15K Run Sunday

Music! Cranked up LOUD!

 The big race start line was right at Ital Deli on Av Solano.  This event was to be a huge event, with about 10,000 participants!

We watched the set-up and listened to the speakers.  The PA system was a little garbled, but we did catch the basics... 





We probably heard just about every tense of the verb "to run''!  The speakers thanked the sponsors, announced the star runners (from all over the world, not just Ecuador), gave instructions to the runners about the overall course ending at the Stadium nearby.  They pumped up the crowd to get them going.

With the countdown at about 8:30am, phase 1 of the runners took off down Av Solano.  This group was the junior group, about a half block of participants.  Of course, the Chola Cuencana song blared...

Then the sun got hotter and we worried about the runners in all that oppressive heat. The intense sun was so bright.  We almost broke a sweat in all that hot and we weren't even moving!

Then, about 10am, the rest of the runners took off.  A sea of red shirts and even more confetti!

After the runners left the área, the street cleaners and the takedown crew got busy.  Confetti everywhere!  The takedown was so fast that within an hour you'd never know the event and people had even been there.  The music continued to just about the last possible moment before workers packed up the speakers.  Loud but fun!  Great tunes. 

After all that excitement, we decided to have a pasta lunch at a nearby restaurant.  It's a good thing we didn't stretch it out as the rains came in right after we got back.  Torrential rains, with lots of lightening and thunder right over our heads.  We really lucked out, got home just in time. 

Storms like this one seem to happen more this time of year.  We remember a similar show when we first arrived in Cuenca in March timeframe.  Each day it would rain like crazy, almost like clockwork, mid-afternoon.  Today's storm hit about 3pm for more than an hour. 

A fun, action-packed, too hot then stormy Sunday!