Day #88 - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Marathon

Machu Picchu - first look

Race finish

Great feeling

Another look

Flat stretch with no stones - very rare

Thursday, June 10th

Happy Birthday to my grandma! I thought about her when I rose for my 3:30am wake-up call. She's 91 today - still strong as ever. I would be strong today - for her.

3:30am - our guide taps our tent and brings us a cup of hot cocoa tea. We need to pack our gear and be ready for a 5am departure from camp. We were given the option of starting the run at 5:30am or 6:00am. I decided to start early to maximize my chances to complete the race. 9 of the 21 runners started early.

I filled my camelback with water, checked my food supply, put on suntan lotion, laced my trail shoes tightly, and downed a couple motrin. It's 5am - game time. We walked about 20 minutes in the dark to the start line with our headlights. Temperatures in the upper 40's. I would start the race in just shorts and a short-sleeve running shirt. I will be getting warm quickly. Nervous, anxious, scared, focused, determined - all these emotions are running wild though me. We took a couple pictures as a group at the start line. 5:30am, Elevation 8,400ft - GO!

My buddy Greg and I took the early lead. (Liam and Kim would start at 6am). We were informed that the first 3 miles were runable. We started in a slow jog. Greg is leading. All of a sudden he jumps to the right - eyes in the path. It's a cow. We saw a number of these in the first couple miles. We settle in to a slow jog/walk while watching the path closely with our headlights. About 2 miles in, the sun started to rise. The path started a steep climb. There would be no running Mile 2-3 -- major uphill. I'm breathing hard by now, and drinking water. We're about 1 hour into the run and we are headed straight up a mountain. "Easy, stay slow, don't burn yourself out" - this is what I'm thinking. Greg and I switched the lead a couple times, this would be the first and last times we lead the Inca Trail Marathon today.

7:00am - here comes one of the 6am starters - Jeff Roth. He had caught us in 1 hour - strong. At 7:07am, here comes my buddy Liam. He's solid as ever. No question - he would fight for the title today. He has a mental strength and persistence that few can match. Another 10 minutes or so - here's comes Kim. She's incredible. Leading the females and burning up the track. Greg and I push on. I'm eating some sharkies (carb food), and drinking water. We're at 10,500ft - we've already climbed 2,000ft from the start.

It's starting to hurt - badly. We're entering miles 5-7, steady climbing up these treacherous slopes (uneven and steep). We're now getting near 12,000 ft. My hands are swollen, I'm getting chills (air is colder at this elevation). Here comes more runners from the 6am start. We've now been passed by about 8-10 runners. I'm starting to feel nautious. O-no! This is bad - I can't get sick - not this early. I stop and take a salt tablet. I'm going slower. Greg powers ahead - but I just can't keep the pace. The next couple miles, we climbed 1,700ft to the peak of Dead Women's Pass at 13,779ft. The last 1/2 mile, I completed by taking about 10 steps - then resting. I would do this again and again. I felt terrible. How I am possibly going to run/walk another 20 miiles when I can barely move right now?

"Keep going, you can do it. Stay slow, one foot after the other. If I can get to that peak, it's downhill 2,000ft. I can get some oxygen and rest on the downhill" I'm trying to pump myself up.

I did it - I peaked at 13, 779ft. My buddy Greg had waited for me. He's awesome today - solid as ever. I was in no mood to talk - I couldn't. I grabbed a seat. I told him "Go ahead man - be strong." He asked me if there was anything he could do. There wasn't. This would be about me and my will to survive. I knew it, he knew it.

At the peak, I got out my bag of trail mix. A salty snack that I needed. I drank more water. I couldn't sit long - it was too cold. "Let's do this thing". I started downhill. Treacherous would be an understatement. These huge stone steps were sometimes 2-3 foot high. No chance for me to run here. Those who would challenge for the title would run - but it was partly suicidal to do such.

I started to feel better as I descended. I kept eating the trail mix. The first rest station was at Mile 10 - this was coming up soon. My sites were set on this bogey. I made it to Mile 10 around 10am in the morning. I'd been on the trail for 4.5 hours now - and had only gone 10 miles. I had 1 more high peak to go - then mostly downhill. At the rest station, I took a couple more salt tablets, ate a banana, and grabbed a cheese sandwich and another banana for the trail.

Miles 10-12. I had to climb from 11,600ft back up to 13,100ft. This went much better for me. I wasn't feeling nautious anymore. Maybe the salt tablets were working. I powered ahead. I passed some porters during this time. We would stop periodically. I remember once when I was stopped. This porter and I looked at each other - no words were spoken. There was a mutual respect for what each of us was doing.

I could see the peak - just another 200-300 ft. One foot in front of the other. I made it! Mile #12 --- 13,100ft - I wouldn't see 13,000ft anymore today. I had a rush of positive emotions.

Miles 12-17. These miles were comprised of rolling hills. My next target was the aid sation at Mile #17. I ran some of thes 5 miles, but walked more. You couldn't run much - crazy terrain and rocks. "Focus, focus. Concentrate on every step." I can't tell you how many times my ankle twisted when I missed a rock or the stone would slip. Some areas had wet stones. I kept telling myself - "Place your foot." Every single step was calculated.

Mile 16 - I'm starting to crash. Where's the aid station? There are no mile markers and my Garmin (running watch) isn't working. Nobodies Garmin worked on mileage. I only had elevation and overall time as my guides. It's 12 noon - come on aid station!

Around the corner - there it is - thank God. I sat down for about 5 minutes. I took 2 salt tablets, 2 motrin, took off my light jacket I'd put on for the second climb, ate a cheese sandwich and banana, refilled my water bladder, grabbed another banana and cheese sandwich for the trail, and headed out. I was at 12,000ft. I had just left the last aid station of the race. I would descend 4,200ft in the next 10 miles. There's no turning back now.

I needed to be at Mile 22 before 3pm - or I would not be able to finish the race. This was the control cutoff point. It was a little after 12noon. "5 miles in 3 hours - I can do this"

Miles 17-19. These miles were ridiculously hard. There were literally thousands of steps going downhill. Each step was slow. Sometimes I had to sidestep down as the stairs were too narrow. I made it through unscaved.

Mile 19. The trail started to level out a little. I started running. It was about Mile 20 when it hit me. Usually, this is the time many marathoners hit the wall. Today was different. I started feeling stronger. I'm now at 10,500ft - more oxygen, more life. This was something I never felt before. I started running faster. There were hikers on the trail. Some Australians. They were cheering for me. "Bloody awesome mate", "Keep going mate", "You're our hero mate". Some even put down their walking sticks and started clapping. All this for me!

I had waves of emotions - my body was getting goosebumps. I had some tears in my eyes. I was running faster, hitting stone after stone, lifting the legs. "Don't go down, don't go down. I'm going to do this thing. I'm going to complete the 27.5 mile Inca Trail Marathon." For the next few miles, I was floating on air. I made it to the control checkpoint at Mile 22 at 1:15pm. Yes - I will make it. Just 5 more miles to go.

Miles 22-27.5. I started to think to myself - If I can finish by 2:30pm - I'll do this under 9 hours. I thought this would take me 10+ hours coming in - something in the 8's would be fantastic. I kept it steady. More hikers. They cleared the trail for me. "You can do it man", "We think what you're doing is incredible". Even though these people may not have realized it - because I was all alone on the trail - they were my lifelines. They kept me going during the rough stretches.

Up a hill, there's Su Li, she had passed me at Mile 6 on the initial ascent about 5 hours ago. She stepped aside and I passed her. Another 1/2 mile, there's Nico and Rachael, I haven't seen then since 8am this morning. They stepped aside. "Go Kyle, keep it going". I could feel it now. I was only a couple miiles away. More goose bumps, more emotion. The trail had some steep inclines. I powered though. I was gasping for air but I wasn't stopping. I came to this extremely steep staircase. I had to literally crawl up this thing on my hands. At the peak - there's Jeff Roth. He was the first runner to pass me this morning at 7am. He had finished and come back to cheer us on. "Keep going man. 100 meters to the peak of this hill and then 600 meters to the finish". "Are you serious - I'm that close?". I flew up the hill. I had made it to the Sun Gate. There's Chuck and Pravi, there's Cathy and Jill - high 5's, hand shakes. "Looking strong Kyle - you're almost there". I look up - there it is. There's Machu Picchu. Is it real? I can see it. It's like the pictures I've seen, the TV specials I've watch. There it is.

Now, I'm remembering how our guide told us that one of the runners on a recent trip had broken his ankle 1/2 mile from the finish by looking down at Machu Picchu. I needed to concentrate harder now then ever. (Most accidents happen close to home - people let their guard down). I did not look over at the Lost City again until the end of the race.

There were people all over the trail now. I was flying down beside them. It was a little after 2pm - I was going to beat 9 hours. Long strides, hit the stones flush. I was almost there. Then, I could see our guide Freddie up ahead. He was the finish line. I crossed the line at 2:11pm - 8 hours, 41 minures after I started (12th overall finisher). I had just completed the Inca Trail Marathon.

People ask me why I run, why do you travel, why do you do what you do. The answer is - the feeling I had at 2:11pm on June 10, 2010 - that's why. It's a feeling of accomplishment, of strength. It's challenging yourself to do things you don't think are possible. I have a poster that reads: "Running is a road to self awareness" Words could never be more true.

My buddy Greg was at the finish. He had come in 10 minutes earlier (awesome performance). We gave each other a huge high 5. Then, I sat down and just looked out. I was sitting on a hill that overlooked one of the wonders of the world. This was one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my life.

Greg and I took a number of photos. I couldn't see all that well beacuse my contacts had picked up a bunch of dust along the way. I wasn't too stable either - wobbling around close to the edge of the trail. Because we didn't have tickets to tour Machu Picchu today (we will be spending all day on Friday here), we decided to catch the 11-mile bus down into town.

On arrival, we met some of the other crew for pizza and beers. Liam (6:18) and Kim (7:21) were there. Awesome!! They had both finished hours ago. We exchanged congradulatory high 5's. After a beer or 2 - we went back to the hotel for some rest before dinner.

Dinner that night was great. All 21 of the runners had finished the course successfully - with the last person coming in right at the cutoff - 11 hr, 30 minutes. The night ended fairly early. About 10:00pm - exhaustion had set in. I slept more peacefully on this night than any other on the trip.