Lilathon 5K

Right after the warm-up; on the steps of the City Hall ready to start the race!
This was a band that was encouraging the runners along the Zurriola Beach in Gros.
The finish line
Done!! Rachel and I after partaking in an amazing experience!

One of the coolest (I know I say this every time I write), and most meaningful things that I have participated in since arriving here was the Lilathon Women’s 5K running race last Sunday. The USAC office sent us the information, and my friend Rachel and I decided we wanted to do something local, so we signed up. Upon arrival at Eder Alderri Park/Ayuntamiento/City Hall de San Sebastián, we were amazed at the thousands of people that were already roaming the area waiting for the festivities to begin. I believe that they chose to hold the women’s only race on Sunday because Monday was the day of the “Working woman.” We worked our way inside the building to complete our registration forms. Rachel and I wore our USAC T-shirts so we would feel like a team, and represent foreigners as well, because we had seen pictures from last year, with the women wearing matching shirts, and we thought it looked like a lot of fun. Once we got our registration number, we had to get our bag of goodies including a T-shirt, foot chip (to record the time), and numbers to pin on our T-shirts. I sported the straight spandex, which I would never do at home, but I thought, why not? When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do J. After prepping ourselves and realizing that we lucked out because the weather was amazing for an event like this, we headed to the front of the Ayuntamiento for an aerobic warm-up. Luckily, our friend Mary was with us and was our photographer for the day, documenting everything that we did. We hopped around, doing aerobic warm ups in front of a huge crowd for about 30 minutes before the race began. The environment was electrifying, women were so happy to be spending time with their friends, and to help promote women’s sports on the street in a historically machistic society. Right before the flag was lowered for the race to being, they played a song to which everyone danced, and being in the back of the pack, we got about a 5 minute later start that the other ladies because we were smashed together like “sardinas en lata” (sardines in a can). Once we officially had started the race, we felt like we were in the Boston Marathon, as people lined the streets for miles. Just being over 3 miles, we passed through some of the most notable places in San Sebastian; starting along la Concha Beach and then weaving through el Centro and passing the Buen Pastor Cathedral, running along the river, and then by Zurriola Beach, before turning around for the homestretch and ending up along the Bulevard in la Parte Vieja. Although we ran at a snails pace, with out cameras in hand to soak it all in, we certainly enjoyed taking part in an event somewhat like a “local.” And of course, all of this hard work merited a breakfast afterwards at the infamous (or not) La Vaca restaurant!!!!