Prem Kumar
Day 7-8
After a rest day on Day 6 we started early at 4am and ran 27 miles. The weather was perfect as it drizzled the entire time. We finished at the Olympic Training center in Port-au-Prince and were trucked in groups to our hotel for the day to rest up before starting our last day of running at midnight.
Day 7 I stayed aggressive with my run through the cut-off at 20K, due to our Haitian friends who were with me and didn’t wanted to leave me by myself. They are of the mindset of “no man left behind” and are very protective of their guests. I was able to hand them off to Cathy once she caught up with me at 25K, so I started to run-walk by myself until I saw a Haitian kid who was hurt. I dropped off from Cathy’s group, so I picked him up and we run-walk together to the finish line. It was a good day of running and afterwards we did our best to get some rest for the midnight run.
Day 8 started at midnight in the bus and by the time we started our run, it was little after 1:30am. We stayed in assigned groups and I was the pacer for the lead group. Since I was the slowest in the group (which worked in my favor) I was to keep the group at my comfort pace. After about 25K, we broke off and went at our own paces. I ran slow until the mountain range climb started around mile 18, and I went to my power walk for the next 13 miles or so. The sun was out in full force, so we had to stay hydrated as much as possible. The heat took a lot out and I struggled running downhill, so I stayed with the walking strategy, which worked. When I reached the last checkpoint, I thought I still had another 5K to go, but I was told the finish is only 1.3K so that made my day. I got help from Cameron who walked me to the finish. I tried running for the last 100 meters and went straight to the ocean, which felt great. I was slightly emotional, but kept it together and enjoyed the high fives with the crew and Cathy, who finished just seconds behind me.
This event has been in the making for a little while and I was finally able to complete it. I will hold off my reflections on the event, what it has meant to me and my nostalgic times due to similarities from my childhood in my final full race report, so stay tuned.
Thanks. I do have a request: please share and spread the word that we still trying to hit our overall fundraising goal. Every little bit counts and adds up so please click on the link and help us.
Until next time.
Love,
Prem
Days 0-3
Hi everyone,
I am not going to bore you guys down with all the details of the event—you have to wait for the post race report. But, I will start though by saying thank you for your generous donations, love, and support. Reading all the well wishes on the social media so far is a really helping me get thru my runs and it means a lot.
Some highlights in random order:
Best support crew is taking care of all our needs not only during the run but afterwards as well, including our dedicated medical team.
We do have a media and marketing team following us around and they are amazing.
Food so far is so delicious and I have plenty of vegetarian things to eat so all good.
Liquid IV Electrolytes is the bomb, so good that so far I have completely switched my nutrition to it.
Views and the sunrise for the last course of days were just breathtaking.
Locals are responding to “Bon Jour” with a smile and that is so touching especially from the little kids who have run few miles alongside us.
Day 1, we stayed at a local public school, even though it was Friday. The principal gave a day off to the kids for us but kids came in dressed up and they performed for us... priceless.
Every runner who has finished ahead has stayed and cheered others on as they finished with high, infectious energy.
Reading letters from our local families to start the day... no words to describe how I feel... emotional.
There are plenty more but I think this is a good teaser for you guys. I do have a request: Please share and spread the word that we are still trying to hit our overall fundraising goal. Every little bit counts and adds up so please click on the link below and help us.
https://www.crowdrise.com/2019rah
Until next time.
Love,
Prem