Race Day Buenos Aires

My first international road race, woot!

The 7k road race I signed up for was definitely an experience. It was fun, and I was very glad that I did it, but it was also interesting to see how little things were different in the setup of the race, etc.

The biggest surprise was the warmup: the schedule said the "entrada en calor" was at 9:00 and the race would start at 9:30. I assumed this roughly meant, get here by 9:00 to warm up, and the race will start at 9:30. But apparently the warmup was a (non-obligatory) group event. I got there around 9:10, and nearly all 1500 runners were doing a mini-aerobics class to the direction of a man with a microphone on stage. PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO INCLUDED IN THIS POST. Really. I beg you. Then there were group stretches, and the race began!

Pre-Race Group Stretching

I also got to pass by some cool landmarks on my way out to Puerto Madero (where the race started and finished); including the Casa Rosada, the equivalent of the white house, literally the "pink" house; the Plaza de Mayo where the grandmothers of those disappeared in the 70s still protest every Thursday to ask the government for the whereabouts of their grandchildren; and the Puente de la Mujer.