Race Details

• Total Distance: 160 km
• Stages: A short prologue on The Island of the Sun and then 4 stages.
• Terrain: trekking trails and dirt paths within the Cordillera Real (route elevations of between 2800 - 5100 meters)

2 categories:

Self-Sufficient Stage Run: (A prologue and then 4 stages for total of 160km for runners, trekkers and expeditioners. There will be 3 set mountain camps.

Non-Stop Ultra Run: Teams of 2 (160 k for ultra runners, mountain runners, fast packers, sky runners and true runners. They will have one drop box about 1/2 the way on route for re-supply) Runners will need to carry some essential items for safety and will have limited race support on course as they attempt to be the fastest to the finish line at the mountain village of Sorata.

There will be one safety time cut off at camp 2. If a team fails to make the cutoff they can elect to be transported to the finish or remain in camp 2 and wait for the stage race (about a day behind) and join the stage race to experience the rest of the route unranked. (each non-stop team will be responsible for packing their drop box with required or recommended items. Weight and size restrictions for drop boxes will be provided in your race info kit upon registration.)

A mandatory gear/packing list will be emailed to each registered competitor and also available in the secure competitor log in area of the website. Mandatory gear and packing list for those in the stage run will be slightly different from what is required for those in the non-stop ultra run. We will also list recommended items and reliable brands here.

The daily stage distances and overall distance may not seem as challenging as longer stage runs at first glance. Don’t be fooled. This is a TCC Adventures event and anyone who has run at elevation can attest that acclimatizing to these heights takes time and presents a set of challenges that will test your resolve on every level. Carrying a pack with even minimal supplies will slow you down while your lungs labor to draw in more oxygen and your legs feel unnaturally heavy…and that’s just what you’ll feel at the prologue.

You would be hard pressed to find a more challenging race in this hemisphere or a more epic adventure anywhere. Put it on your race calendar for 2010 if you’re finally ready for racing in the skies

• Start : Friday Sept 10, 2010
• Prologue - Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca (8 km)
• Race Stage 1 - Potosi – Lake Chari Khota (28 km)
• Race Stage 2 - Lake Chari Khota – Estancia Lloco Loconi (55 km)
• Race Stage 3 - Estancia Lloco Loconi – Cocoyo (38 km)
• Race Stage 4 - Cocoyo - Sorata (FINISH LINE) (30 km)

Backdrop:

The longest chain of mountains on the planet lies along the western edge of South America like an immense dragon - its tail falling into the freezing Antarctic Ocean, its head breathing fire 5,000 miles north. The Andes, home to the highest points outside the Himalayas, are remarkable not only for their volcanoes and their jagged peaks, the spines of the dragon's back; the niches they shelter are a world of extremes and hidden secrets.

The Andes can be both vibrantly alive and terribly desolate. They shelter the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert, where in places it has never rained. But farther north is also the wettest place on the planet - the cloud forest of Lloro, Colombia, which absorbs an astounding 40 feet of rainfall a year. And in between, on the wide plateau called Altiplano, lie poisonous, caustic salt lakes.

The Andes are relatively young compared to the Himalayas and are still growing. In the last century they've risen hundreds of feet in some places, pushed skyward as the sliding mass of South America crashes into solid rock under the Pacific Ocean. An Andes peak may yet top Mount Everest and a “True Runner” may yet be found. Only time will tell.

Details:

A little more about the Chasqui and the notion of a “True Runner”:

As with many indigenous cultures in North, Central and South America, long distance runners were used in the service of communicating throughout their lands.

But by far the greatest pre-Columbian road system ran over 2,500 miles from northern Ecuador to southern Chile. The coastal stretch covered some 1,100 miles, and featured molded curbing, retaining walls where they cut through hills, and fruit trees along the shoulder. Wrinkling along the spine of the Andes, the highland road was narrower and more engineered with causeways and culverts. From both highways arteries branched east, north, and south to connect the Inca capital with the "Four Quarters of the World."

The Inca highway carried the most institutionalized of all runner organizations, the Chasqui - meaning "to exchange”

Chasquis trained rigorously, carrying memorized messages and could guarantee one-day delivery for every 140 miles of road. They worked using a relay system that allowed them to convey messages over very long distances within a short period of time. Tambos, or relay stations, were constructed at key points along the road system, often consisting of a small shelter with food and water. Chasquis would start at one tambo and run to the next tambo where another rested chasqui was waiting to then carry the message to the next tambo. Through the chasqui system a message could be delivered from Cusco to Quito within a week, actually less time than it takes to deliver mail between those cities today!

Although this was their work and not a recreation, you have to believe that these were individuals who excelled at running from an early age. They trained and focused “and competed” for a higher status in an honorable profession. They lived for running and honored it in a way few could possibly understand. They were “true” to running during their time spent on this world. Their prowess and dedication were beyond impressive. We salute them and those of you who will be running in their footsteps in September, 2010, perhaps hearing the whispers of ancients carried upon the wind along the way

- Tim Holmstrom -

Route

• Prologue – Island of the Sun (8 km)
• Race Stage 1 - Potosi – Lake Chari Khota (28 km)
• Race Stage 2 - Lake Chari Khota – Estancia Lloco Loconi (55 km)
• Race Stage 3 - Estancia Lloco Loconi – Cocoyo (38 km)
• Race Stage 4 - Cocoyo - Sorata (FINISH LINE) (30 km)

< Click en la imagen para ampliar >

Itinerary

At a glance itinerary:

• OPTIONAL : early arrival day to La Paz, Bolivia

  Afternoon shuttle to Copacabana and host hotel for competitor check in
  (Tuesday Sept 7, 2010)
  

• Day 1 / RECOMMENDED arrival day to La Paz, Bolivia

  (It is mandatory to arrive at least 3 days prior to race start for acclimatization)
  1 morning and 1 afternoon shuttle to Copacabana and host hotel for competitor check in
  (Wednesday Sept 8, 2010)
  

• Day 2 / Community service project

  There will also be an organized half-day tour to Island of the Moon
  (Thursday Sept 9, 2010)
  

• Day 3 / Prologue

  Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca (8 km)
  (Friday Sept 10, 2010)
  

• Day 4 / Race Stage 1

  Potosi – Lake Chari Khota (28 km)
  (Saturday Sept 11, 2010)
  

• Day 5 / Race Stage 2

  Lake Chari Khota – Estancia Lloco Loconi (55 km)
  (Sunday Sept 12, 2010)
  

• Day 6 / Race Stage 3

  Estancia Lloco Loconi – Cocoyo (38 km)
  (Monday Sept 13, 2010)
  

• Day 7 / Race Stage 4

  Cocoyo - Sorata (FINISH LINE) (30 km)
  (Tuesday Sept 14, 2010)
  

• Day 8 / Bus from Sorata back to La Paz

  (Wednesday Sept 15, 2010)

Registration

Due to logistical considerations space is limited to the first 80 registered runners.

REGISTER NOW >

Competitors:

• Early Registration: $1799.00
  (until first 30 registered runners in either category or until September 31, 2009)
  Secure a race bib with a $500.00 deposit.
  
  
• Registration Price: $2350.00
  (after 30 confirmed registrations or after October 1st 2009)
  
  
• Late Registration: $2650.00
  (After July 1st, 2010)

Guests:

• Registration Price: $1799.00
  (limit of 30 guests)

Optional Payment Plan

• Initial deposit of $500 per person is required to secure a race bib.
• Remaining payment is due by February 1st.

Payment Options

• Online using a credit card with Active.com : REGISTER NOW!
• Check Payment (no service fee)
• Travel Insurance Option

Refund and cancellation Policy

• Early registration deposits or full payments are refundable for 30 days.
• All other registration fees are 100% refundable until February1st, 2010
• Registration fees are 50% refundable after February 2nd, 2010
• NO REFUNDS of any kind after June 1, 2010.

What’s Included:

For competitors:

• Transfers to and from race start and finish
• Host Hotel stays in Copacobana and Sorata
• Water and set camp with tents and campfires for preparing your own food
• Medical aid and foot care at camps

For guests:

• Transportation to and from Race
• Transfers
• Hotel stays in Copacobana and Sorata
• Guided Daily tours

Travel Details

Quick glimpse and Points of Interest:

Bolivia: Only superlatives do it justice. It’s the hemisphere’s highest, most isolated and most rugged nation. It’s among the earth’s coldest, warmest, windiest and steamiest spots. It boasts the driest, saltiest and swampiest natural landscapes in the world.

Small Colonial cities and towns like Sucre and Potosí and Sorata dot the landscape in the mountains and near Lake Titicaca and speak of a time of great mineral wealth. Silver was mined in the once mineral rich Potosi until there was no silver left and the city was then reduced to mining tin. Bolivia is also a place where the indigenous community has withstood against cultural assimilation or erosion remarkably well. In a country of about 9 million more than 60% of that population is indigenous and their vibrant folk traditions remain largely intact. Here you will walk among Aymará, Quechua, Guaraní and over 30 other ethnic groups. Bolivia has it all…except, that is, for beaches.

No beaches but you do have the Cordillera Real. The Cordillera Real, a range with almost a thousand peaks soaring over 5,000 meters matches anything the Himalayas can offer in climbing and trekking, but with much less of the human traffic. This is one of the most rugged inhabited environments on earth, from shimmering Lake Titicaca, the only lake to give birth to an empire, to the stark Salar de Uyuni, the most vast and high salt lake in the world - 12,000 sq km of blinding white, completely flat nothingness.

It is a vast and surreal tract of wild, unexplored natural beauty. You will find a simply breathtaking and sprawling wilderness.

It is sometimes called the Tibet of the Americas, for its arid, high-altitude desert-like plateau, the Altiplano. It’s also thought of this way because it is place of timeless and unparalleled natural beauty and a vibrant indigenous culture. It’s allure lay in that stark beauty while its mystery lay in the stone ruins and monuments that speak eloquently of lost glory and ancient civilizations

- Tim Holmstrom -

Lago Titicaca: the vast, high-altitude lake that straddles the border with Peru and dominates the northern Altiplano, its deep waters a vivid blue against the parched grasslands that surround it.

Copacabana: a small town close to the Peruvian border which is the home of the country's most revered religious image: the Virgin de Copacabana. It is an important Catholic pilgrimage center. It's also the jumping-off point for boat trips to Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna, two idyllic islands inhabited by deeply traditional peasant communities and dotted with the ruins of Inca temples and shrines which attest to the lake's position as the sacred centre of the Andean world.

Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna: two idyllic islands inhabited by deeply traditional peasant communities and dotted with the ruins of Inca temples and shrines which attest to the lake's position as the sacred centre of the Andean world.

Cordillera Real: Marking the edge of the Altiplano is the massive snow-capped Cordillera Real mountain range whose jagged blade cuts the high plain from the lower, steamy Yungas to the East

This is the highest and most spectacular section of the Cordillera Oriental within Bolivia. Stretching some 160km along the edge of the Altiplano, from Mount Illimani (6439m), southeast of La Paz, to the Illampu massif (6370m), which towers over the eastern side of Lago Titicaca.

Sorata: A picturesque colonial mountain village set just below the Illampu massif. The Homecoming Festival on September 14th is a celebration of the Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) Dancing in colorful costumes, bands and parades with music and singing. Traditional foods everywhere. The festival culminates with a holy mass held in the main church.

Bolivia and Bolivian Culture: Almost two-thirds of Bolivian people are indigenous people of South America. Although there are approximately three-dozen indigenous groups, the largest are the Quechua-speaking groups (2.5 million people), the Aymara (2 million people) and the Chiquitano (180,000 people). There are also Mestizo people (mixed European and indigenous) and those from European ancestry, probably dating back to 1532 when Spanish adventurers (called ‘conquistadores’) invaded Bolivia, having heard about its vast deposits of silver.

Potosi: once ‘the richest city on earth’, had the largest silver mine in the 1500s. Between the Spanish conquistadores, and later the English tradesmen, the mines of Potosi were stripped of their silver, using the indigenous Bolivians and African slaves to extract the silver. Today the mines are still worked by locals, in an attempt to find any remaining wealth, although since the Europeans departed, there is little hope of discovering any more ‘veins’.

Music: The Andean regions of South America (Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) are known for their panpipe music, and Bolivia has one of the strongest traditions in music. A lot is played on panpipes of various sizes, each with different names: Zampoña, Quena and Siku. Also popular is a small type of guitar called ‘Charango’, traditionally made from an Armadillo shell. (An Armadillo is a toothless, nocturnal animal native to South America) Other common Bolivian musical instruments include skin drums, bronze cymbals and copper (cow) bells.

Dancing: Bolivian dances are a good example of where Native and European cultures combine. For example, the dance of the ‘Waka-tokoris’, often danced by the Native Americans, is influenced by the bullfights – a Spanish tradition. Another popular one is the ‘Diablado’ (dance of the devil) where the Bolivian dancers wear masks that depict the devil believed to live in the mines. Dancing, in its honor, is thought to please the devil and bring safety to the miners. Many dance festivals are accompanied by brass bands.

Festivals: All of the festivals in Bolivia include dances, special costumes and lots of music! Most large festivals are based around church holidays, including the best-known one in Bolivia: ‘El carnival de Oruro’. It includes special dance celebrations, as described above, and also attracts many tourists. Other festivals are based on indigenous beliefs, like the Aymaran New Year – which coincides with the winter solstice.

Getting there: Planning your trip

• Fly to La Paz
• Board one of our designated shuttles to Copacabana (2.5-3 hrs)
  (September 7 afternoon shuttle)
  (September 8 morning and afternoon shuttle)
• Arrive at our host hotel in Copacabana
• Shuttle times and detailed instructions will be provided to registered competitors and guests.

Bolivia is a haven for the outdoor adventure seeker so please be sure to plan ahead. Flights and accommodations before or after event dates should be booked early for peak-season travel and the Inca Run takes place during peak season.

There are only a few airlines offering direct flights to Bolivia. There are direct services to most major South American cities; the flights to/from Chile and Peru are the cheapest.
The USA & Canada

Inexpensive tickets from North American gateways (Miami is cheapest) usually have restrictions. Often there’s a two-week advance-purchase requirement, and usually you must stay at least one week and no more than three months (prices often double for longer periods).

Airlines flying to/from Bolivia

Airlines with international flights and offices in La Paz include the following:

• AeroSur (airline code 5L; 2-231-1333; www.aeros ur.com)
• American Airlines (airline code AA; 2-235-1360; www.aa.com)
• Aerolíneas Argentinas (airline code AR; 2-235-1711; www.aerolineas.com.ar)
• Gol Airlines (airline code EH; 800-10-01-21; www.voegol.com.br)
• Grupo Taca (airline code TA; 2-231-3132; www.taca.com)
• Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB; airline code LB; 2-237-1024; www.labairlines.com.bo)
• Lan Airlines (airline code LA; 2-235-8377; www.lan.com)
• TAM Mercosur (airline code PZ; 2-244-3442; www.tam.com.py in Spanish)

Highlights

For Competitors:  “Bienvenidos, legitimos corredores – Welcome true runners”

INCA RUN: A quest reaching back 600 years. Are you worthy of the Chasqui runners' legacy? Discover the true runner within. Here's a legitimate once in a lifetime gut-check opportunity.
Are you ready?

We are introducing a new and innovative race format that allows for both an expedition style stage race and a non-stop ultra run at the same event, allowing you to choose the type of race experience you prefer and have trained so hard to complete. Competitors from both categories will start together.

In addition to the race, and while giving you a bit of time to acclimate, we’ve packed the week with interesting highlights and adventure, including a visit to the lakeside village of Yampupata, where local Aymara Indians still fish from the traditional reed boats and then we visit the Island of the Moon where there are the fascinating ruins of an Inca monastery. The intricately carved stonework is an excellent example of the precise architecture for which the Inca’s were so famous.
For Guests:

Registered guests are also welcome to join us and spend time with competitors in the days leading up to the race. After the start of the race we have arranged for a guided 3-4 day adventure, including an option for cycling enthusiasts to brave the the infamous "Camino de la Muerte".

You will be lodging at one of our host hotels in Copacabana or Sorata and be taken to the town of Sorata in plenty of time to see the expedition stage run competitors arrive at the finish.
For Everyone:

Prior to the race start there will also be a remarkable opportunity to spend a day working alongside locals on an important community service project, a chance to give back to the community and our hosts in a meaningful way. This will be optional and complete details will be given to registered competitors and outlined later in the year in a press release.

We’re also very excited about our 8km prologue on the Island of the Sun because we will be opening this “warm up” run to local runners, children and guests wishing to join the competitors.

Event Contacts

Have questions? Give us a call at (203) 353-1608

• General Information
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• Media Relations
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• Registration
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• Event Director/Race Director: Tim Holmstrom
• Logistics Director: Sergio Sánchez
• Media Director/Lead Photographer:  Andres Vargas

• Tim Holmstrom, Event Director/Race Director

  Tim has been producing and staging events in Costa Rica and Central America for 5 years. As a photojournalist Tim Holmstrom has covered adventure racing and multi-sport events for over 12 years. He has witnessed the tremendous growth of endurance events and steady evolution of these races while gathering a vast library of images for magazines, corporate sponsors and race organizations.
  
  In Tim's view the Inca Run represents the most challenging, rugged and interesting race format TCC has ever offered. In his words, “The beauty of Bolivia is staggering. It is a location that calls for an entirely novel approach so that we might open the event up to a broader spectrum of runners. With the dual format for both stage expedition runners and ultra runners we anticipate seeing a great cross-section of runners who will be amazed and humbled by grandeur of the Cordillera Real and the wild adventure that awaits them at Inca Run.”
  
  

• Sergio Sánchez, Logistics Director

  As a industrial engineering specialized in operation management, he’s been working in logistics in the Coastal Challenge since the beginning, developing a fluid and efficient event. He also has being working in other important events (like mountain bike race and adventure races) such as the Trio Adventure Challenge 2005, Costa Rica Solo Adventure Race 2006, Rios Tropicales Challenge 2005-2006-2007, Guanaride 2007, The Coastal Challenge 2005-2006-2007-2008, among others.
  
  He’s been training since five years old, and competing since ten. He participated on the Costa Rican swimming and triathlon national team, but now it’s all about making hardcore races in Costa Rica and in other countries.
  
  As he said, “it’s all and excuse to be with the nature, and to keep it as sacred as it is, by showing it to the people all around the world and to make them know how sacred it is”.
  
  

• Andres Vargas, Photographer & Media Director

  Andres, born in Costa Rica and pampered by the mountains of the Northern Territories, started eating mud before reaching age 1, his cry was heard by Mother Nature before he was able to distinguish her call. And now, after many years of walking barefoot over robust grasslands, feeling the fresh mud slide between his toes, waking to the call of his relatives herding cows and baking bread with the mist of the waking sun, his urge to return to those mountains which saw him grow tall and wiry-haired embraces him and his now inseparable friend, the one that shows the rest what he sees when alone atop the hills smiling goodbye to the sun and greeting the moon, the love of his life.
  
  Andres has been involved in Adventure Racing for several years, his interest in the wild does not solely rest in relaxing on a treetop or lying along the river next to his dog Nisha, but it strives for the cultural encounter, the unforgettable adventure and exploration in every expedition.
  
  At The Coastal Challenge Andres finds the opportunity to capture more than just a race, he finds haven in photographing a fast paced culture, one that seeks rests in storming through the forest, climbing mountains and defying the limits of adventure.