Adventure Racer: Charlie Engle

March 7, 2005

EnduranceRadio.com

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Welcome back to www.EnduranceRadio.com.  Thanks for joining us for another interview today.  We’re going to be speaking with Charlie Engle.  He’s an adventure racer, just back a few weeks ago from the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica; we’re going to talk to him about that race, how it all went and since that was a brand new race, we’re interested to hear about international races are run and how this one went for him in terms of races he’s participated in before.

First thing, the Race of the Day today is the US Challenge.  It is on October 28^th through 29^th, 2005.  It’s a new race for the US, it’s a European company that’s been doing races over there and is now doing one here.  You can find out more about this race by clicking on the Race of the Day link right below the link to this audio.

So we’re going to be right back to speak with Charlie Engle in about 30 seconds.

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<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Charlie thanks for joining us again today.  We interviewed you a few months back and we’re glad to talk to you again today.”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “Well thanks for having me Tim, I’m glad to be here.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Well talk about the Coastal Challenge; that was the first race down there in Costa Rica.  How did it all go?”

<<Charlie Engle>>:  “Overall, I mean you can’t really go wrong when you start with a country like Costa Rica, so first and foremost the country and people were just fantastic, so that part of it was great.  With any first year race there were a few little hang-ups logistically, but generally speaking the race went very well.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Now you kind of favor the international races that we talked about before because it gives you a change to travel and see places you haven’t seen, talk about Costa Rica itself and how that was.”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “Well the great thing about international races is that it does give me the opportunity to see places that I haven’t been to before and Costa Rica was no exception.  The race organization really showed us practically the entire country too, so we started up in the north west corner of Costa Rica, and really ended up going all the way down to the south west corner of the country.  It was fantastic.  We saw two totally eco-systems, very arid and dry up north and humid and wet down south, and lots of animals and lots of different terrain.  It was really wonderful.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Talk about what you had to do as part of the race.  Was it mostly a hiking type of race; did you do any mountain climbing, what was it?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “This race was one of a growing number of seven day stage running races, and so the race itself was, I would say because of the nature of the course which was primarily flat and along the beaches, it was very much a runner’s course, so for the most part I would say even that 90 to 95% of the race course was actually runable, so very little hiking going on out there, mostly running.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “As it’s a stage race you’re stopping each night, so I guess you don’t have to deal quite with the sleep deprivation you would on a start to finish race.”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “That’s very true Tim.  We really didn’t have to deal with the sleep deprivation all that much because of the nature of the race.  Being a stage race we actually get to sleep at night.  I will say the race organization had tried to do a lot of extra things for us and help us to have fun and enjoy the experience, and while doing that they ended up creating some situations where there was a little more travel than we would have liked between stages and we came in past dark a couple of times and it made it a little more complicated logistically, but overall we all got sleep, we all were fed extremely well, that was the best part of this race was the food.  I think if you ask people that did this race they would say that they had a great time and would love to come back again next year.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “How does your strategy differ or change when you get to a stage race that is this long?  Does it change what you think about during the race in terms of how quickly you’re going and the pace that you’re setting?”

<<Charlie Engle>>:  “My strategy for a seven day stage race, and this one in particular because in this one we were not self supported, in other words we did not have to carry all of our food and gear for the seven days, we were really only required to carry our water for each day, so that, along with the flat terrain made it very much of a runners’ race.  I’m a little more of an adventure racer personally and would prefer a more mountainous, difficult race with more misery; I don’t know if that makes me sick and twisted or what, but the race course for me, personally, wasn’t quite hard enough.  For most people, they were there just for running experience and I’d say it was perfect.  Logistically you really have to think out the different stages and decide what your strong days are going to be and which days you’re just going to kind of hang on for dear life and which ones you’re going to try to make your move on.  They laid out the course for us in advance, so we really had an opportunity to make those decisions strategically in advance.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “How well was it marked?  Did you have to do any type of navigation on the race?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “The course markings on the Coastal Challenge were actually outstanding.  They were very good generally speaking, nobody got lost.  There was one incident on day five, I believe, of the race where the five leaders, me included, actually race a few extra miles.  We missed a turn together, which is not uncommon in any running race from a 5K to an ultra because you’re caught up in the moment and you’re competing, and it was a course marking that was a little difficult to see, but certainly there, and we all ran right by it; very frustrating to have that happen.  For the rest of the race it was very nice, for the rest of the racers it was very nice because they got to actually see us pass by them and most of them gave us a hard time for being slow that day, but generally speaking the course markings were outstanding.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “In terms of the other competitors, did you spread out pretty quickly once you started each morning, or did you stick together with the leaders for most of the day?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “My experience in this race was that the racers tended to spread out pretty quickly once each stage race started.  I attempted to stay with a couple of guys that were in front of me; Charles, who ended up being the winner of the race, was actually far too fast so I lost him unfortunately pretty early every day.  I think what happens is you have the front 10 or 12 people who are really competing hard and then once you get back beyond that you really have people that are there to experience the course in a different way, and those people tend to stay together, they really like to run together and have company and enjoy the experience in a little different way than the leaders do.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Last time we talked you said these types of races are competitive and surely people are there to win, but in the evenings it more kind of camaraderie that makes those stage races a little bit different.  Was that the case this time?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “In these kinds of races you really do make friends that are life-long friends because its stage race and so you have an opportunity in the evenings to spend time with people and to really enjoy their company, and you have lots of extra time.  This race was definitely no exception, I made great friends.  Unlike adventure racing where the leaders tend to spend time together and then everybody else is behind them; here the leaders come in and yes they do finish maybe half an hour or an hour or so ahead of the people in the back, but then everybody groups together again and you get an opportunity to talk and to just be together as a big group, it doesn’t matter whether you finish first or last on that particular day.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Do you talk at all about the strategy of the previous days and what’s coming forward, because at that point you are still in a race together?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “You know I would say competitors really do talk about strategy.  In this particular race again, the Canadian gentleman that won the race actually was so far ahead after a couple of days that it allowed him to sort of, as I call it, Lance Armstrong it; he had no pressure on him and I attempted to apply pressure by really going out hard on a couple of days, but the course was really really suited to him.  He was sub 2:20 marathoner and just a very fast guy, much faster than me, so on the flat terrain there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it.  I still pressed him and did my best, and I’ve made him swear that he’ll come out to a jungle or dessert race some day where he has to carry his pack and give me another shot at him.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What was the weather like when you were down there?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “The weather in Costa Rica is some of the best weather I’ve seen anywhere in the world.  I would say that what we experienced is pretty much that way 12 months out of the year.  The northern part of the country was very arid and dry and pleasant, even a little chilly in the evenings, and then once we got down to the southern side it was much more humid and people complained a bit about sweating more and just being generally hot and muggy.  Overall the weather in Costa Rica, I’d move there in a heartbeat for the weather, that’s for sure.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Any surprises from the race when you got down you weren’t expecting?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “The biggest surprise, and this is more of a personal note, but the biggest surprise for me was actually related to my family and my children because I actually took; I was so confident and happy to be going to Costa Rica, that I actually took my two boys, Brett and Kevin, who are 10 and 12 respectively, and took them down to Costa Rica with me, and I guess the biggest surprise as a father was watching them mingle with all the adults that were there.  There were days when I barely saw them because they made new friends themselves; I think you really find them in the running community unlike you do anywhere else, runners are just such friendly people, they welcome new people and even new people’s children, so my children became sort of the mascots of the race in a way.  But I think my biggest surprise was just how friendly, not only the racers were but also the country itself; the native Costa Ricans couldn’t have been any more welcoming to us.  Being an American these days when you’re traveling internationally, theres always that little voice in the back of your head that says, ‘Be careful what you say and how you behave because you don’t want to be labeled as another ugly American,’ and the Costa Ricans could not have been any more accepting and welcoming of us.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “So last time Charlie we talked about how you kind of recommended people stepping out of their comfort zone and signing up for some of these international races for the travel and just for the fun of it.  Would this be one of those races you’d recommend for a first timer?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “This race would absolutely be a perfect race for a first timer.  I think its one that is tremendously doable.  I think that almost everyone completed the race, and those that didn’t it wasn’t because it was too hard; you can develop foot problem that might cause you sit out a day or two.  This is a perfect race for someone that’s just getting into this, or a veteran because it’s all relative.  If you’re a veteran it just means you’ve got to run faster I guess.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What’s ahead for you for the rest of 2005?  Are you participating in any other international adventure racers?”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “I am.  I actually believe that I’m going to be going to the Gobi March coming up in China, and I did, just the other day, get accepted Bad Water in Death Valley.  Bad Waters one of those that, like anybody, its sort of my demon right now.  It just kicked my butt a couple of years ago and I had a decent race but I know I can do better, and I’m really going to go like hell with a goal of trying to have a better race than I did a couple of years.  That’s pretty much it for me on the short term.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Great.  Well hopefully we can follow up maybe with you after Bad Water and see how it all went.”

<<Charlie Engle>>: “I would love it Tim.  Thanks very much.”

<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Thanks.”

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