We started Sunday in White Plains NY where Tony and Ginette graciously held a pre "run" party - the words run/running became fairly amusing later into this journey. Great food, company and lots of Belgian beer. Off to the airport where we failed to get upgraded and therefore sat sardined with all the other Brazilians who apparently manage to get all of there belongings onto a flight, longgggg trip. We landed in Sao Paolo Monday morning and met up with Lynne. Lynne came selflessly to crew for us and also compete in Brazil 135. In classic "Brazil time" fashion we waited over 2 hours to finally meet Jarom, Glauber and Monica. Another hour spent signing my life away at the car rental place and several sign here, initial here and we were off to Cravinhos.
Several hours later and after some good meat on a stick and Brahma beer (please note Brahma beer was an essential dietary component to our success) we made it to Cravinhos and the first of many 5 star hotels, lol. We met up with Clovis (the founder of the Caminho da Fe) and his wife and went off to a Brazilian barbecue to fuel for the morning - dangerous choice for sure. Clovis stayed with us for the first few days. He and every Brazilian we encountered were so proud of what we were doing, it made us feel amazing. We stopped by the Pousada where the CDF began, got our passports to be stamped along the way and were off to bed.
Day 1 - 620am Jan 18th, the journey began. Plan was 50-60miles, simple right. Wrong, nothing is simple about the CDF. 6 hours in we were flying, too fast it turns out. Jarom got dehydrated and spent a good part of the day returning to mother nature what he had drank and eaten earlier. Trail was muddy but no rain. Yes no rain, according to everyone this trip would be all rain, turns out it was scorching sun for 98% of the time. I'll discuss the 2% much later (1% Day 3 and 1% Day 8). Glauber took full advantage of the 4x4 through the puddles and mud, felt like something out of monster trucks. We all managed to push through for 56miles on the first day which we were very proud of. As ended everyday, discussions in Portuguese regarding Pousadas and I really have no idea what else. This was followed by showers, meal (usually Pizza with, well I am really not sure outside of cheese), skype and bed. It was very important to find internet access so we could skype with family and Charlie E, without that we would have been lost. Actually we were blessed to see Mario and all his peeps who drove several hours to see us. Mario seemed a little worried about us pushing miles and impressed that BR 135 was just part of the journey, not a race for us. Turns out he should have been worried, we had no idea how hard this was going to get. A good hearty dinner, beer and zzzzzzz.
Day 2 - Plan was 40-50 miles, sense a trend.....We all felt OK and that is relative for sure. Jarom got some food in and our feet felt good. This was a very long very very hot day. Most of it spent on dirt road with no cover, hence some seriously sunburned calfs and scalps. Motto after Day 2, you can never use to much sunscreen in Brazil. We plugged through to mile 40 where we came to a farm and Pousada, for me hot spots were well on their way and no those don't go away just get worse. We went through several muddy, sh#!%t filled cow pastures. lots of fun. Our support crew had to divert to meet us on the other side. We unfortunately continued through a rocky, mud filled grass field up hill (both ways - yes that is possible in Brazil). At the end we pushed for 46 total miles into the dark, lucky for us just a marathon to go to the start of BR 135., hah easy right :(
Day 3 - Torrential downpour starting around 3am which luckily stopped except for a drizzle by the time we started. Breakfast, sore feet, a few Jarom dry heaves and we were on our way. Let's just say that every step that was not on a "flat" hill as we called them was an uphill. We stopped by a small Pousada in the mountains and were greeted with kisses and hugs as always. The first 1%. About 1 mile from our crew the skies opened up and this is no joke in Brazil. We slogged through torrential downpour to our vehicle, completely soaked and now frozen from the rain. Tony and Jarom laughed as I shrugged my shoulders upward and pulled my shirt away from my body to maintain warmth. Lucky for us we had reached our endpoint. A little drying off under cover and off to the pre-race meeting. Thank god!
I have to stop and say our crew Lynne and Glauber were amazing. Crewing three cranky people through these conditions especially when Glauber spoke no English and Lynne no Portuguese is a miracle. We never wanted for anything and they did an amazing job of anticipating our needs along the way. Words cannot express the gratitude the three of us share for them. Thanks guys, you rock and more thanks coming :))
So we get to the pre race meeting about 10 min to late and most people are already gone. Luckily Mario, Eliana and several others were still there. We were told later that many remarked about how bad we looked, yes I agree. We did an interview for a Portuguese adventure mag, pickup up our stuff then weighed in. We made quite a mess of the weigh in station as we removed our soaked mud covered shoes and stepped on the scale with dripping mud covered socks. More confusing Portuguese conversing then eventually off to a hotel. At this point we had realized to wash our dirty things and try and reuse them because anything actually worn on this trip was not making it home. I have never seen so much dirt and sh#!%t come out of one sock in my life. Off to all you can eat pizza and a few more Brahma. Jarom was officially back, turns out after dinner he ended up eating an entire second meal, appetite back. Tony and I did some serious foot damage control at the hotel (this was slowly becoming a problem, hot spots, blisters, etc., etc.). Lynne got all her things ready to rock for BR 135 and we were off to another warm restless night of sleep.
Day 4,5 and 6 or the Brazil 135. First of all starting this part as Day 4,5 and 6 is just wrong. So we all arose, non rested but ready, dressed, did some foot prep then off to the start. I have participated in a lot of great events but have never witnessed such genuine excitement and pride as I saw here. Met up with lots of folks including David Wronski, Cheryl Z and Ray Sanchez. Cheryl asked me how I felt, I said all in all ok, she said well to be honest you look pretty bad. She was right of course. Quick interview with a local TV station (we were spotted later in the day and told by some locals we were actually on TV) then the Brazilian National Anthem with Mario standing stiff and proud, few words of encouragement then go time.
Into the evening the sleep deprivation started to take full hold. I for one spent about 20hours hearing everyone speak as if it were coming from a background speaker and could not be sure of what was said or heard around me. In the early morning Jarom's blister on the ball of his feet ballooned painfully. Ever had a blister under a callous, enough said. After some quick medical aid "bush" style it actually started to feel a touch better, so he says. I will take this opportunity to say I have never, yes never ever ever seen an athlete with a stronger spirit and drive then Jarom. My hat is off to you my brother. We made it to the last checkpoint with just over 24 miles to go. Average time for this section 8-9 hours, yes 8-9 hours for less than a marathon. That speaks only partially to the weariness of the competitors and more to the ruthlessness of the terrain. Every time we reached another hill we blamed Clovis' wife, not sure why really we just did. So you would see someone turning a corner only to be greeted by another hill and then hear "Clovis' wife, arrrgh". We tackled this stretch after a quick cat nap and actually managed to run some, when Tony gets an energy spurt it is all over for everyone, my feet hurt just thinking about it. As we walked into town a "dreaded" cobblestone descent (much much worse than any climb on battered feet) the finality was there. We planned on sitting on a bench just before the finish but it was taken. None the less we did the most appropriate alternative, walked across together slowly..... 55h24m. So much genuine affection from other racers and staff. Marco Farinazzo gave me a bottle of the local liquor Cachacha after learning I did a shot on top of Pico Do Gaviao. Mario joyously gave us and our crew our rewards and reminded us the journey continued. Thanks Mario, always encouraging :(
So guess what happens after you run 3 days along the Caminho da Fe followed 55+ straight hours on your feet and stop. All, I mean all the pain, swelling, blistering, etc. catch up at once. We hobbled around that town like wounded animals on their last leg. Walking to the post race party was awful, lucky for us it did not last long and we were off to bed at a reasonable hour. We did manage to watch a little of the Steelers-Jets game, yeah Steelers.
Day 7 - We awoke feeling slightly better than the night before but clearly hobbled at this point. While all the other racers enjoyed there well deserved rest, we put our things back on and headed out again. Our first mile pace 27min, not a good sign when you have around 40miles to cover. We hobbled the first 12miles or so till we got a small town at the base of what is known as the "hill of the broken leg". Knowing how many crappy climbs we had already faced, the fact that this climb got that designation was, well absurd at this point. Our crew stayed while a nice lady prepared a feast for us. About 3/4 up this ridiculous but beautiful climb (surrounded by banana trees the whole way) our crew came with a meal. I had just run out of water prior and was reminded by Tony that fresh mountain water that comes out a rusty pipe is still water out a rusty pipe, he said you can't smell Giardia ya know. We scarfed down the plate of pasta, steak, beans, rice and veg in minutes. We plugged through the rest of the day into the early evening then stopped at the best Pousada along the Caminho da Fe. Greeted by a shot of Cachacha and a Brahma, nice. Payment was all on the honor system love that. More pizza, kind of over that meal at this point, skype and bed. Charlie E told us we looked, well as bad as you would expect and our families gave some last day encouragement, few more Brahmas, off to bed.
Day 8 - 43 miles to go...... So this day started early after some attempted foot restoration, to be honest all our feet were pitiful at this point. Solution stop running, well stop walking really. We had the joy of running (sorry walking) along a railway followed by the most unpleasant rocky descent yet. Yep, feet loved that one. The remainder of the day was spent on roads, good maybe but not when it is basically a highway with no care for pedestrians. Tony complained to Mario about it after and he gave some explanation about the symbolism of birth to death along the CDF. We didn't really buy it but came a little to close to the death part a few times. Within 10km of the finish we were actually running, 1 pole then 2 then 3, etc. Then came the other 1%. Tony joked that rain would finally hit right near the finish and he was right. This was more like something out of the "Ten Commandements" or "Twister" though, absolutely one step away from a true hurricane. At least it felt that way. Lucky for us we had a bit of shelter outside one of Brazil's famous "love motels". Jarom may have more info on those but they seemed rather well protected from the outside :) Mario joined us (after the rain of course) and seemed somewhat happy with our misery as always. The last few miles were such a relief and the walk up and into the shrine at Aparecida was impossible to put into words. Our Lady of Aparecida was more beautiful than expected. Our amazing journey was complete, 7d14h, over 530km and the Brazil 135. Personally I sit here days later not coming to grips with it.
As we received our certificates of pilgrimage the following day there was much relief and pride. Jarom asked if anyone else had finished this in 7 or 8 days. The lady replied, a few, by bike.......
Best hallucination: Hands down our friend Maria who came screaming down the mountain in the middle of the night chased by what she called a "zombie" from the woods. At least, I hope it was a hallucination.
Amazing: our crew. Lynne and Glauber took such good care of us from start till finish. There is NO way any of this would have been possible without them, so thank you again
Amazing: the pride and joy the Brazilians, particularly Mario/Eliana, Clovis and wife, Glauber and all of Mario's staff took in what we were doing. I am honored to be a part of their family
Amazing: the fact that we somehow, albeit narrowly avoided any disastrous outcome after run ins with animals particularly bulls. Just wait for the video footage from Tony.
Amazing: our families for allowing us to take part in this journey. E said...go, live, suffer, grow....that we did
Amazing: I now have a true understanding for the strength of spirit. Don't ever think for a minute you cannot achieve something that seems beyond reason. Life definitely begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Reality: most of Brazil is very simple and impoverished. We need to learn from the gracious giving exhibited by those with nothing to give.
Thankful: for my brothers that stuck with this team effort from start till finish. Love you guys. Yes we can and yes we did :)))
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