Michael: PILA 12K Race Report

The folds and shadows
Carved into the mountains look
Like a well worn face.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

First off, this was a small local race with about 200 runners participating. No doubt it’s never going to be anything but a local race and that’s all for the good. So I’m not going to describe the course or how to run it because unless you’re a runner vacationing in the Panama Highlands in early September, you’re never going to enter this race. Instead I’m going to highlight a few of the idiosyncrasies of running this local Panamanian event.

Even before the race began there was a little Panamanian honesty about it that you don’t get in the states. On the website they announced that the race would start sometime between 8 and 8:30. It actually started at 8:25. Many stateside races will have slight delays but rarely do they list a starting time “window” on the net.

This was a point to point race that required a shuttle to the start. Yeah, I know, I’ve been in races in the states like that too. But was everyone shuttled in the back of pick up trucks? That was a first for me.

There was also prize money. Again, yeah, I know. But for a $15 dollar entry fee to return $30 for Kimme’s 3rd place age group finish and $45 for my 2nd in category finish, plus a nice tank top to boot, is a much greater return for the money than I’ve ever gotten in the states. I’m guessing from the $15 increments, 1st received $60. Not bad.

On the flip side, we had to wait 4 hours for the awards ceremony to start. All of the results were tabulated the old fashioned way; by hand and they seem to have had some disputes and other difficulties.

The awards were given in the public gym. And the race wasn’t the only activity calendared for the gym as part of a weekend festival celebrating the anniversary of PILA (Park International L’Amistad). There was also a traditional dance performance scheduled and when the very dressed up little girls in their Spanish colonial attire started being escorted in by their moms, we thought we were going to be duped into being a captive audience. They were scarily adorable; much like what I imagine girls are like in those goofy kiddies pageants in the states. But thankfully we escaped without the Little Miss Sunshine show.

A couple of interesting note about the awards. In the states I’ve been at races where there were computer glitches and they had to mail the awards, but that wouldn’t happen here. There aren’t postmen or addresses to mail to.
In contrast to the states, I only noticed one person asking for their medal early and leaving. Everyone here seemed to take this delay in stride and many participated in a zumba class that lasted longer and seemed just about as strenuous as the race itself.