15km is a long way!

well you'll be pleased to know that i did in fact survive my run and even managed to finish it. in a very slow time however, of 1hour 40 mins! this is probably due to the altitude, the heat, the hostile conditions and not of course due to my spectacular lack of training or any self discipline! Mike and Jose also finished (yes, they were both faster than me) but Griet failed to finish, so you can see it was actually quite difficult! the race ended in the football stadium of Quito, with the girls, old men and disabled people starting 90 minutes before the others, which actually worked quite well, as it meant that i had finished in time to see the winner run into the stadium (he managed a time of 47mins!!) there were loads of people cheering us on as we ran through the streets and even more in the stadium at the finish, even a live band; it was a little like a carnival, despite the tiredness it was good fun and i might even take my running shoes with me as i continue on my way. i have moved out of Luisa's today and tommorrow i leave for somewhere south of here. its a bit strange leaving Quito as i've sort of got used to it being my home for the last 2 months, but i'm glad to start actually travelling.
Jennifer arrived here yesterday in a flying visit before heading off to Honduras to finsh her travels, it was wicked to see someone from home. and we celebrated by drinking as many cocktails as we could, therefore spending this morning walking around the equator site slightly hungover! the equator site, was i thought overrated- i'm not sure what i expected other than a line but it was just fairly expensive for not very much in return. we took lots of silly photos however so it wasn't that bad.