Finishing a pending business
I arrived to Monumento al Caminero at around 5:20 a.m. and went to the start line to pick up my race number, there I met a lot of the usual suspects from the Solo Para Salvajes running circuit. We did the morning greeting and continued our preparation for the race.
Before the race started I saw my good friends Chalita and Toño Cortés, we cheered each other while talking about our estimates for finishing the race. We only really hoped that the day didn’t get too hot or it’ll become a nightmare. Around 6:15 a.m. the gun was fired and we started our run, 150 runners according to Pedro Fletes, the race director.
The very first kilometers are tough since they’re uphill paved roads, you have to be careful when choosing between trotting or power-walking that section or you might suffer the consequences later in the day. I opted to trot at a constant pace, allowing me to pass runners without burning a lot of my energy, I felt pretty good.
We entered the first forest section after passing Arco Natural, it was mostly single track with lots of uphills. Then came another long esplanade before getting into the forest around the base of Cerro Pelado. I power-walked that last uphill section until getting to the other side of the volcano.
A little change in the course for this year was to climb to the top of the volcano in a direct line along one of its flanks, without trail, by simply jumping over the grass in its steep slopes. I’m good in that kind of terrain due to my frequent mountain climbs, so it was easy for me to start passing people once again. I arrived to the top, picked up a colored rubber band, sipped some water and started the descent in my traditional fashion: by running like a madman.
I got to the base of the volcano and intersected the main trail that goes to Fierro del Toro. Its very first kilometers are a bit uncomfortable since it has several sections of rocks, but then it becomes a soft dirt road that allows you to increase the pace. There are also a couple of single track shortcuts that go into the woods and which add some adventurous feeling to the whole thing. Then comes another section of semi-flat esplanades before joining a federal road and reaching Fierro del Toro. The 2nd aid station was placed there, around the 25th kilometer of the course.
Tres Marías was the halfway point of the course this year at 31.5 km. I spent very little time at the aid station there, I simply grabbed a couple of bananas and drank plenty of water. I opted to not refill my bottles till getting back to Fierro del Toro, I didn’t want to carry any extra weight for the short 6.5 km stretch. I said thanks to the crew there and started my way back to Mexico City, leaving that couple of runners who were in front of me before 
Getting back to Fierro del Toro was a bit difficult because of the amount of dust in the extremely dry trail. Most of the runners were still on their way to Tres Marías so the few of us on the way back had to bite their dust in the air. I got to Fierro del Toro starting to feel a lot of thirst so, before entering the aid station, I stopped by a little store to buy a Coke and refilled one of my bottles with it. At the aid station I drank lots of Gatorade and water, refilled the other bottle, ate more bananas and grabbed an energy bar. My friend Toño Cortés was arriving there from Cerro Pelado, he was taking things slowly as he simply wanted to finish the race in time before the cutoffs. We shook hands and wished luck, we were both going on different ways and some runners already started to pass me.
I tried to run as much as possible on my way up to Cerro Pelado, however, what was a fast trail on the descent became a power-walk path for all of us during the climb back. Fortunately, this time we didn’t have to climb to the very top but just go around the volcano along the normal race course. After 1 1/2 hours I passed the checkpoint before starting my run down to Mexico City’s Valley, I was on the 21st place and a bit ahead of the next runners. But still 19 km to go…
I ran out of drinks while entering the large esplanades before Arco Natural. I started to feel very thirsty again but not dehydrated, I slowed my pace to a power-walk so I didn’t overheat but continued moving. After some time, a couple of runners reached me so I had to increase my pace, before getting to Arco Natural they passed me as I was starting to go slow again. I only hoped to arrive soon at the aid station before entering the city.
After 2 p.m. I got where the 1st aid station was. It was supposed to be there, but instead it was only Pedro (the race director) who, in an emergency, had to buy extra water bottles and soft drinks and drove all the way up there with his car to give the minimal basic support to runners since the aid station ran out of supplies earlier in the day. He could only offer me one cup of water since his supplies were very few and a bunch of runners would arrive after me in the afternoon. I told him that not having an intermediate aid station in the last 16 km (the hardest part of the course) was something bad with such temperatures. He apologized and explained that there were no volunteers for setting up such aid station so he and his team were doing their best effort, I agreed and totally understood.
When I entered the city a bee stung me in the shoulder (I accidentally hit her when running below a tree) but also bought a bottle of Gatorade at the first store I found. I quickly refilled one of my bottles and, while taking big gulps from it, I started to run as fast as possible along the streets. Still 7 km to go but I began to feel alive and strong again. I ran and ran more until passing some of the runners ahead of me. I was running really fast, feeling the rush of the last hundreds of meters of the race.
I crossed the finish line after 9:10:43, the judges told me I finished in the 23rd place! I was ecstatic, I couldn’t believe it. Folks congratulated me as I crossed the street to lay myself over the grass. I took of my shoes, drank a lot of water
and called my dearest ones. I was thrashed but extremely happy, a pending business had just ended 
Rest of the pictures are here.
