KBP 5k Escapade - Pohnpei

Fun runs/walks seem to be in high supply here in Pohnpei.  It seems I'm able to run a race just about every weekend, which is really fun.  This past weekend I got to run in the KBP 5k.  KBP stands for Katalingbang Bisaya sa Pohnpei.  It is a Filipino organization here on the island that is responsible for doing great things such as medical missions for the municipalities.  They hosted the 5k to promote healthy lifestyles in Pohnpei.  Now you can't quite see on the banner, but it says that it starts at 6am at the cinema.  We had been told that this might be Filipino time, which means it might actually start at 7am.  We didn't want to risk missing the start so we got there before the sun had even made it's appearance.

It made for an even better viewing of the lovely Christmas
lights!

Soon the sky started lighting up and the MC got his sound system set up to announce that the race would be starting promptly at 7am.  Glad we got there at 6! ;)  We were very thankful that we were blessed with a beautiful morning.  The weather has been quite fierce lately and could have made for quite a miserable hour of waiting.  But instead we were able to enjoy a beautiful sky and spend some time taking pictures with the festive lights.

The workers were super friendly and great!

I love all the decorations

My favorite - a palm tree Christmas tree!

 And promptly at 7am were given the countdown and we were off and running!  Pretty much the whole first half of the race was uphill, but it made for a very nice second half going back downhill.  It was a really nice loop through one end of town and back to the movie theater.  I had feared one infamously ferocious dog on the course, but I was pleased to find that he was no where to be seen when I passed his territory.  Yippee!  I was also super impressed by the number of water stops made available by the race sponsors.  There was a water table about every half mile; trust me you might need that much given how much we all sweat in this warm, humid climate.

I felt great and was able to come in 1st place for the females again.  May I reiterate that I love island races that don't require you to actually be fast :)  The prizes for the race were quite interesting and slightly humorous to me:

4th: Box of Ramen Noodles
3rd: Box of Ramen Noodles & Western Union t-shirt
2nd: Box of Ramen, 20 lb. bag of rice & MedPharm Gift Certificate
1st: Double burner gas stove & MedPharm Gift Certificate

I found it so fitting of the islands, yet so ironic that those would be the prizes at an event promoting healthy lifestyles. Ramen?!

Anyway, my closest competitor is a young girl who is very impressive.  She is only about 13 years old and is already able to compete with the top athletes in the Pacific Islands.  She ran in the MicroGames last year and is training to run in the Pacific and FSM games with hopes of maybe one day making the Olympic team. 

Already so impressive!  I'm sure her family
is quite excited about her prizes :)

Her trainer, Rendi, came in 1st place for the males.  He's also an impressive athlete who has competed throughout Oceania.

Rendi is super nice and working hard to try to get the
track team back together, which maybe I can help with too!

And I now have a double burner also and $10 to spend at the pharmacy by the end of the month.  Probably my most random prizes yet, but quite useful.

Sponsored by Scooby's!

Do I see more mango pancakes in the future?!

Our friends were also lucky winners!

Western Union t-shirt - can't be missed in
that yellow!

And a handy Western Union shopping bag!

I was happy to have my lovely roommate join me on the escapade too.

Sadly, Lori was unable to join this 5k fun, but she so thoughtfully provided my mango for the day.  This time it was a new mango candy!

Similar to a Starburst, but slightly different texture.

Yay for new mango things!

Pleasantly surprised by the tastiness of my
little mango Hi-Chew

Overall it was a great race, well sponsored, and supported by cheerful volunteers.  Well done KBP!

I just can't resist sharing with you my post-race meal.  It was so unexpectedly and generously prepared by my wonderful host mother.  Check out this island feast:

Mangrove crab, breadfruit, and local mangoes

A close-up of the crab just to give you a better look

I absolutely devoured that crab!!!  It was arguably the best seafood I have ever placed in my mouth!  I kid you not.  People pay big bucks to get something like this.  It probably doesn't get much fresher than this.  I would guess it was caught right here on the island the night before and was alive right up until the point of boiling it in the always delicious coconut oil by Maryanna.  Pair that with my favorite breadfruit and sweet juicy mangoes; I felt like a queen!

Another great Mango Escapade in Pohnpei!

Micare 5k Escapade - Pohnpei

Finally the first Mango Escapade in Pohnpei!!!  This past Saturday, Micare hosted a 5k fun run/walk to promote health lifestyles on the island.  Since it was the first race since I've lived here, I was extra excited.  I even decided to prepare a pasta dinner for my fellow runners the night before to get us pumped and energized.

It was a beautiful island morning for a nice run.  The run started at Palm Terrace, one of our biggest grocery stores in Kolonia.  We joined with the mass of people trying to get registered in complete chaos.  According to those around me, this is just how it always is :)  But we got registered and received our t-shirts and raffle tickets and were set to go.
As race time approached we even had someone lead us in stretches.

Promptly at 7 am we were lined up on the street for a quick picture to go in the Micare magazine.

And then with a countdown from the racers the gun fired and we took off!

The course was a nice route that took us by my home, through China Town and the local markets, out on the causeway to the airport, and back through the center of town.  In my own little world, I got off course at one point and people had to yell at me to come back down the hill and turn.  Oops!  I guess I got a little extra.  I decided that international races add another element of fun.  At various times throughout the race I ran with Pohnpeians, Filipinos, a New Zealander, guys in the Navy.  Quite the assortment!
At the finish I was elated to find chilled drinking coconuts and the most delicious bananas waiting for me!  Oh the great things tropical islands have to offer.

Karat banana and Uhp

Being back in race mode definitely confirmed yet again that I have quite a competitive side.  I ran at a faster pace than I have in a while and ended up coming in 1st place for the females.  That's a first!

Receiving my medal

Fancy!  They know how to do it right on this island.

Prizes: engraved medal, shopping bag, golf umbrella (essential
for living in one of the wettest places in the world), a
fan to cool down, and a coffee mug.

It was a very well sponsored race, so they had tons of things to give away.  We loaded up on good bananas.  One of my running compadres waked away with an avocado plant, which you can see on the left in the picture above.  They had t-shirts, mugs, resorts stays for 2, books, and so much more to raffle off.  The grand prize was a mountain bike!  A rarity in Pohnpei.

While we waited around for all the prizes we enjoyed the mango element of the day: little mango jello shots.

Aren't they cute?!

My fellow runners: Laurel and Lori.  Their first time
to experience a mango escapade!

 I shared the mango fun with all of the kids too!  They were quite a hit and a delicious little refreshing treat.

One of the most mature 5 year olds I've ever met

Are they not precious?! :)

I am quite impressed with Pohnpei 5ks so far.  Very low entry fees, great after race refreshments and prizes, and wonderful people to enjoy it with.  I can't wait for the next one!

Hellacious Escapade 2

Life's journey has taken Maria and Laurie to different locations for the next year.  But have no fear, the mango escapades will continue!  We will simply be having our own escapades in our separate locations and sharing them with each other and you.  This will be the first of separate escapades:

Laurie's Escapade:

Last weekend brought the 2nd Annual Hellacious Race at Palmer Park in Colorado Springs.  After having so much fun at the race last year I knew I wanted to do it again!  I was again pleasantly surprised by the low entry fee and got another free pair of North Face flip flops just for signing up.

Packet-pickup was at Boulder Running Company where I received another very nice North Face draw-string bag, 2 race t-shirts, 2 energy gus, and $15 towards any North Face item in the store.  What a deal!

Race morning came, and it was a beautiful, warm day.  We all gathered at the starting line where we had a brief pre-race meeting.  It was mostly to warn us of the bear that had been sighted the day before.  But they were quite confident that with so many runners the bear would probably stay away and we wouldn't have any problems. :)  So with our bear warning, they shot the starting gun and we were off!

It's like playing "Where's Waldo?" except now it's "Where's the Mango Girl?"

 

Last year we got a little off course right at the beginning, but they made sure that didn't happen again this year.  We stayed on track and headed up into the hellacious terrain as planned.

It's a great course because it's a good challenge and it's a beautiful park.  It constantly has you going up to great views of the city and mountains and down through the trees and flowers.  The trail is quite an adventure which keeps you focused mostly on where your next step should be instead of how tired you may be feeling.  Trail races are so fun!
As I came into the finish I had great fans cheering me on: mom, Meredith and Scott!  I had given it my all trying to catch the two ladies in pink ahead of me.  So I was happy to see some familiar faces to celebrate with at the end.

The post race consisted of a lot of great snack food: granola, fruit, trail mix, bagels, and much more  The best part, however, was probably the free massage!  It is so nice of them to come work out our muscles for us after a good run.  The running community is full of some great people that I really enjoy meeting.

It was a small race again this year which meant I was able to walk home with an award: a North Face sports bottle and gift certificate to Boulder Running Company.  I love small races!

 After a little recovery, froyo sounded like a great idea!  My favorite shop in town is iTopit.

It is all self-serve and they have a great variety of flavors and toppings.  One of their flavors is, of course, MANGO!!!

Plus they have fresh mango for topping.  Absolutely delicious!  I think I might be addicted; I want to eat it every day.  Mango fro-yo = escapade complete!

Barkin' Dog & CitySolve Escapades

Two escapades in one day... how could it get any better than that?!

We began the morning at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver for the Barkin' Dog Duathlon.

This was our first duathlon experience.  We thought it might be nice to cut out the swim after our triathlon experience.  For clarification, a duathlon consists of a run - bike- run.  For this race we ran a 5k, biked 30k, and ended running another 5k.  We got there early to get our bikes set in the transition zone.

It was a brisk morning, but the chill didn't last for long.  We were off for the first run!

It was a nice course through the park on mostly trails.  Then we headed into the transition to hop on our bikes for a 2-loop course.  It was another beautiful course except for the less than desirable road conditions that gave you quite a jolt on a roadbike with absolutely no shocks.  We were also blown away by the nice bikes out there.  Numerous bikers flew by us on their fancy roadbikes, costing who knows how much.  Our vintage bikes couldn't quite hang with the fancy wheels, but we love that our bikes have a lot of character!

After finishing the 2 loops it was time for another run.  If you've never transitioned from the bike to a run, let us tell you that if feels quite odd.  It's like your legs are made of lead, and you're trying to make them go as fast as you can.

That last run took a little extra effort, but we did make it!

We were treated to a nice post race.  It was quite fitting for 2 southern girls - barbeque!

Post race also consisted of a couple MANGO samples.  Yay!

Mango protein drink - we would NOT recommend it

Mango Peach energy restoring drink - much more highly recommended

Overall, we were fans of the Barkin' Dog!

But the escapade was far from over.  We quickly loaded up and headed into downtown Denver for the City Solve.  This is an adventure race modeled somewhat after The Amazing Race tv show.  About 300 people started at Stoney's Bar & Grill where we received our first clue.

We figured out the answer was B. Oklahoma has the shortest border with Colorado.

This led us to our first destination where a man was waiting with our clue envelope.

Odessa jumped right up to get ours.  We were the pink girls for this escapade!

The envelope contained 10 clues to be solved.  You could then accomplish each clue in any order that you chose by taking a picture at each check point.  There were also a couple bonus clues.  We sat and frantically called our connections to figure each one out.  Once we had an idea of where we were going for each one we set off for quite the Denver escapade.  Following is each checkpoint as we accomplished them:

At Fado's we had to find the name of a city in Ireland that you would order on your burger - Mayo!  Only then would they take your picture with the Yelp sign.

Solving a crossword puzzle led us to Tilted Kilt to take a picture with one of Denver's bravest!

Rockie's hat #1

Rockie's hat #2

Rockie's hat #3

    It turns out we didn't quite read the Rockies hat clue correctly.  Apparently we were suppose to have 3 people in Rockies hats in 1 picture, not 3 separate pictures.  Oops!

Odessa's dad and some very friendly people on the 16th Street Mall Bus really pulled through to help us find this one.

We took our chances at Yahtzee at the Horseshoe Lounge

We were given a much needed electrolyte drink after trying our skills at Quarters.  We were not good, but the drink was great!  We would recommend it!

The final checkpoint!!!!  We were exhausted to say the least.  We had no clue how much walking would be involved in this City Search!

Back at Stoney's we were very proud of our accomplishment!  There were times when we honestly wanted to quit and we weren't even sure we would find all of the checkpoints.  But we pushed through and never gave up!  We earned our shirts and are now much more familiar with downtown Denver.

Highlight of the post race - they found another box of smalls!

On top of a full day of escapades, it was Laurie birthday!  Maria really topped with off with a true mango escapade gift.

Mango shaving cream, mango lotion, and mango soap!

What a day!!!