Diving and the Cosmic Run

Last Saturday was an eventful day.  It started off with a diving competition and ended with the Cosmic Run.  

There were divers from all the world to compete.  The poor guys had to jump into the nasty sea water where a bunch of sewage is pumped and boats pass through.  Not pleasant.  The ceremony started at two, but the competition took another hour to begin.  Elizabeth and I had walked from my place to el Centro and stood baking in the sun waiting to watch the mostly naked guys perform their tricks.  There was a festive atmosphere with food and souvenir vendors all over the place.  After staying for one round, we headed home to get ready for the run.    

These people decided shade was better than sun and leaned against the port-a-potties the whole time.

There is no way you could pay me enough to jump from this height.

That's right: one can barely see the Speedo that's apparently covering this guy.  

The COJOWA Foundation sponsored the Cosmic Run to raise money for needy kids.  During the last month at school, there have been weekly announcements, assemblies, etc. to get the students excited.  After getting it approved by the higher-ups, I offered my kids a homework pass for participating and another one if any of them could beat me in the 10k.  Unfortunately, the sponsors didn't go through with their end of the deal, so most of the kids only ran a 5k, being told they were not allowed to run the other.  Almost all of my ninety students were there.  

Even though it was dusk when I once again started my twenty-five-minute walk to el Centro, I was literally dripping when I arrived.  Thank goodness I had drunk a whole lot of water throughout the day.  A couple students found me while waiting for the race to begin and decided to just time themselves with their phones instead of worrying about the chips.  

The 10k started first, and the students were immediately way ahead of me.  I ran the first half rather slowly to warm up but picked up my speed after completing the first loop.  Unfortunately, they had just released the 5k contestants, so for five minutes, I was dodging around large family groups that crossed the entire narrow street.  Luckily, passing my students and having them try to keep up with me (dreamers) kept my pace faster than it would normally have been.  

Around this time, the mugginess finally broke as a light rain fell for the next hour.  This made the streets a bit slipperier, so I was unable to sprint the last dash, but I still made my best time yet: 50:01.  And, no, none of the kids beat me, although I did give an extra homework pass to those who did the full 10k.  

Obviously, I don't have the selfie pout down yet.

After the race, I socialized with the kids and their parents and then headed to dinner with a group of teachers that were not nearly as disgusting as I was since they walked the 5k.  They were kind enough to let my nasty self join them, though.