I’d never seen Bermuda. It simply never rose to the top of my travel list. I never thought much about it actually. I wanted to see so many other places. Nonetheless, the opportunity dropped into my lap so I took it.
My wife the runner who worked for a race company went there on business. It hardly seemed fair. My office never sent me to Bermuda! If she got to go to Bermuda then I’d tag along and carry her luggage. She could work the race for 3 or 4 days and we could vacation on both ends of it.
Getting There
Bermuda sits all by itself in the Atlantic Ocean about 650 miles (1,000 kilometres) from any other land (map). It is a largely autonomous British Overseas Territory with about seventy thousand residents crammed onto a narrow 21 mile (34km) archipelago. Bermuda’s proximity to the eastern coast of the United States made it feel like an unusual blend of the US and the UK. Monetarily, the Bermuda Dollar tracked to the US Dollar and both circulated freely. Accents tended towards North American mixed with a touch of Caribbean. They used US electrical plugs. On the other hand, vehicles drove on the left side, school children wore uniforms, and the flag included a Union Jack.
While isolated, several airlines served Bermuda with direct flights from cities such as Boston, New York, Miami, Toronto and London. That might seem like a lot, however most of those connections occurred only once a day. A mishap could mean a daylong delay. And of course that happened to us.
We tried to hedge our bets by flying through Miami rather than a closer northern city. I figured February in Boston or New York might lead to flight cancellations if it snowed. Miami would be “better” even if farther out of the way. The initial flight went perfectly. The flight from Miami to Bermuda did not. We boarded the plane and had to return to the terminal due to a maintenance issue with a wing. They found a replacement plane which then had an issue with an air filter. Our flight eventually left the next morning, twelve hours late. In fairness the airline did put us up in a Miami airport hotel for the night and we got about four hours of sleep.
Home Base
We stayed at Airbnb’s on both ends of the trip. During the middle we stayed at a large resort hotel, the Fairmont Southampton (map). This served as race headquarters where I relaxed by the pool while my wife worked every day. Sweet.
She’d been flown there to help with ZOOMA’s Bermuda race, their first race on the island. The company focused specifically on empowering women.
Men could run too — and usually a handful participated as “spouses of” — although they could not win awards for their age brackets or overall results. I did my best to stay out of the way and got volunteered from time-to-time. That came as part of the deal for tagging along. So I carried a few boxes, showed people how to get to the start line, tried to appear helpful, and stuff like that.
Races
The weather had been absolutely perfect our first three days in Bermuda. Then came Saturday, a blustery, rainy, chilly day, just in time for the first race.
Lighthouse Run
The initial race served as a little warm up, a fun run the evening before the main event. It went from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse to Horseshoe Bay Beach (map), a distance of about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) all downhill. The wind and the rain didn’t seem to deter anyone and they flew down the hill. I waited at the finish line, protected under a three-sided tent where finishers picked up their post-race snacks. People figured I worked there so I started handing out snacks.
I have to compliment the Bermuda Tourism Authority who helped sponsor the event. They provided a lot of assistance and they lined-up additional supporters such as Goslings Rum. People didn’t mind standing out in the wet and the cold so much after a couple of Dark ‘n Stormy® cocktails on the nicest beach in Bermuda. Or maybe I’m just projecting. Some of the crowd dissipated pretty quickly.
Half-Marathon & 10K
The next day brought back the perfect weather, and it stayed that way for most of the rest of the trip. Originally I wasn’t going to run although my wife convinced me otherwise. She probably thought I’d hang out at the Goslings tent and drink free rum all morning if I didn’t. She might have been right.
I selected the half-marathon, beginning and ending near Barr’s Bay Park (map) in the City of Hamilton. From there it circled through a big chunk of the island including parts of Paget, Pembroke, Devonshire, and Smith’s Parishes.
I ran at a decent pace, finishing the hilly course in 1:45. That’s pretty good for old man speed. Some of those women, though, absolutely wiped the course with me. They took off like rockets and left me so far behind I never saw them again after the first mile. I got some consolation thanks to absolutely breathtaking views from the course. I wish I took some photos but of course I was running at the time.
Now What?
This time the after-party lasted considerably longer. Each participant got a ticket they could redeem for a glass. However, they could fill that glass as many times as they liked and Goslings was pouring freely. A lot of runners seemed to appreciate that too. Riding back to the hotel in one of the later buses was quite an experience. People seemed extraordinarily happy.
While the race served as the reason for our trip, I covered a lot of additional ground all over Bermuda with those several extra days. I’ve barely scratched the surface in this first article. I’ll get to lots of other things in the next several.
Maybe I’ll go back to Bermuda some day. This could become an annual thing for my wife. She may need help with her luggage again.
Articles in the Bermuda Shorts Series:
- Follow the Leader
- Shoreline Scenery
- The Outsider
- Bermuda Railway Trail
- St. George
- Forts
- Architectural Details
- Museums & More
- Lists
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr
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