Vamos

Since I got to Honduras, I found it really difficult to go running as often as I would like.  Over the past few weeks, however, several of the male teachers and I have started running for about an hour every Wednesday after school.  It's been really nice to have other people who like to run around, because there really is no way that I could go by myself. 

Also, I have started training one of my students, Andrea, to run a mile in under 7 minutes.  We now go three times a week after school to a track here in Tegucigalpa and run. I love training Andrea, it's like a side hobby I never knew I could do. After we train, she has tennis practice, so her mom lets me stay and run around the track for as long as I like and then gives me a ride home.

All that to say that Eduardo, another teacher at IST, told us all about a 10K race here in Tegucigalpa.  The race was this past Sunday morning, and since there were several of us from school running, we all got matching t-shirts and had our names put on them.  It was pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie.  

IST Teachers and Staff

So here's what happened, the race started around 9:00AM, and my goal was to run the race in about 48 minutes.  There were a couple other guys who wanted to run it at about the same pace, so I decided if I could just keep up with them than I would be good.  We started off pretty well, moved to the front of the pack pretty quickly.  Those hills really tend to weed out people pretty fast.  On the way up the first hill, I almost tripped and fell on my face because "someone" got really close to me and our feet got tangled.  I was about to get really mad at whoever thought they could get so close to me, when I looked back and saw a dog running with a number around his collar.  Only in Honduras can a dog enter a 10K race.  I was a little less upset to know that the K-9 had run between my legs and not another person though.

The race was going well, and I was feeling pretty good, when I spotted the #1 female runner up ahead.  So I decided to stick pretty closely behind her and make my way to the end.  I like to run behind people, instead of trying to stay ahead because that is always more difficult.  I accidentally got a little to close to her at one point and she spotted me coming up behind her.  From that point on, she started bookin' and I was just trying to keep up.  With about a Kilometer to go, a guy came running from the opposite direction and starting running with her.  They started running really fast, and I just kept telling myself "Just keep up with them!"  I managed to give it everything I had and kept within a pretty close distance, when a guy came up from behind me and started encouraging me, "Vamos!", but at that point I realized that there was a huge crowd standing right at the top of the hill.

I wish this could be one of those "come from behind" stories, but it wasn't.  I ended up coming in 2nd place, but I was very happy with that.  I felt like I did my best and honestly I don't think I could have beaten the lady who came in first.  She was good.

After the race, everyone started talking about there being prizes for the winners.  I figured that there wouldn't be any since the race was free in the first place.  However, I was told to come back at 1 o'clock for the award ceremony, and rumor had it that I was going to win L.5000 ($250)!

The Martinez family picked Tim and I up and took us out for breakfast at a really nice restaurant while we waited for the ceremony.  Marco and Rosela were so excited and proud of me! (Made me feel like my own mom and dad were there with me to celebrate!)  After breakfast we walked around the mall, just waiting time until 1 o'clock.  Finally, we headed back out to where the tents were set up, only to find that everyone was gone and they had actually gone ahead and done the ceremony at noon.

Good news though, the people in charge were still there, and very glad to see that I had come back.  They said that they didn't know what they were going to do because it was such a great prize, but they had no one to give it to.  I was expecting a check or cash or something like that, but then the lady told me my actual prize....

A round-trip flight to La Ceiba and a 3 nights stay at an all-inclusive resort on the beach for 2!  I could hardly believe it. I was to call the lady and let her know when I wanted the trip so that they could make the reservations for me.  Rosela (being like my mom) could read my mind, and immediately asked if they could hold the trip until June.  At first the lady hesistated, but then said that it would be okay. 

You see, I had already told Rosela that Jeremy was planning on coming to visit in June and that we were going to go to Roatan (which is the Island off of La Ceiba).  What a perfect prize to receive! Now we get to enjoy a great resort and a beautiful beach all for FREE!  I am still pretty shocked at how great of a prize that I got.  Things like this just don't happen to me, so I'm still trying to soak it in. 

Only in Honduras!

Tim and I with the Martinez kid's, Marco, Maria Jose and Marianna