Great Trip--Two 5-Star Experiences with Marathon Tours Group.....

.....and a few random thoughts about Bermuda now that I'm back home.

First of all, the "Bermuda Shorts" concept works really well in Bermuda but I don't see it taking off in Texas. They are, in fact, very formal and practical. They area always worn with the socks, long-sleeved formal lightweight jacket, and tie--and are a throwback to the British military uniforms worn in tropical locales in the past. I can't see walking into Jim-Bob's Bar in Alvin, Texas wearing this however.



The system of using ridged roofs to collect and treat rainwater is ingenious but also necessary as there are no streams, rivers or fresh-water springs on the island.

There is no wildlife in Bermuda......except chickens. During the runs I did see chickens scattered around the countryside--not the ugly white chickens we have here but the brown and red breeds. They roam at will--Bermuda is a relatively prosperous island so nobody is trying to eat them. We were warned, however, they they are truly wild and will attack if approached.

No photograph can do justice to the beautiful waters around the island--they range from emerald green to a turquoise-blue.


Another unusual aspect of Bermudian architecture is the "moon gate." The concept of an archway constructed in a complete circle was imported from Britain but is now considered a Bermudian fixture--you see them at hotels, in parks, and as we ran through the countryside, many of the private homes and estates had them as entrances to the sidewalks leading to their houses. It is considered good luck to cross through one of them. Not sure why they're called moon gates but I guess Bermuda Circle would be awkward since they already have a Triangle.

The 20 MPH speed limit is pretty much observed--in large part due to the narrow, winding roads. They use the British system of driving on the left side of the road and there are not many large trucks on the island. There is a large tourist industry in renting Mopeds but most of the people I talked to who tried them felt unsafe.



I used the cheap, efficient and clean bus system (which included the super-efficient ferry service) and felt it freed me up to relax and enjoy the scenery.

The races were well-organized and the support of the locals was very good. Bermuda only has 65,000 permanent residents so there weren't Boston Marathon crowds but, especially in the marathon on the third day, there were small groups of Bermudians waving and cheering at nearly every intersection along the winding roads. The runners were great! I arrived knowing nobody and left seeing people I recognized virtually everywhere I went.

The only downside was the weather.....it was miserable the first night for the mile race and tolerable during the 10K. The marathon race, however, was absolutely beautiful. On Friday night, we were seventeen minutes late starting (the only glitch all weekend), and during that period the rains opened up and poured down in sheets.

Front Street, in nice weather, is one of the most beautiful race courses I've seen anywhere.


Overall, however, like I said earlier, it was a 5-Star experience......

The Half Marathon Course was as Charming as it was Tough.....

.....and it was the toughest I've done yet. I've never done one with such beautiful scenery however. I usually set a sub-3-hour goal for myself and I completed this one in 3:14:00 and am very happy with it. Especially the last three miles, the hills really caused me to fade.

The weather was nearly perfect--about 67 degrees with clear skies and sunny weather. We did have one short shower but the sun came right back out and dried us off. Especially along the coast, we had a really nice breeze.

A lot of my tour group were at the finish line, cheering the late finishers and afterward we had a nice post-race gathering. This has been a good group. I accomplished what I set out to do: three days; three races; and four medals.



After the race I cleaned up and walked back downtown, had a light lunch, and spent about an hour walking around downtown Hamilton just to relax my legs.

Here are some random photos from the course today.....

Now it's Two Down and One to go.......

.....the 10K went well this morning. It was overcast and we had some light showers but nothing like last night. The race started at the National Stadium and wound around for six miles on the narrow, twisting roads in a circle back to the stadium. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated. On the elevation map, 200 feet didn't look that much, but it's 200 feet steep incline. The last mile was particularly tough. I finished in the time I set for myself and don't seem to have any blisters and my knee is doing just fine so far. Tomorrow, however, is the half-marathon and the weather doesn't look good at all.

After the race, I cleaned up and took one of the city ferries over to the far western part of Bermuda. As we pulled away from Hamilton, the view of the city and Front Street was really good.

The weather was still overcast so I took my Dynamo rain jacket and sure enough, when I got off the boat, it started raining. I headed to the first place, which was the Fishbone Pub and ate lunch there and the rain just intensified. I would say it was three times worse than last night and didn't seem to want to let up.

Bermuda gets lots of rain--although this isn't their rainy season right now. All the building roofs on the island are white and have ridge-rows--all of them by government decree. The reason is that there is no fresh water at all on the island--no wells or anything--so they collect rainwater for drinking. It rains so hard here (like today) that most of the rain splatters and is lost when it hits a solid object. They put ridges on the roofs to reduce the splatter and if you look near the bottom of this roof, you will see a trough near the bottom. That trough collects the water and sends it to a large tank and the tanks all feed into a city treatment center for drinking water.

Anyway, the rain let up enough that I went to the National Maritime Museum which is another very old British fort with a really good museum. I spent a couple of hours there and it started raining again so I caught another ferry back to Hampton and called it a day. Really ugly weather today.

A little runner's humor:

One Race Down; Two to Go......

.....made the connection in Newark and the short flight to Bermuda was east, however we arrived to high winds, overcast skies and rain. There is a pretty large group of us with this tour company and I didn't know anybody from Iceland last summer. We had a reception at the hotel--more or less a "get to know each other" meeting and it seems like a good group.

I'm sharing a room to save expenses and my roommate didn't arrive until almost 11:00 last night. We're both saving about $600 by sharing. I had been up since 3:00 am that morning so I slept well. The hotel is over 100 years old so it is built in the old colonial style but is very nice.

Friday morning I got up, ate a light breakfast at the bakery in the hotel, and bought a two-day transit ticket and took a bus ride across Bermuda to the historical area known as St. George's--on the eastern tip. Bermuda is actually six large islands and a bunch of smaller ones, many of which are uninhabited. From end to end, the islands are only 22 miles and the roads are single-lane and very narrow. They use the British system of driving on the left and the speed limit is 20 mph everywhere--actually you can't drive much faster than that on these curvy roads. It's also very hilly here which will make for tough running. The bus service is excellent and very efficient.

From Hamilton, I took the bus to St. George's--about a one-hour ride. I walked about three miles out to the coast and the old Fort St. Catherine which had been built by the British and reinforced after our Civil War. Seems Britain and Bermuda sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and, afterwards, the British were afraid of reprisal raids by the Union navy. Although the fort was never actually used in combat, it is a really interesting museum and part of the Bermuda National Trust

After walking back into St. George's, I spent a couple of hours wandering around the old historic district. This is the oldest section of Bermuda and was the British headquarters during the height of the colonial period and the British Empire. The buildings have been restored to their colonial styles and the harbor has a rebuilt sailing ship. I ate lunch at a British-style pub and just spent lazy time just wandering around. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--clear skies and warm with a light wind.


The water along the coast and in the harbor looks almost artificial--deep blue in some places and emerald green in others.

Bermuda was instrumental in the colonization of America--the shipwrecked survivors of the Sea Venture built the small ship here, named the Deliverance, to carry them to Virginia. The similarities of New England and Bermuda culture are everywhere--they have the public stocks for prisoners in the square and a "dunking" seat for drowning witches.

After catching a bus back to Hamilton, I walked around the central city and along the harbor side back to the hotel. The Hamilton Princess is an imposing building--painted pink as is the custom here to paint buildings in pastel colors.


At 3:30 I picked up my race packet here since the hotel is the official race headquarters. It was kind of chaotic but this isn't a large race so it didn't take too long. Got four running shirts as part of my registration.

The race took place in early evening and it was pouring rain. I was in the first wave of runners (obviously not based on my time) and we had to stand at the starting line in the pouring rain for 17 minutes before the race started. I finished and was pleased with my time; tomorrow comes the 10K (6.2 mile) in the morning.

So far, so good......

Had a Good Travel Year in 2011 and Bermuda is Waiting in Just Two Days......

.....and, yes, that pink building in the background will be my hotel while I'm there.

2011 was very good to me travel-wise: Work in Indonesia; birthday in Iceland; mission trip in Peru; and work in Nigeria. Counting an overnight job in Canada, I visited five continents this year.
I'm pretty excited about Bermuda--everything points to it being a really interesting and enjoyable four-day trip in the middle of winter.

After the half-marathon in Iceland, my right knee problems came back with a vengeance. For nearly a month, I didn't even walk as exercise. Then came the Peru trip followed by the Nigeria job so I'm really not in any kind of "running shape." Actually, after the pain following Iceland, my doctor told me to quit running and I may, or may not, follow his advice in Bermuda.

I'm signed up for what they call the "Bermuda Triangle," which consists of three races in three days (get it, the "triangle"). The first night is a one-mile race through the business district
and what's neat about it is that us "turtles" will go first and clear the street, then the "elite milers" will run for a $10,000 prize--the runner who breaks the four-minute mile walks away with ten grand. There are reportedly runners enrolled from all over the world: Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kenya--all the major running cultures. Given the metric measurements for all races today in the Olympics and other world competitions, the one-mile race is an anachronism. Nobody really trains to be a one-mile runner, yet the allure of breaking the four-minute mile is something all elite runners strive for.

The next morning will be the 10K (6.2 mile) race. It will wind along narrow, often cobble stoned, streets along one of the beach fronts. I plan to walk both the one-mile and 10K races and save my knee for the third day when I will do the half-marathon (13.1 miles). Of course, my knee will be making those decisions and not I, however, my ultimate goal is to finish all three races and receive the Bermuda Triangle medal.

If I don't, I plan to just have a heck of a good time. Most of the days will be free time (even the half marathon is only [for me] three hours. That means I'll have plenty of time to explore the island--even though I may be limping and groaning.

I'm going with the same tour group that Devin and I used in Iceland so I may, or may not, know anybody else. To save money (the hotel is pretty expensive), I'm sharing the room with a runner from Philadelphia that I've never met. I've found serious runners to be an ok type of group--basically they're self-reliant, non-whiners, and pretty nice people.

I leave on January 12 and return on the 16th. A short trip, I think it'll be just right for the middle of winter here.

And in case you think I've impressed Devin with any of this: I haven't. He and Alida are leaving in February to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary--to Tahiti. He's running the Tahiti Marathon and she's doing the half-marathon.

And I will have free Internet in Bermuda.....