Okay, let’s start with the City of Rio.  As everyone knows less than a year ago the Olympics were held in this city and all you heard about was the pollution, especially the water.  I searched high and low for polluted water and found none.  The ocean everywhere is a fantastic aqua-green and the beaches are the cleanest I have seen.  Even the city streets we free of rubbish and other debris.  Cars and motorcycle parts, refrigerators, and washers and dryers that are strewn over most of the other south American cities and all the Caribbean islands, were non-existent. 

Every morning there were people cleaning up the trash and even the leaves that had fallen over night off the magnolia trees.  The city is old and there are not any new construction projects underway in Rio.  One of the guides blames this on the corruption that you have pay off officials 33 to 50% of the cost.  In fact, the Governor was just found guilty of taking a $800,000 bribe/gift for a construction project.

As usual, I dragged a lot of good info out of the guides who took us on some tours.  I asked why after less than a year after the Olympics they did not really want to show us any of the new areas for the Olympics, and was told that the whole thing was an embarrassment to the citizens.  The Olympics only brought in 60% of the expected revenue, and the bad press wrecked the tourist business for three months before and three months after the Olympics.  The corruption for the construction has nearly bankrupted the government to the point that the police and teachers are not getting paid.  The guide I spoke with told me that they pay 50% income tax and basically get nothing in return.

So, in a nutshell, do not be afraid to visit Rio.  If you decide to go, Ipanema Beach has good hotels and lots of restaurants…as well as the best beach and boardwalk.

Now for the Marathon.  It was on Sunday (Father’s Day) and we left the hotel at 5:00 AM for a 7:30 AM start.  The trip to the starting line took a little over an hour since it was all on side roads and through beach neighborhoods.  Once at the starting line it was still dark, but the park was well lit and I found a table and chair at a beachside restaurant that was still closed.  I sat and watched as dawn changed to morning and watched a beautiful sunrise over the mountain across the beach.  There were already a dozen surfers try to catch “left” waves as they were mostly shore breaking and they really had to work it hard to catch the waves at high tide.

Fifteen minutes before the start I headed over to the start line and had no idea what was going on.  The announcements were all in Portuguese and I had not brushed up on that language before heading to Brazil.  I had assumed that Spanish was the official language.  As I lined up to the rear, as I usually do, I noticed they did not have “corrals” set up or the signs that place the runners into proper starting locations (slower in back, faster in front).  In the United States, they do this at all the marathons and it never works.  There are walkers you run into the first mile and then the sprinters coming from the back running over all the walkers.  In all honesty, I could not tell which direction the race was going to go in and could not see the starting line.  Two minutes to start time and all the ladies that had been taking pictures of their friends in race gear changed to hugging and kissing and eventually crying as they wished each other luck.  It was obvious that the men out numbered the women runners in Brazil 2 to 1 and they are a social activity. 

So, the gun goes off for the wheelchairs, and sure enough they have to fight their way through the crowds heading north.  Five minutes later another gun goes off and all the runners head south.  We ran south for a mile along the beach and then did a loop to turn around and head back north.  Then I noticed something strange.  It was like everyone had lined up in the right place without all the corrals and signs.  For the most part I passed no walkers and there were no sprinters mashing their way through the crowds.

The morning was cool and clear and the street along the ocean was lined with Mango or Palm trees that offer at least 50% shade from the blazing sun.  It was 75 degrees at the start and 85 degrees at the finish line.  The first half of the marathon was flat and straight and the ocean was on your right.  My time on the first half of the marathon was a respectable 2hours and 19 minutes. 

Then things changed.  The sun got higher, the shade pretty much disappeared, and we hit some hills.  Not real big steep hills but long, gradual, and in the sun…and it took a lot of gas out of the tank.  By mile 20 I was overheated and mostly concentrating on hydrating.  The last 6 miles I did a walk/jog and finished in 5 hours and 38 minutes.  

There were a lot of people that were affected by the heat and did basically the same thing I did just to finish.  I was pleasantly surprised by the support teams.  They had tons of water and Gatorade, and at one stop they were giving out packets of salt.

The security was impressive as well.  If you look back at by blog of the Boston Marathon, you will see pictures of the Boston Police posing for pictures.  At one point, I was going to stop and take pictures of four police officers at a water stop.  One of the officers had a rifle on his left shoulder and a pistol in his hand.   Not in the holster…in his hand.  Since these guns did not have the same smile as the Boston’s Cops I did not stop and ask for a picture.

So, to summarize.  The city is one of the cleanest I have visited in South America and/or the Caribbean.  The people for the most part (except the taxi drivers) spoke English and we very helpful and I enjoyed sharing with them.  The food was a little lacking and we had heard that.  The food was surprisingly bland, not what you would expect in South America.  The best food we had was at a curbside restaurant that we found on a walk.  The airport in and out was a breeze (full disclosure – we landed at 1:00 AM and took off at 1:30 AM so that may be misleading – or you can travel at similar times!).  We were there 5 days which allowed us time to see pretty much everything we wanted to see so you may want to combine the trip with a trip to Buenos Aires.

So, Continent number 4 is done!  Officially down to three to go: Asia, Africa and Australia.  We are not sure what is next since they are so far away and am hoping the we can do the Asia one with Beth.  Once we figure it out we will do a post on where and when.