Quito and its running culture

When I was living in Arenillas, I would jog in the mornings.

It was a great way for me to be active and kill the time between when I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to the scent of my neighbors burning plastic and 8:00 a.m. when city hall opened.

A small group of people would also walk/run in the morning along a stretch of highway on the outskirts on town, but for the most part, the other Peace Corps Volunteer in Arenillas and I were the only people in town who recreationally ran more than five kilometers.

I'm pretty sure most people thought we were nuts.

So when I moved up to Quito at the beginning of June, I didn't expect to find a thriving running culture. I was wrong.

Five days after I got up here, nearly 20,000 people participated in the Ultimas Noticias 15 km run.



The streets were packed with runners and lined with spectators along the entire route. It was really refreshing to see people so interested in fitness.



This isn't a once-a-year thing. People run in Quito all year. There are tons of people who run in the park near our apartment every morning. On Sundays, they close off one of the main north-south roads to motorized traffic and only open it to bikers and runners.

I'm not exactly sure where this comes from. Ecuador's only Olympic medalist is speed walker Jefferson Perez (and you do see a several speed walkers in the park), but I don't think he inspired a running revolution. The Ultimas Noticias run has been happening for over 50 years now, and Perez won his medal just over a decade ago.

Last week, I participated in the Quito half marathon. This was only the event's fifth year, so it doesn't quite have the following of the Ultimas Noticias run or the Mitad del Mundo Medio Maraton (which is held in November and apparently attracts over 10,000 runners) but it was still a good experience.

My roommate and I have been training for this race for the last few months. It was the longest run she had ever participated it, and I was excited to run this distance at altitude.



You can see my excitement in that picture, which was taken a little over halfway through the race.

I was really pleased with my time and am looking forward to participating in other upcoming runs. For the next couple of weeks though, I'm going to let my legs recover and take it easy.