The Pearl Of Potential

Exploring The Trail Running Scene In Rural Cuba

- Clare Gallagher

Already soaking wet, I was five kilometers into the 2017 La Farola 28K road race when the rain increased. I scanned the wet faces of the elite Cuban runners grinding uphill alongside me. They were completely unfazed. After all, their buses had been two hours late to the start and they are accustomed to constant logistical hardship. A little lluvia was nothing to fret about.

I was in Baracoa, Cuba, traveling with One World Running (OWR), a Boulder, Colorado-based organization that gives shoes to runners in developing countries around the world and also organizes the La Farola race, which draws elites from all over Cuba.

“Underdeveloped and full of potential” is how OWR founder Michael Sandrock describes the running scene he’s watched unfold in Cuba over the past two decades. Most runners have no expendable income for shoes or race travel. There are few running stores and hardly any sponsorship opportunities. It’s like ultrarunning was 40 years ago. It boils down to passion

Roads for Trail Runners

Baracoa is one of many rural towns in eastern Cuba that feature countless unexplored trails and roads. The only land access is a four-hour drive on a winding mountain road—La Farola.

Recognized as a showpiece of the Cuban Revolution, La Farola was built in the 1960s after the rebels led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista. It arduously snakes through mountainous jungle, reaching almost 2,000 feet with views to the ocean and surrounding jungle.

OWR started the La Farola race seven years ago as a way to draw Cuba’s best runners to the region, and in turn, to give every runner a pair of shoes.

At the start line, I noticed a young runner hop offa 1950s bus barefoot. The rest of the runners’ shoes were visibly worn. “Most of these shoes are probably from last year,” said Sandrock.