No air traffic controllers on the White Continent. It’s all visual. Radar. Close watch on weather. Cloud cover, SNOW. Stories of flying to Antarctica… not landing, diverted 3 hours back to Chile.
1am meeting cancelled. Weather window closed. Back to sleep.
6am downstairs. Luggage tent-tagged, 2 buses awaiting. Small plane. FULL flight, every seat.
Airport check-in. Ticketed. BIG bag on board. Sunshiny skies, body tired but this is it – LAST DAY!
In theory, a small fee & I can run the Punta Arenas Marathon, day after Antarctica with Black Ice (group from Atlanta). Thanks, no thanks. I’ll cheer y’all on – 8 marathons all I signed for. LOL>
9am: DELAY. New departure 10:15am.
HIGH energy at Gate One. Lotta selfies, lotta groupies. Whole lotta pics in general. I remember my excitement last year. Antarctica, bottom of the World. AMAZING adventure!
11:30am: Flight CANCELLED. Mix of rain & snow. Window closed.
And… that was that.
Quiet grieving amongst the Group. Hour before hotel transport secured. Punta Arenas Day.
So… what’s the plan? Notta lotta communication. iPhone readied, everyone a meteorologist.
Maybe… move Black Ice’s Punta race to tomorrow – but, if our window opens at noon… folks would be pulled off course, packed up, flown to Antarctica and expected to run again, soon after landing… with no surety they’d get the 2 Continent finishes they registered for.
Me? Pulpo risotto & back to sleep. Strangely a-ok. Let the others explore town & nightlife play.
Marathon tomorrow. Sis did a penguin SACRIFICE; Antarctica SUCCESS or the ‘middle penguin’ goes next 😬
Triple 8, now 8-8-9. Eight marathons, eight continents… NINE days.
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- Gate One WAIT
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- travel FAIL ❄️
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- OCTOPUS risotto
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- Pup & Rover family
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- nothing IMPOSSIBLE 🙏
Day 8 FAIL
Save Jan 🐧❤️
Goodbye New York, hello South America. Journey to the Bottom of the World. With only 2 marathons to go, spirits CRAZY HIGH again. It’s not only possible, it’s gonna happen.
BUSINESS CLASS to Santiago. Stretched out & logged most my sleep hours. Customs, bag retrieval – the BIG bag, my new NYC-export full of Antarctica supplies… but first, Chile.
Scored McDonald’s Americana while transferring to the Domestic Terminal – ‘Cuarto de Libra con Queso’. QUARTER POUNDER! Calories, calories, calories. Burning 4000+ a day 🍔
Touchdown: Punta Arenas. Crowded 4-hour flight to Patagonia, the land of Magellan.
13-mile ride into town. Hurry, hurry, quick. Change of clothes – it’s race day in 15 minutes! Today’s 26.2 would be a 3:30 AFTERNOON START (after spending 16 hours in the air).
Airplane stiff but SUPER EXCITED. Know what to expect; I’ve been here. Bike path ‘longside the Ocean. 6 laps. Sun won’t set ‘til almost MIDNITE. Bottom of the World. YES!
Hotel lobby PACKED. GREAT energy! Tomorrow’s White Continent runners there to greet us. THEY have their own Quest – most African Americans to race Antarctica, EVER. Majority from the Deep South. My PEOPLE. 20 would join the afternoon marathon. AWESOME!
Sis yesterday; Southerner run-company Day 7! God gives us exactly what we need.
High 5’s & shout-outs every lap… whatta SPIRIT BOOST. Out, back. Out, back. HUGE SMILE. SOAKED in every second. WIND. Cloud cover. Sideways RAIN. Sunshine. WIND again. Patagonia summer 🌞
Two days ago, armor dented/spirit broken/no more. Today – a 5th place FINISH!
Auckland, Perth, Singapore, Cairo, Amsterdam, New York, Punta Arenas. Just ONE remaining!
Shower, quick nap. 1 a.m. team meeting. Antarctica Day! 🐧
4th Annual Southern Cross Marathon
Punta Arenas, Chile
January 27, 2020
Keenan Haga Louisville, CO U.S.A. Marathon 5:49:47
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- McDonald’s con Queso
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- Santiago SUNRISE
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- Patagonia 🇨🇱
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- Diego De Almagro Hotel
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- afternoon START
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- 6 laps out-n-back
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- Day 7: South America
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- Just ONE remaining!
Southern Cross Marathon
Andes Mountains
Yesterday sad day. Heart-tug goodbyes, reflection on adventures past.
Heading home, BRAND NEW DAY. Colorado HOME. Rockies blurred in snow; Hecla iced-in, Canada geese wintering on its water-exposed center. And Ro, my best pal Ro. LOVIN’ time with his bro Marty. Equally confident he’ll be happy to see Papa. Strong bond, we’re a tight pack.
12 days same hotel room, MOVE DAY. Farewell to 2 pair of run shoes, handful of past marathon shirts. Trading space for souvenirs. Strategy served well in New Zealand [March 2017].
Minimalist mantra maintained, even on holiday 😊
Hotel check-out, airport check-in. World of change, 4 hours away. Santiago. GREAT transition. Day in Chile’s capital city, before an early pre-dawn touchdown in Miami. U-S-A! U-S-A!
Food feasted on all my favorites: ensalada palta (avocado salad), sopa de mariscos (seafood stew), mariscos risotto. Half-a-continent of coastline, FISH n FRIENDS ‘get in my belly’.
Shower’d, groomed, war wounds tended. AFC Championship on ESPN Español.
RED RUBY dreamin’. Eyes closed, ready for my own bed.
there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home….
Home, Colorado HOME ❤️
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- sporting Broncos ORANGE, heading COLORADO HOME
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- Chilean food FAVES
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- Antarctica war wounds
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- January bro time
Punta RETURN HOME
