“Lima42K”, Lima, Perú. 19th May 2024.
On a perfect day for running, 19,000 runners took the streets of Lima, painting them with the bright yellow of the official shirts. We were two of them, to finish the Half Marathon and complete our 7 Continents Challenge!
TLDR; “too long, didn’t read”
- I just want to run! Take me to RACE.
- I have 1 minute. Take me to USEFUL INFORMATION.
- Running is my excuse for travelling. Take me to TRIP.
- Running is my excuse for eating. Take me to CARBOLOADING.
- I want to know what to read in the plane. Take me to ONE BOOK.
🌍 The trip 📷: What to see in Lima in one or two days
We had visited Lima a few years before, in 2012.
And we found the city to have changed: more modern, better cared for, and with “better” traffic. Ok, it is still very chaotic, but, as Roger said, “now at least they seem to know there are lanes!”
Plaza Mayor (Plaza de Armas)
We first headed to the Plaza Mayor, where we saw important buildings like the Government Palace, the Cathedral of Lima, and the Archbishop’s Palace, real gems of colonial architecture around a central fountain.
We found the historic centre very changed since 2012, where we were first here. The streets were pedestrian, which was very nice because there were no annoying traffic sounds, and the buildings were beautifully restored, painted and looking so well, I was transported to colonial times…
In the Plaza Mayor, the Cathedral of Lima is the highlight. The Cathedral dates back to the 16th century and houses the remains of Francisco Pizarro, the founder of Lima. The interior is stunning with its ornate altars and religious artworks.
Rest of the Historical City Centre
We walked around the pedestrian streets for a while, getting nice surprises in every corner. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, with a lot of restaurants, both tiny obscure shops for locals or ‘fancy’ stylish restaurants for tourists.
I particulary liked the Iglesia de la Merced, located in the busy Jirón de la Unión. It is one of the oldest in Lima, founded in 1535. Its façade is an outstanding example of Peruvian baroque, and inside it houses a venerated image of the Virgin of Mercy.
Plaza San Martin
We then headed to the wide and ‘official-looking” Square San Martin, named after the liberator of Peru, José de San Martín.
The square is surrounded by beautiful buildings reflecting the architectural style of the early 20th century, like the Teatro Colón:
Plaza Kennedy
We went back to Miraflores, where we were staying and where the marathon would start and finish the day after. We could see the preparations already in progress:
To our delight, the area was packed with runners!
In the heart of Miraflores, the Plaza Kennedy is a cultural hub, often hosting art exhibitions, live music, and performances, providing a great way to experience local culture.
What surprised us the most were.. the cats! The park is home to many cats that are well-cared for by local volunteers. Visitors often enjoy watching and interacting with the cats, making it a charming and unique experience.
At night, we walked around, enjoying the Parroquia La Virgen Milagrosa illuminated with blue and red lights, and seeing people dancing surrounded by strangers in the middle of the park!
But, again, the nicest surprise was to find cats… inside the Church, “listening” to Mass!
🏃♀️ Before the race 🏃♂️
Final countdown…
Two weeks before, we received the email with the “final countdown” and instructions to pick up the kit. Excitement was picking up for the “running big party” as it was announced in Spanish.
I also realised that the entries were sold out, so I was glad I had signed up much in advance!
¡La cuenta regresiva está en marcha para la gran fiesta del running en adidas, RIMAC | LIMA 42K!
The KIT was to be picked up at the “ExpoMaratón” on the 17th and 18th of May in La Videna (Av. del Aire s/n, San Luis – Lima 15021).
📅 Expomaratón 🎽
“Living on a prayer” was playing when we entered the Expomaratón, on a large stage, in the middle of an equally large square.
The fair had the flavour of a “serious marathon”, a big one, and I understood why it was advertised as “the biggest running event in South America.”
It was sunny and we started to see how the t-shirts were: a beautiful yellow color.
Collecting our BIBs
We went into a big building to pick up the kit. We almost did no queue, and we got the BIBs quickly: just showing the QR and our Spanish DNI.
There was a stand for customizing t-shirts with your name, at Adiclub.
We went back outside through a tunnel with giant screens with local runners looking super fit, saying things like “remember that you are unstoppable!”
Collecting our t-shirts
Outside, an elite runner on stage was explaining how the circuit was going to be like and giving us some advice. It was so cool to speak Spanish 😉 and feel like locals.
We then picked up our t-shirts (“polos” in Spanish here in Peru), which were a little too big for us. The queue was quitre short, luckily, as it was quite sunny. They also gave us four tiny golden safety pins, very cute.
There were sponsor stands, like “Casa Andina”, a hotel chain which gave discounts for runners who came from outside Lima, or another one, for a “marathon” business (I didn’t know what it was, later I found out it was a supermaket chain). In that one they were asking questions like “What 3 other marathons are sponsored by Adidas?”.
People were looking for his name on a big wall with all the runners. We too searched, finding our names and being surprised by the large number of “Rogers” there were. Roger Edwin, Roger Romulo…
Also there were food stands, selling juices or super foods, all very healthy.
The Adidas Store
The most popular stand was obviosuly the Adidas one (official sponsor). It was quite stressful, too. Very loud music sounding over a serpentine queue with nervous people.
To buy some pants I wanted to wear the day after, I had to stand in line at the store for several minutes, after I had accidentally sneaked into the store.
They costed 229 soles, which were 56 EUR, but with your BIB number for the half marathon, you got a 25% discount. For the marathon it was 30% 😉. It was fiar to rank the discounts depending on how much you are going to suffer the day after🤣!
Other runners were buying marathon visors and other merchandise with “Lima” in capital letters.
Equiped with everything we need and excited to be running the day after, we left to do some sightseeing.
🏃♀️ The race 🏃♂️
As our hotel was just in front of the starting line, we started to see people speaking outside from 4am. At 4:45, the speakers started to give instructions. They were very busy indicating how the 3 waves for the 10k were set up.
The 10k started at 5:30am, and the half and full marathon runners were scheduled to start at 6am.
As the speakers urged us all to be punctual, we left our hotel 25 minutes in advance.
It was the perfect temperature for running, not cold. We had opted to wear the beatifully yellow official tshirts, and we were comfortable all race long.
We went to our wave and had to wait for 15 minutes after 6am to start running (picture below to prove it!). I used the time to to look around and speak with some of our fellow runners.
There were a lot of people from Ecuador, but also many from Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela (like the song!). Finally we started running, when it was still dark.
First kilometers
The first kilometers were run surrounded by massive animation, a lot of people cheering and drums. Super cool!
At kilometer 2, a speaker was playing the song “El baile del Gorila” by Melodie, (“The Gorila dance”). A Spanish song that became popular. a few years ago, with a funny coreography, and a couple of women running next to me danced to it, which really made me laugh! 🤣
At kilometer 3, still running in a wide avenue, an organization member was continously shouting, in a candence that seemed like he was singing: “Cuidado con el hueco, está en medio de la pista” which translates to: “Beware of the hole, it is located in the middle of the street”. And indeed it was!
I was very happy to speak the local language, as this gave us the possiblity of feeling part of the crowd in a more intimate way. For instance, I overtook a runner with super cool Mafalda socks, and I could tell her: “¡Que medias más chulas!” She smiled broadly to me and said “thank you!”.
Or I could read the messages that the crowd were showing, like one woman with a banner saying… “You run, while I am here with you!”
The “magical” moment of the race, for me, was when, still early in the race, at kilometer 6, we went down a tunnel with had been filled with loud speakers. “Don’t you worry child”by Swedish Sound Mafia was sounding and I felt part of the crowd, inspired by all of them, in such a special place…
Mid race
Later, at kilometer 9, we went down another sub tunnel and the crowd roared, their voices echoing: it was super cool. We took some videos of the yellow tide roaring. Amazing, really!
We had aid stations frequently, the first one very early, at kilometer 2 and a half, which surprised me. They gave you water first and gatorate later, in cartoon vases. There were also stations only for the elite.
There were also some stations for sponges.
The distances for the 10k and the other 2 distances were marked clearly.
At kilometer 15, there was a motivational recording sounding loudly which said: “Ya llegaste! Lo conseguiste!“, which translates to: “You arrived! You made it!” and which made me say… “err… too soon!!”
We went mainly in a straight line, and we could see some landmarks, but we did not reach the city centre. It was also mainly flat: apart from the tunnels, there was a little elevation around kilometers 16-18, when we reached the coastline.
There, Roger saw a big Huskie and touched his head.
It was also here, around kilometer 17, when the first runner of the marathon overtook us. Before, organization members on motorbikes were shouting “¡A la derecha, a la derecha!” (“To the right!”) to us, slow runners. Again, it was good to speak spanish 😝
End of the race
The last 3 kilometers we zigzagged in the beautiful streets of Miraflores, while a street vendor was trying to sell his merchandise shouting: “Arehumitas dulces, tamales…” Funnily enough, we saw the same vendor later, after the race, when we were having coffee and cake in “Dulce ciudad” , a super cute cafeteria nearby.
We picked up our pace as we were feeling super good, we had been ultra conservative and had taken it very easy in the beginning, because our goal was clear: we had to finish 😊.
So we started overtaking runners. Most of them were locals or from nearby countries, I barely saw people looking like “gringos” or Europeans. Only Spanish was spoken. We overtook many women with beautiful, long black hair, so shiny!
Quickly we were near the finish line: we pushed a little faster in streets packed with people cheering. It was very cool! We made a couple of turns and then, almost sprinting, we held hands highs to finish our half marathon in a little over two hours… having completed our 7 Continents Challenge!
Later, we got our medal and a couple of bottles (Gatorade and water) while some people were taking pictures and printing them right on the spot, thanks to small printers they were carrying in their belts. “Fotos al instante!” they were shouting.
We took some pictures with our medals, also in front of the beautiful bed of flowers… of a colour very similar to our t-shirts!
Understandly happy, we celebrated that we had completed the 7 Continents Challenge on a high, running easily and in a beatiful city!
🍜 Carboloading 🍝: What to eat in Peru if you are a runner
One typical Peruvian food that is high in carbohydrates, so good for carboloading, is Papa a la huancaína. This dish consists of boiled potatoes (papas) served with a creamy, spicy sauce made from cheese, yellow chili peppers, and evaporated milk.
Other Peruvian dishes like Causa (a layered potato dish), Tacu tacu (a mixture of rice and beans), and various types of corn-based dishes are also high in carbohydrates.
Dishes featuring seafood, such as Ceviche (marinated raw fish or seafood), Tiradito (similar to ceviche but with thinly sliced fish), and arroz con mariscos (seafood rice), are also high in protein due to the seafood ingredients they contain.
But we opted for a more traditional “Carboloading”…. with pasta 🍝!
We found an Italian restaurant in Kennedy Square: “Mamma Lola“. The restaurant was packed to the brim with runners with their runner’s kit bags, and with some we exchanged the usual “good luck!” or “see you at the finish line”!
The atmosphere was pleasant, with waiters wearing bow ties and wooden beams, people chatting in low voices, dim lighting, and walls full of bills (almost all from Peru), hanging heads of garlic or oil paintings.
We were wearing the very yellow t-shirts so we are easily identifiable.
We ordered fettuccini alla bolognesa and salmon and prawn fagottini with walnut sauce. Amazing Carboloading!
And after your runs, for protein recovery, a typical Peruvian food is Lomo saltado. This popular dish consists of marinated strips of beef stir-fried with onions, tomatoes, and other seasonings, typically served with rice and French fries. The beef in lomo saltado provides a significant amount of protein, making it a satisfying and protein-rich meal.
Useful information
🏆 Lima 42K. Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K distances.
🌐 Website: https://www.lima42k.com.pe/
🏃 Number of runners: 19,000.
🗓️ Second weekend in May in Lima, Perú – South America.
👟 Urban: bring shoes for asphalt.
✅ Big event, very well organised, with multiple distances and good sponsorship. And super cool atmosphere!
✅ Course in the city and the possibilty to visit one of the most vibrant and evolving cities in South America. It’s quite flat, with wide avenues and even some scenery: some kms are run along the coast.
Map
One book
Escribir es lo único realmente apasionante que existe / Writing is the only truly exciting thing there is
Mario Vargas Llosa
“The time of the hero”, by Mario Vargas Llosa.
I did not hesitate when picking the book for travelling to Peru. The first novel by Mario Vargas Llosa was a milestone that, in a way, created what later was called the “boom latinoamericano”, as we say in Spanish.
Funnily enough, in our hotel in Lima, there was a Mario Vargas Llosa book in the lounge: “Contra y viento y marea“, “Making waves” in English. I had not read the book and when I started, I was impressed by how profound this piece is.
It’s a series of essays, summarized by the author in the following terms: “Reform or revolution? Realism or political idealism? History and morality or Morality and history?”
The “boom latinoamericano” was a literary phenomenon that took the literary world in Europe by storm, with writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar and the very same Gabriel García Marquez.
😉 Btw, I have picked also books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Julio Cortazar for my blog entries about runs in Colombia 🇨🇴 and Argentina 🇦🇷.
Plot Summary: “Translated to over 30 languages, this is perhaps Vargas Llosa’s most violent book. Set in a military school in Lima, where an unwritten code of survival of the fittest is imposed. Here, he focuses on the brutality of military life and the strong pyramidal hierarchy that mirrors Peruvian society, where violence, exploitation and human degradation guarantee that each layer of the social pyramid maintains its place. All the conflicts of Peruvian society arise with rage and impotence in this testimonial novel in which Vargas Llosa paints a social and political picture.”
