The Salento Trail Challenge is a mountain race in the colourful coffee region of Quindío, Colombia. The route climbs high into the Andean mountains, through cloud forest, farms and high-altitude valleys, gaining over 3,000m of elevation. The event is based out of the brightly painted streets of Salento; a small colonial town of 10,000 residents.
This was the sixth marathon in my journey to join the Seven Continents Club, done during my six months of Backpacking South America.
This race was chosen purely because it suited my travel plans, but it was very tough. I raced the full while Mairead did the 10K, and we treated ourselves to a B&B with a jacuzzi for the occasion. The expo was simple but fun, collecting t-shirts and race numbers in the main square. I rented hiking poles for $1 at an outdoor shop, and used a small carabiner to turn my day bag into a running vest. The valley is cold and you can feel the altitude.
About fifty of us lined up for the 6am start, and it was instantly crazy. Cobbled streets, up 300 stairs, then a trail of ankle deep mud that filled and stole shoes, all within 1km. Leaving the town we hit green valleys for sunrise, which broke up steep climbs with deep river crossings. Our feet were rarely dry, and the terrain was always tough underfoot. Be that thin trails, rocks, steep descents, or the few times we had to run up the middle of a river.
The aid stations served boiled potatoes with salt, and were a welcome sight on the slow route. The second half was more fun, with runnable downhills and some nice forest sections. It was a hot day so the tree cover helped, and I was nicely distracted by the huge colourful mushrooms. I was wrecked approaching the town, which had one final steep hill, then under the finish line in 7:40:25.
This race is brutal, and it’s proud of it. Mairéad’s 10K ended up being 13.5km of similar mud, so it was a tough intro to running, but she enjoyed it. We found lots of nice food and drinks to celebrate, and had them all in the jacuzzi under the stars that night. Six races complete, next stop Antarctica.
