A Seven Continent Journey

25th June : Took an American Airlines flight out of Green Bay to Chicago. The itinerary was to go onto Miami then an overnight flight into Rio. Chicago apparently earlier in the day experienced some bad weather which delayed my flight to Miami. It was almost certain that I would have missed the flight to Rio. I was fortunately able to convince the American Airlines agent to get me an alternative ticket. The new itinerary was now on United Airlines, a direct flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil and then onto Rio. The flight was pleasant, a long 12hrs plus flight. Sao Paulo from air seemed like a bustling city, no doubt it is the largest city in Brazil with an estimated population of more than 10 million. After a brief stop over and change of planes in around 35 minutes arrived into Rio. Immigration clearance was a breeze no questions asked., but a bigger problem lay ahead. My baggage had not arrived. I was not entirely surprised as there had been some changes to my itinerary. I was upset as my running shoes/socks were in the checked in baggage, but felt assured that that I had 72 hours before the run and hopefully the baggage would arrive in the next flight. Manu the guide I had hired was at the airport to get me to the hotel Mar Palace where I was staying. Apparently a " cold front" had been moving through Rio, Manu informed me that it had been unusually cold. I was happy, hoping if only this weather pattern could hold onto for the next 3 days. Driving into the city Manu talked about Rio. It seemed like a well planned city, much better than I had expected. Checking into the hotel was easy. I then accompanied Manu for lunch in the Copacabana Fort which houses an artillery museum. I was introduced to Brazilian Coffee, served in very small cups. Then walked along the Copacabana beach, the pavements have been paved with black and cream swirl pattern mosaics.

27 th June : A busy day, went to down town, picked up running chip from the expo. The venue was odd inside a sub way station " Carioca". This subway station is huge even houses a small university. There were special arrangements for foreign runners, however there was some difficulty in locating my name on the lists of participants. This seemed like a common problem. Many non Portuguese speaking runners had found it very hard to register on the official marathon site. Mean while I got the news from United Airlines that my baggage had not arrived. I was beginning to get nervous. The rest of the day was spent visiting the Catholic Metropolitan Church in down town. Then took a tram ride onto the hills of Santa Teresa. Lunch was at a local eatery Bar De Minero. Later in the day visited the famous Sugar loaf mountain. The views of Rio at sunset were just breathtaking. Also saw Sambodrome where the famous Rio Carnival is held.

28th June : Visited the giant statue of Jesus , known as Christ the Redeemer atop Corcavado mountain, which has recently been named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
A big problem was however looming, my baggage again had not arrived. I had no choice but to look for a new pair of shoes as the Marathon was less than 24 hrs. away. Manu my guide took me to " Fast Runner" a specialized shoe store in Ipanema. By evening I had made 3 trips to this store trying the right shoe for the big run next day. I admire the patience the shoe store showed, in fact opened the store late in the night when I called about my concern wanting to change my shoes for the third time in a day. I was upset for not heeding to the well established rules of running, to carry your running gear in the carry on baggage. Nike shoes cost dearly in Brazil, more then double the cost in US. I was getting skeptical on my chances to complete the run the next day in brand new shoes. I had hoped to take it easy prior to the big run, but it got more hectic as the day went by. The pasta dinner was organized at the hotel. Tried settling to sleep by 10 pm...but sleep eluded me, , I was just too nervous about my prospects of successfully completing the run the next day.