That's a LONG way.

I ran in an ultra marathon this weekend - 56 kilometers (I will make you do the math – I had to?). There is an annual event here in South Africa that Peace Corps volunteers participate in to raise money for a deserving student to go to school and further their education. As a collective Peace Corps group we raised over $22,000 for the KLM foundation (www.klm-foundation.org). Thank you to my friends and family who donated (and you can still donate at any time so if you missed out and want to contribute)! I must tell you that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into…I was the only female Peace Corps runner tackling the 56km run (most of the group ran the half-marathon – and did an amazing job as many of them had never ran in a marathon before) and, although I knew it was going to be a difficult course based on hearing about it from another volunteer who did it last year. But I had no idea.
Basically, you run uphill (into the most spectacular mountains) for the first 22 miles. Seriously, it is all uphill. And then for the last 12 miles you run down the mountain. I befriended a group of South African runners who called me “Miss America” and asked why I had chosen this as my first ultra marathon. They told me it was the most difficult race in South Africa…rated a 5 on a scale of 1-5. What was I doing?!?

But I am pleased to say that I finished the race in less than 6 hours…and ran the entire way. Although there were many times that I wanted to walk, I just kept running (I kept thinking it is kind of like my Peace Corps service…you just keep going). And it was an amazing experience. And to those volunteers who met me at the finish line and cheered me across…you guys ROCK. And when I post the picture of me finishing and you see how happy I was to have accomplished such a feat, then you will see why I am now going to attempt to run 89km in May.

Here I am after just completing my first ultramarathon...can you feel my sense of accomplishment?  I sure can.

The 2011 Peace Corps Longtom Group