narrow as we were just running on a sidewalk, but it very quickly opened up. Our early exit from the ship meant that the boardwalk and shopping area wasn't too crowded, so we were able to quickly thread ourselves through.

and we're off! - photo by Jenny Hadfield

photo by Jenny Hadfield

big sale at the diamond store! run! - photo by Jenny Hadfield 

The restaurants and shops were just opening up, which meant we got a lot of attention for the shopkeepers. Wil was addressed as Moses and Santa, which was pretty amusing.

We ran out along the boardwalk, past the water taxi stop, along the very gorgeous beach, on to the sand ... the turnaround WAS marked and manned by a cheerful guy.

Team Wil-Sun - photo by Jenny Hadfield

The nice part about running back and forth all those time was that we could see all of the runners multiple times and cheer like mad.

Bud and Claudia - photo by Jenny Hadfield

At one point, one of the guys sitting in a restaurant called out to Wil: "Come and see me when you are done running... I have what you need." I said, "Put two in the fridge!" and Janet, running right near us, said, "Me too!" the guy shook his head and said, "Not that kind of thing, mon." Ha!

The weather? Hot. Stinking hot. But we got a little lucky since it was overcast AND we even got a little rain shower for a few minutes. But still -- SO HOT. So hot that at one point I saw BJ walking. WALKING. That hot. ;)

photos by John Bingham - he'll treasure this one forever :) 

We finished, gulped down some water, and then Wil went to buy us our first Caribe beers. We stood at the finish line, drinking beer and cheering people on. Best finish? Matt and Vickie Kim, who came in holding hands AND Matt did a nifty little heel kick.

Tony and Dawn post-race - photo by John Bingham

Joe finishing strong - photo by John Bingham

our two favorite ladies - photo by John Bingham, who first used his right hand, then his left hand...

And, how cool is this map of the run?

Once folks were all finished, we headed back to the ship to get cleaned up, eat a late breakfast (early lunch?) before walking back into town.

Since diamond shopping really wasn't our thing, we just wandered around the town, managing to be next to an elementary school as it let out, so that we were surrounded by kids in their school uniforms. Adorbs.

We did make a point of visiting the GuavaBerry store, where we tried the "local folk liqueur" Guavaberry, their rum, and their guavaberry daiquiri. We didn't feel the need to buy the rum or liqueur, but of course had to buy guavaberry daiquiris... in hot-pink cups.

We ended up back at the ship a little early -- which gave us time to enjoy today's happy hour at Boleros (2-for-1 mai tais), relax on the balcony, and take a nap before dinner.

maybe a little sun...

Dinner tonight was with Jenny (yay!), along with Matt and Vicky, Gary and Leshia, Joyce, and two other women I didn't manage to "meet".

(This trip, there were so many people that John and Jenny dined separately so they could maximize the number of folks who got to eat with one of them.)

After dinner drinks in Olive or Twist (of course), but we had an early night, relaxing in our room on the balcony. Oh, and my favorite towel animal of all time:

Tomorrow: our first hash run!

Caribbean Running Cruise Day 3 - At Sea

Another fine day -- with little structure. Wil and I have decided to run every day while we are on the cruise... possibly beyond that. Most of the week was a given, since we have so many group runs. But today we were up to our own devices, so we got up, got dressed, and went up to the deck to run a mile. 

STILL stupid windy... but this time hot. Oh Dear. Should have added more time to my predicted race finish times!

We had to come back down to the room and shower before we could get breakfast -- we were that gross. From running a mile. Yowzers.

Very unscheduled all day -- so we did a little nosing around in the shops, attempted - twice -- to attend a shopping seminar (yeah, that was dumb), eating breakfast and lunch in the dining room (a meatless eggs benedict for breakfast, a massive salad and gnocchi for lunch), lounging in "the tongue" at the pool, and we went to hear John's talk.

I love hearing John talk about running, especially when he tells his story about getting started. But he also told some stories I hadn't heard before:

Talking to former marathon world-record holder Khalid Khannochi after the Chicago Marathon...

John: "What's the longest you've ever run?"

Khalid: "It was my worst ever marathon finish -- 2:12."

Aside from John to us -- now, most people in this room have run or walked longer than 2 hours and 12 minutes... so we've got ENDURANCE.

John: "I ran 5:37 today."

Khalid: "That's pretty fast for a guy your age..."

John: "No, you MOOK... 5 HOURS, 37 MINUTES..."

And a riff about what it's like at the back of the pack:

Post-race food? POST-race food? I didn't know there WAS post-race food for 4 or 5 years... by the time I got to the finish, there wasn't any... maybe a cookie on the floor or something.

And his classification of runners into four basic types:

1. Real fast. (The elites)

2. Pretty fast. (The sub elites)

3. Kinda fast. ("Trophy sniffers")

4. Penguins. 

After the talk we settled in at Boleros for the happy hour -- 2-for-1 rum punches (of course!). this time sitting in the bar and enjoying the gentility of it all. Later we went ack to the cabin and enjoyed our sunny balcony, writing and reading till it was time to go for dinner. 

Tonight we sat with Bud and Claudia from North Dakota, Ralph from Ohio, and Judy from Arizona. Again, two people didn't show up for dinner... I think we'll start to develop a complex about that...  For dessert I couldn't decide between the cherries jubilee and the cheese plate. I said I'd share the cherries jubilee with Wil... and proceeded to EAT ALL OF IT. Best part was that Bud called me out on it before I had even noticed. Oops. So, apparently, I like cherries jubilee. But don't feel too bad for Wil... he had a rum baba AND a Jaffa cake...

After dinner we headed up to Olive or Twist with John and Jenny and soon were joined by a lot of our fellow runners. 

Amusing moment: before any else ha arrived, the four of us shifted chairs and tables around to accommodate a largish group. A handful of JoCo cruisers were shopping for a table where they could see the track, because they were thinking of running around it. One of them nervously said, "Wait, do I have to run ALL THE WAY AROUND IT????"

Just then Belinda and some others arrived, a discussion of groups and tables arrived, and they shifted own so our group could stay together. Nice young chaps. (One left his DS sitting on the table... someone in our groups said to him, "You left your, um, phone?" He said he didn't have his phone with him, so Wil said "It's your DS.") Neeeerrrrd Boooooaaaat! 

(I should quickly point out that Wil and I firmly qualify as nerds... and that "NEEEEEERRRRRD BOOOOOOAAAAAT!" was a greeting by someone's Mii when street-passing with Wil. Yes, we ARE nerds...)

Tomorrow is our first early day -- a 7am race briefing before the ship docks at 8. Tomorrow we run in St. Maarten!