Day 1 – Quepos to Rafki Lodge

RACE START SUNDAY FEB 2nd 0930 +/- Costa Rica Time

Total distance for day-1 of the 2014 and 10^th edition of the TCC is 33.5km. Although the depart will still be from Quepos, the start point has been changed to avoid approximately 10km’s of road that in the past was used to ‘ease’ the runners into the race. However, through general consensus, this road start was not only a little uninspiring, but also it also caused runners to go off far too fast. Today, the runners will head straight into the forest and head for the final destination of Rafki Lodge in the Saverge Valley. A total elevation gain of 850m will see runners pass through 3-checkpoints; Palmas (10km), the small village of Cruce al Saverge (21km) and then at the end of a long pontoon bridge at Andarivel (29.6km) before the final push to the beautiful grounds and hotel of Rafki Lodge. In terms of terrain, it’s a relatively easy day with some wide double track. The biggest issue will be the heat… get your pace and hydration wrong on day-1 and you may just not recover as many found out in the 2013 edition of the race.

• Follow the race at www.iancorless.com
• Twitter @talkultrs
• Facebook/talkultra
• #TCC2014

Ones to watch:

Ladies

• Gemma Slaughter – 2013 champion – Canadian
• Julia Bottger (Salomon Germany) – German
• Anna Frost (Salomon International) – New Zealnd
• Jo Meek (unattached) – United Kingdom

Men

• Nick Clark (Peal Izumi) – United Kingdom
• Michael Wardian (Hoak One One/ UVU) – USA
• Philipp Reiter (Salomon International) – Germany
• Carlos Sa (Berg)  – Portugal
• Vicente Juan Garcia Beneito (Lurbel) – Spain
• Martin Gaffuri (New Balance)- France
• Karim Mosta – France

Local ones to watch:

• Marcelo Jiminez
• Daniel Calderon (Altra Ambasador)