Running in Asia and South America

Sandwell

Myself and my wife are heading off travelling for a year next summer. Both of us are into running and we're hoping to do a few races along the way. We'll be in Asia from July to December and in South America from February to June. We've not really got any fixed itineraries as of yet so we'd be willing to plan our travels around some cool races. As it is we hope to do a bit of mountain running in Nepal, Patagonia etc. but we're trying to get some more ideas. We're happy to consider most kinds of races - road, trail, adventure races. In terms of distance, anything up to marathon distance would be considered but we'll probably focus mainly on 10k to half-marathon. So, can anyone recommend a race, a route or a good website with race calendars etc? I have done a bit of research online but have found it impossible to find a comprehensive resource that lists international races. In any case, I'd place more value on personal recommendations so over to ye.

Dan man

Sounds very exciting, wish I was spending 2012 in the same way. I'm not sure about adventure races or the like but www.runningtrip.com has some details of races throughout the coming year. It may be of some help.
Here is a link to their calendar of 2012 races in South/Central America.
http://www.runningtrip.com/2011/12/planning-your-2012-races-south-america-central-america-and-caribbean/

All the best with the plans.

Pisco Sour

Check out the Inca Trail marathon, if you are stupid enough to attempt it

http://www.andesadventures.com/run2asum.htm

Supposedly they have seperate races for the porters, who can go sub 4 hours. That is unreal. Starts at 2800m, goes up to 4200m, and then drops to 2400m at Machu Picchu. Ridiculous terrain, especially when going down hill. Very easy to slip and break a leg, especially if going at that pace. Those porters are ridiculously fit. Were flying up and down those mountains with 30kg on their backs when I did the 4 day hike. Makes you wonder could they be good at distance running if the likes of Peru and Bolivia had a culture towards it, or is 3000-4000m above seas level too high to gain the advantages the East Africans get?

Sandwell

04072511 wrote: »

Check out the Inca Trail marathon, if you are stupid enough to attempt it

http://www.andesadventures.com/run2asum.htm

Supposedly they have seperate races for the porters, who can go sub 4 hours. That is unreal. Starts at 2800m, goes up to 4200m, and then drops to 2400m at Machu Picchu. Ridiculous terrain, especially when going down hill. Very easy to slip and break a leg, especially if going at that pace. Those porters are ridiculously fit. Were flying up and down those mountains with 30kg on their backs when I did the 4 day hike. Makes you wonder could they be good at distance running if the likes of Peru and Bolivia had a culture towards it, or is 3000-4000m above seas level too high to gain the advantages the East Africans get?

Yeah, interesting alright. I've read accounts of Nepali distance runners (where there's very little tradition of running) holding their own in European ultra races. I'm sure the Bolivians and Peruvians would be the same.

I've came across that http://www.andesadventures.com site before and it looks really great but it seems to be targeted at package tours. I'm not sure if you can just turn up and run. I'm not planning on paying $2500 to run a marathon!

Krusty_Clown

Mithril is just back after spending six months running around South America. You could drop him a PM, or check out the last few months of his training log, which describe various races and runs around the continent.

zico10

When you're in South America make sure you go to El Chalten, in Argentina. It is in the middle of nowhere and has the most spectacular scenery you could possibly imagine. I am not aware of any races that take place there, but it easily has a week's worth of seven different and equally stunning treks. No reason you could not run them, just don't come on boards giving out about walkers slowing you down.:)

If you were to do the Inca Trail marathon, I think it would void any insurance you had taken out. It's difficult enough breathe, the terrain is insanely dangerous, how the hell anybody can do it in 4 hours is mind boggling.

I can only speak about Thailand in Asia, but things seem to be far more disorganised than what you'd be used to in Europe. Anyway, so far in Thailand, I did a 14km race in the Chumphon province around June/July. It finished up on an island, which we had to run through low tide water to get to. We were told it would only be ankle deep, but it was more like knee deep.





It turned into a bit of a slog, but still it was pretty cool. It's an annual event, so if you're in Thailand at that time of the year, it would be worth looking into. Their website is in Thai, contains information on numerous different events in the region (not exclusively races), will probably be only updated a week before the race, but in time you might find out something here; http://www.paknamlangsuan.com/

I plan to do the Bangkok marathon on February 12th, which was originally scheduled for a few weeks ago, but due to floods in Bangkok, the date had to be moved. I'm guessing that it will be scheduled for November/December time next year as well.
There's also a marathon in Phuket around November time, I had no interest in it because it clashed with something else, but I imagine it would be a much nicer course than Bangkok.

Pisco Sour

zico10 wrote: »

If you were to do the Inca Trail marathon, I think it would void any insurance you had taken out. It's difficult enough breathe, the terrain is insanely dangerous, how the hell anybody can do it in 4 hours is mind boggling.

Agreed. You would really need a few weeks in Cusco to acclimatise first if you were to plan to do this. It's bad enough just hiking it over 4 days if you haven't adjusted to to the altitude. I couldn't imagine running it. I had 2 weeks at altitude in Chile, Bolivia and Peru before I did the trek so I found it easy enough, but running it all in one day is a different story. Mad how those Porters can just fly up and down those mountains with 30kg on our backs, while the rest of us are struggling with just 2-3kg.

If you're feeling adventurous you could try to make the summit of Aconcagua in the Andes in Argentina. Highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas. Takes something like 15 days to reach the summit which is 6962m above sea level if I'm not mistaken. Apparantly reaching the top depends on a lot of luck with the weather, as if it gets dangerous, everybody is ordered to descend.

seanynova

in bogota, me and a mate did a bit of running, we were chased by a gang...lol....seriously though, every sunday some main streets are closed and you can run for miles at high altitude...

nerraw1111

Check out moire o sullivans blog. She's done a lot of running in Nepal. She also did
a cool multi sport in Vietnam.

Make sure you do the mountain biking in Bolivia on "worlds most dangerous road." It's not that dangerous but great craic.

Pisco Sour

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Check out moire o sullivans blog. She's done a lot of running in Nepal. She also did
a cool multi sport in Vietnam.

Make sure you do the mountain biking in Bolivia on "worlds most dangerous road." It's not that dangerous but great craic.

My mate did it last year and said that the day before an Israeli girl went over the edge. It's not called the world's most dangerous road for no reason.

zico10

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Make sure you do the mountain biking in Bolivia on "worlds most dangerous road." It's not that dangerous but great craic.

Going off topic, but I'd go along with this.

04072511 wrote: »

My mate did it last year and said that the day before an Israeli girl went over the edge. It's not called the world's most dangerous road for no reason.

It's closed to traffic. I don't know how long ago it was, but this used not be the case. When cyclists had to share the road with cars, buses and trucks driving in both directions, it probably deserved the name 'The World's Most Dangerous Road.'
It never lasted as long, but I've honestly been more scared, on my road bike, coming down some of the roads in Ireland. The only people on 'The World's Most Dangerous Road' these days, are the hundreds of tourists taken up daily, by the multiple companies who operate in La Paz. If you go with a reputable company, the bike will be in perfect working order, and I think you would have to be very careless to go over the edge.

nerraw1111

Off topic. What zico says. Used to be a lot
worse before road was closed to traffic. 18 backpackers killed in last years according to BBC. Great fun tho.

On topic. This site appears to have a comprehensive list of races in 2012.

http://www.actionasia.com/actionasia/Events/

mithril

I have completed 2 marathons while I was travelling in South America -Mendoza and Buenos Aires in the last few months - but I think your proposed time frame will not work for them.
Neither of them are particularly memorable courses but give show you something of the country and people in a different way than you are likely to experience as a tourist. The peak season for marathons is the South American spring and autumn, and most cities with population around 1 million hold one, so you should have plenty of choices. Beware of marathons and adventure events in South America which target North America; these are very overpriced. There are smaller, much cheaper, events, which have limited visibility on the Internet, which you can find out about when you are actually in the country by talking to locals.

On a previous trip to South America I cycled the so-called "Road of Death" in Bolivia and also walked the Inca trail.

The "Road of Death" was deadly for 2 trucks passing alongside each other at night, particularly when the drivers were frequently under the influence of drink or drugs. The only recent tourist death when I cycled it six years ago - and it is supposed to have been made safer since - was when the person concerned was alleged to be under the influence of cocaine, and if you follow the directions of the guide, it's no more dangerous than cycling around Wicklow.

I tried to find an option for running the Inca Trail - there are actually several marathons a year - but could not find one that was not overpriced for the tourist market. If you find a better option, it's not particularly high - compared with Kilimanjaro for example - and you can always walk the level ground and up-hills, and run downhills, if not fully acclimatized to the altitude.

Pisco Sour

mithril wrote: »

I tried to find an option for running the Inca Trail - there are actually several marathons a year - but could not find one that was not overpriced for the tourist market. If you find a better option, it's not particularly high - compared with Kilimanjaro for example - and you can always walk the level ground and up-hills, and run downhills, if not fully acclimatized to the altitude.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Are you stone mad?! I've never seen such steep, slippy terrain in all my life. My tour guide called it the "Gringo Killer", as there is always some muppet who breaks a leg WALKING down it. Who on earth would actually run down those slopes!

mithril

04072511 wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Are you stone mad?! I've never seen such steep, slippy terrain in all my life. My tour guide called it the "Gringo Killer", as there is always some muppet who breaks a leg WALKING down it. Who on earth would actually run down those slopes!

Long sections of the course most definitely are runnable.There is a nice account by Irishman Richard Donovan of his winning effort in 2002 (5:50 for 27.5 miles)
It's no steeper or difficult than many of the technical downhills in the average IMRA race. I am familiar with the route since I hiked it 6 years ago before I started to run.

Sandwell

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Off topic. What zico says. Used to be a lot
worse before road was closed to traffic. 18 backpackers killed in last years according to BBC. Great fun tho.

On topic. This site appears to have a comprehensive list of races in 2012.

http://www.actionasia.com/actionasia/Events/

That site looks very useful, thanks. I'll keep an eye on it for further additions.

Sandwell

mithril wrote: »

I have completed 2 marathons while I was travelling in South America -Mendoza and Buenos Aires in the last few months - but I think your proposed time frame will not work for them.
Neither of them are particularly memorable courses but give show you something of the country and people in a different way than you are likely to experience as a tourist. The peak season for marathons is the South American spring and autumn, and most cities with population around 1 million hold one, so you should have plenty of choices. Beware of marathons and adventure events in South America which target North America; these are very overpriced. There are smaller, much cheaper, events, which have limited visibility on the Internet, which you can find out about when you are actually in the country by talking to locals.

On a previous trip to South America I cycled the so-called "Road of Death" in Bolivia and also walked the Inca trail.

The "Road of Death" was deadly for 2 trucks passing alongside each other at night, particularly when the drivers were frequently under the influence of drink or drugs. The only recent tourist death when I cycled it six years ago - and it is supposed to have been made safer since - was when the person concerned was alleged to be under the influence of cocaine, and if you follow the directions of the guide, it's no more dangerous than cycling around Wicklow.

I tried to find an option for running the Inca Trail - there are actually several marathons a year - but could not find one that was not overpriced for the tourist market. If you find a better option, it's not particularly high - compared with Kilimanjaro for example - and you can always walk the level ground and up-hills, and run downhills, if not fully acclimatized to the altitude.

I've noticed alright that many of the more visible races are quite expensive. Makes sense I suppose, they're targeting the holiday market and people will be prepared to spend a bit more. We're going to be travelling on a pretty tight budget so we'll probably take your advice about chatting to locals. Closer to the time, I might email a few running clubs in some of the cities we're planning to visit and see if I can get some information about upcoming events.