Please give generously to Cancer Research : https://www.justgiving.com/Dan-Thompson11/
Date : 2nd February, 2016
Time : 49’ 40” (fastest time yet in the Caribbean)
Total distance run to date : 670 km
Run map and details : https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1044805406
Media coverage : https://www.facebook.com/bahamarunners
It often strikes me how friendly most people are in most of the countries I go to. It’s enough to restore your faith in humanity after the daily dose of depressing news headlines.
And the Bahamas seems to take friendliness to another level. Someone greets you as you walk to customs and a three piece band strikes up a Caribbean number when you get there. A smile from the Customs official (something of a global rarity in my experience) and you’re through.
The warm welcome continued as I was picked up and taken to the meeting point for that evening’s run organised by the Bahamas Roadmasters Running Club. There were the best part of 100 people there – all seemingly up for a chat and a selfie with the mad bloke over from the UK.
Over 80 of us set off – picture above – in perfect running conditions. A cool evening, a flat course and plenty of company. The first five kilometres were a pleasure. After that I began to feel the injury I’d somehow picked up in the UK (a problem with my IT Band since you ask.) It had interfered with my pre-trip training and I was finding it hard going.
It didn’t help that there were a lot of good runners out that night and running with them meant I was going faster than I should have done. Sub 5 minute kilometres are fine on training runs but not so good at the beginning of one of these trips. I eventually finished in 49’ 40” – the first (and only to date) time I’ve gone under 50 minutes in the Caribbean. Suffering a bit by the end…
Drinks, bananas, and more pictures – pls see below – followed until the time difference started to catch up with me – by now it was after 1 a.m. in the UK and many hours had passed since I’d got up to catch my flight that morning. I needed to shower and get some food and rest. Time to say goodbye.
Later that evening I went to the local fish fry area for dinner and some locals gestured me over to join them at a bar. As a lone traveller, I’m normally a little wary of such invites but, hey, this was the Bahamas so I went over. Turned out that one of them was a criminal lawyer and he told me there is a growing problem with gang violence. Controlling the border was, in his view, vital to keep out guns from the US.
OK, so even the Bahamas has its issues but the Bahamians I met were amongst the friendliest and most generous people I’ve encountered on my Run the World travels. So generous that we raised over 700 dollars on the night for cancer research.
Thank you Charles, Shavaughn, Anastasia and everyone else from the Bahamas Roadmasters club for such a great evening!
dansgoldchallenge 
Go Daddy!