MEXICO: The Marathon!

I don't even know what my time was on this one, but despite what I assume is one of my slowest finish times ever, I'd have to say that this felt like the toughest marathons I've ever done.

Two solid weeks of non-stop skating pretty much culminated in this event which took place in a local park with some of the roughest pavement I've ever had to encounter. I managed to find an interesting way of dealing with it by skating on the painted line, which was in slightly better shape than the rest of the pavement, but that meant a more shortened, upright push.

Luckily Sergio and Martine managed to convince the race committee that Canadians should be allowed to carry water given the severe differences in our climate. Can you believe that in Mexico, there is a rule that you are not allowed to drink water for more than half the race? Given the safety and liability concerns, up here in Canada, I don't think any rule of that sort could ever be enforced!

Our Yucatan Coach Jorge was having fun teasing me prior to the race as I strapped on my camelback. But as he mimed out guzzling and gargling of water, I was certainly glad to have it with me given the blistering heat of the afternoon sun.

The start of the race didn't go well at all. I was completed wiped out from a winter of relative inactivity followed by two weeks us sudden intense skating. After getting dropped almost right away, I was convinced that I would get pulled from the race at every single lap. So much so that I even put myself in the service of the Canadian Women, giving them pulls and trying to keep their spirits up in these grueling conditions. With unwavering faith on each lap that the Mexican officials would have the good sense to pull me off the coarse so I could go watch the rest of the race in the shade, eating that cool soothing ice cream cone I was craving.

Not that I had much in the way of goals for this race given what I had heard about the previous year. My "A" Goal was to try and not get eliminated first. My "B" Goal was to beat my arch-nemesis Mullet Guy (somewhere in Mexico, Mullet Guy sleeps very soundly, blissfully unaware that he is Hombre Araña's arch-nemesis), which proved to be a greater challenge than I initially imagined after edging him out in the other events that week. I couldn't even believe that I accomplished my "C" Goal, which was to actually finish the marathon!

Yet time and again I somehow managed to slip past the start/finish area without getting pulled. I began to suspect that they were letting me stay in to keep the kids on the sidelines entertained.





I actually did one extra lap, giving Dominique a pull before the officials finally had enough of my antics and waved me over to the finish chute!





And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up with that ridiculous skinsuit-helmet and sunglasses "raccoon" tan.