Haiti
1/3 to 1/6/14
Race Results:
Sun, Jan 5/14
Cap Haitien, Haiti
Let’s Go Haiti Marathon
Marathon # 368 – Country # 119
5:02:00
At the end of my last report I stated that I had three
personal goals to complete before I hung up my racing shoes. Well this race
enabled me to accomplish my 1st goal – but it wasn’t easy. This was
‘The trip from Hell’! Let me explain.
After the last race it took about 1 month of difficult
and frustrating work to organize and book travel to the start line of the marathon
in Cap Haitien. There is no tourist infrastructure in Haiti and the few
businesses (hotels, airlines) that do serve tourists have no idea what
‘service’ means. They would not respond to emails, were difficult to reach by
phone, had no website or it didn’t work and few spoke English. I thought I
lucked in when the race director referred me to a manager at a local airline (Haitian
Aviation) who booked flights to Haiti for me and was working on hotel
reservations. Unfortunately 2 weeks before the race (a few days before
Christmas) I learned that the airline went out of business. He hadn’t even
bothered to call me to inform me of this issue! I scrambled to find a travel
agency located in Port-au-Prince that was reliable and knowledgeable who helped
me book alternative flights and confirm a reservation I had made at a hotel (the
hotel wouldn’t respond to my emails to confirm the reservation). The last-minute
alternatives cost me twice the original price (that I asked my credit card to
refund?).
I drove to Miami on Thu afternoon and overnighted at the
airport to catch a 7 am flight to Port-au-Prince (PAP) on AA. The AA flights
were easy but the problem was getting from PAP to Cap Haitien (CAP). There are
a few local airlines but it is impossible to book them from outside Haiti. My
original flight/route was to fly to PAP and take a shuttle (provided by the
airline) to CAP – a 6-hr drive. Boy am I glad that didn’t happen. As it was the
travel agent forgot to mention some critical details such as I would arrive at
the International airport in PAP (no surprise) – but the domestic flight left
from a small domestic terminal at the other end of the airport. I was waiting
at the gate for the local airline in the International terminal and was lucky a
curious employee finally asked me where I was flying to? He arranged for a taxi
to rush me to the domestic terminal ($10 US taxi fee for a 1-mile drive) and he
demanded a tip for his help. I quickly learned that everybody scrambles (or
begs) for money/food in Haiti and they expect ‘rich’ tourists to hand out money
like candy! I made it safely to CAP on a small 12-passenger plane that flew
right over the Citadelle Laferriere, a large 19th century fortress
built on top of a mountain about 17 miles south of CAP. I also noticed that the
country is very mountainous and barren. A 6-hr drive would have been very
boring – and long!
During the 5-mile taxi ride to my hotel I wasn’t
surprised at the poverty and filth along the route but I was surprised that
there were no – I mean NO – nice shops, buildings, etc.? My hotel was the
nicest building I saw in the whole city during my 4-day stay. The Hotel Roi
Christophe was built in the 18th century but has been updated and is
very luxurious by Haitian standards. It was conveniently located near the ocean
and close to the city center. I spent the rest of the day and Sat morning
walking around the city looking for my mandatory souvenirs (a souvenir teaspoon
and silver charm) but I already knew that I wasn’t going to find them in CAP or
Haiti.
The entire city is a dump filled with old, dilapidated
buildings. There are a few small shops in some buildings but most of the
‘shops’ are stalls in the streets or at the Central Market and sidewalk
vendors. The shops and market sell ‘life’ essentials – food, soap, clothes, etc
– to locals. There are no souvenir shops. Well, I lie – I found one small
corner near the hotel with 3 or 4 stalls that sold local arts and craft –
mainly carved wood, etc to tourists. Only local handicrafts (read dust
collectors) – no souvenir teaspoons or silver charms. In fact I could not find
a jewelry store anywhere in the city?
Although I did not
feel unsafe walking around CAP I did not feel comfortable because I stood out
like a Christmas tree with lights – white skin, blonde hair. I was a walking magnet
for every local who would approach me and ask (in French/Creole) where I was
from and then ask for money. If I had $100 in $1 bills I would have been broke
within the 1st hour! I found it frustrating and intimidating not to
be able to help. So I walked to the local city gym to pick up my race packet
and final instructions and then returned to the hotel. I decided not to leave
the hotel again during my stay except for the marathon!
I ate and drank at the hotel. It had a beautiful
restaurant but it also had problems. Half the items on the menu were not
available. I tried to order fish for dinner – no fish available so I ordered
goat. I hadn’t enjoyed goat since the Sahara Marathon. I ordered a glass of red
Chilean wine (cheaper than French wine) – no Chilean wine available? On Sat for
lunch I ordered a pizza – no pizza so I ordered spaghetti bolognaise. It was OK
so I tried to order it again for pasta dinner that night – no spaghetti
bolognaise available? At that point I started to ask what was available on the
menu before I ordered.
I had already decided to stay in the hotel and watch the
NFL playoffs. Problem – only 3 channels on the TV in my room. So I went to the
lobby where the TV had satellite – sadly the major US networks were blocked! No
NFL playoffs! I was not a happy camper. I was able to get status reports and
scores on ESPN.
I requested a wake-up call for 4 am but figured it
wouldn’t happen (it didn’t) so I woke up every hour after midnight to check my
watch so I could walk to the gym to catch a bus at 5 am to the start. But first
I had to find a guard (sleeping in the lobby) to unlock the gate to the
compound to let me out. I was first to arrive but shortly other runners started
to arrive - a total of 80 runners including 8 (Caucasian) foreign runners. The
bus was supposed to leave sharply at 5 am but the bus was too small to accommodate
80 runners so they had to scramble to find a bigger bus. We finally left at
7:30am - 90 minutes after the race was supposed to start! The local runners
starting chanting/singing a derogatory song in Creole about the delay and
incompetence of the race (organization) and were finally requested to stop. The
foreign runners were just riding the wave knowing that we were helpless to the
situation. As we drove on an ancient dilapidated bus (worried about whether it
would make it to the start line) I became concerned about the amount of traffic
and pollution along the course at 8am. I thought the course would be
traffic-free on Sun morning? I commented to fellow runners that it was going to
be ugly – and dangerous- when we returned to the city later. We drove 42 Km
south of CAP although I became concerned that I might have to run my 1st
ultra because it seemed that we drove a long time? We stopped at one point and
the locals starting getting off the bus but were ordered back on because we had
not arrived at the start line. We finally arrived at 8:15 am. – and waited
another 30 minutes before the race actually started. It was 8:45 am! We had
missed an hour of dark, cool temps and the cooler temps of early morning. It
was going to get hot and ugly! There were no distance markers on the course –
NONE! However the highway had markers every 5 km. We started at the 35K marker and
I located every marker to 10K so had some idea of distance and pace. There were
supposed to be water stations every 2 miles but by the time I reached the 2nd
one there was no water left. I had wisely anticipated this probability and had
worn a belt with a 20 oz. water bottle. And fortunately a race (support) car
would pass by every 20 minutes or more and I would get water to fill up my
bottle.
I didn’t bother starting my stop watch. It was a good
thing I didn’t need it because my useless heart monitor/watch crapped out again
and would only function as a watch. I was hoping it would last a few more races
but I will have to junk it and buy a new one before my next race (and only use
it for a few races?). I reached 10 Km in 1 hr and 20Km in 1:59. I was surprised
that I was doing so well. Since there weren’t enough distance markers I set my
strategy to run 40 min and walk 3 min. I kept that cycle until I reached 25Km
in 2:40 and then the sun/temps started to get brutal so I reduced the cycle to
run 30 min and walk 3 min. Half of the runners were young locals – teenagers
and early 20s- who had signed up for free in hopes of winning prize money. By
10Km many started to drop out and hop on buses that served the small towns we
ran through. I wondered why there were so many course monitors –every 2 miles?
It was to record bib #s every 2 miles to prevent cheating! Another annoying
thing I quickly noticed was that all the spectators along the course and in the
villages would laugh as I ran by. I had experienced this behavior before in S
America and in East Timor. I was the oldest runner in the race and the locals
were shocked that such an ‘old man’ would/could run a marathon. Their response
was to laugh and make crude remarks in French/Creole that I understood because
I understand French. I soon learned to ignore them and point out that there
were many young local runners behind me! As I approached 30Km (no more distance
markers on the highway) the course started to enter the city and traffic became
a problem and danger. There was no traffic control. A that point a young male
race volunteer joined me and started to run with me. He was wearing a bright
red shirt and directed traffic around us so at least I didn’t have to worry about
being run down from behind. I only had to avoid cars, buses, donkey carts,
bikes, wheel barrows and street vendors in front of me or approaching from side
streets. The other benefit was that he carried bags of water in a back pack and
became my portable water station.
At that point I passed a young couple from Montreal who
had succumbed to the heat and were walking (it was now 12:45 pm and the noon
sun was beating down on us). They thought they only had about 5 Km left to the
finish line. I didn’t have the heart or meanness to tell them that I figured it
was at least another 10 to 12 Km to the finish? As I approached what I figured was
close to 32K I asked my ‘guide’ how far it was to the finish line. He stated
‘about 4 km”. I knew that was incorrect. I even hoped it was incorrect or I
would finish under 4 hrs which meant the course was short? Not knowing how far it
was to the finish line started messing with my mind because I couldn’t
determine how hard to push myself. And I didn’t want to run a ‘short’ race! So
I said “screw it” and reduced my cycle to run 20 min and walk 3 min. After I
ran other 4 km we were joined by a UN police jeep that stayed directly behind
us to prevent vehicles/traffic from running us down from behind. They stayed
with us until the finish line and provided water. I quickly realized that they
also had no idea how far it was to the finish line. I kept asking “Combien de
kilomètres de la finition”? The answer always seemed to be ‘deux
kilometers’!
When we finally approached a main intersection near the
city center I recognized where we were but still had no idea where or how far
the finish line was. But I did get a different answer to my question. This time
it was “Environ cinq minutes”. I took a
final long rest/walk break so I could run across the finish line in 5:02.
Marathon # 368 and
Country # 119. And more importantly I had accomplished my 1st goal –
to maintain my WR #4 of completing a marathon in every country in N. America.
The award ceremonies were already under way –in French/Creole
– as I cooled down and after a mandatory finish line photo I walked back to the
hotel for a soothing shower. It was already 4 pm! I enjoyed a greasy snack and
a beer and decided to enjoy a nap before dinner. I never woke up. I slept until
7am Mon morning!
After breakfast (I was starving) I walked to the Post
Office to mail postcards (the hotel had some) to my family. I was shocked to
learn that it cost $300 HG/$7.50 US to mail a card to N America. That is more
than many locals make in a week? Needless to say the postcards did not get
mailed from Haiti. That is the 1st time I ever had to bring cards
home to mail them?
Finally and HAPPILY it was time to leave. And I was lucky
to get on an earlier AA flight in PAP to arrive in Miami 4 hours early. But
Uncle Sam took care of that opportunity. I was pulled aside at Immigration (not
Customs) and detained for 2 hrs while they checked my biometrics –
fingerprints/photo, etc. They didn’t ask a single question or answer a single
question that I demanded. Two hrs later
they handed me my passport without an explanation or apology and told me I
could go? I am still very pissed about the power and abuse that the government
has (and uses arrogantly)! I have been in/out of the country hundreds of times
and never experienced that problem/abuse before.
Now I am trying to forget the “Marathon Trip from Hell”.
I felt good during and after the race in spite of the problems and heat so I am
ready to start planning my next trip and adventure. I will accomplish goal #2.
It is not hard to guess what that is – Country # 120!
Where? Stay tuned!
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