Because Races Here Are Too Damn Funny:

Here are some pics because you should know:

This is the area/time before start--many SERIOUS runners in matching outfits. One thing we've noticed about Ecuadorians--they half-ass NO athletic pursuit.

These are the pace balloons, supposedly carried by an actual pacer. Sure.

This guy was awesome. And inspiring. The third world is NO place for the disabled, yet here they are, and soooo excited for a race.

And we're off! If I could attach ordors, or make this scratch and sniff, you would smell Ben-gay.

"Hey Tim, maybe this one time it won't be handled bags of water..." No tamale.

Dog on a roof! And no barking. Actually, I think he may have been bewildered by it all.

Fritada break, anyone? No takers? Well that's shocking, I mean, it's already 7:30 am.

Oh, the llegada. Finally. Sheesh.

Now that we made it, it's time for group cool-down and stretches! Thanks, Parque Carolina aerobics instructors!

There's the monument back there. We had to beg and plead just to get this close. Check Tim's Ecuador Reporter article on how to deal with this sort of thing.

It's become a post-race tradition: share one of our horded "special" suitcase-imported beers.

And that concludes what a race looks like in Ecuador. Hope you'll consider a race in the third world sometime. It really is a blast, and I don't think I can say that about too many races in the States.