It took a trip around the world for local runners Kim Mitchell Komo and Angie Weinberger to forge a friendship. Before the two women competed in The Great World Race, they only had one brief encounter.
“We met for coffee once before (the race), but we are now friends for life,” El Camino Health nurse Komo said of her developing friendship with massage therapist Weinberger.
Komo, who grew up in Los Altos, and Weinberger, who has a business in town, were the only Bay Area residents among the approximately 60 runners who took part in the annual foot race spanning all seven continents in seven days.
Starting Nov. 15 in Antarctica and ending Nov. 21 in Miami, Komo and Weinberger were two of the 17 women who participated. Weinberger placed seventh out of the 15 women in the full-marathon division, while Komo won the two-participant half-marathon division.
Although both local contestants were initially weary of the challenge they signed up for, they found solace in the other runners and formed strong bonds with one another.
“I was actually a little concerned,” Weinberger said. “Like, will I actually be able to do this? … But it went much better, and it was just such a great group. We were like a family after like a couple days.”
Komo added that she “met friends for life. I felt like it taught us a lot about ourselves and our inner strength, and it was an incredible experience that taught me way more than I imagined.”
Although rewarding, the race didn’t come without its challenges. For Komo, the Cartagena, Colombia leg of the race proved to be the hardest due to the warm weather.
“I didn’t like the Cartagena heat because it was like 100 degrees,” Komo said. “It was like a walk-a-thon. I fell apart.”
Weinberger, who said she did extensive heat training prior to the race, wasn’t as bothered by the high temperatures. She found the fourth leg in Istanbul the most challenging.
“I felt like I was prepared for the heat,” Weinberger said. “The cold, I wasn’t so sure. It actually turned out easier than I thought.”
The runners kicked off their journey in Wolf’s Fang, Antarctica, surrounded only by those who traveled on the plane with them. According to Komo and Weinberger, the runners had to depart for this race a day early so that the pilot could see the runway when they landed since there was no air traffic control or airport, and they had to rely on good weather conditions. There was no running path; participants simply ran around the runway in icy and chunky snow.
“I felt so lucky,” Komo said of being able to begin the race in Antarctica. “That’s all that ran through my head. And I don’t think any of us really complained throughout the whole thing, because we signed up for it and we felt really lucky to be able to move our bodies, to run, to have this experience.”
While the contestants spent many hours running, much time was spent flying or caring for each other. Komo and Weinberger applauded the logistics of the program, describing the organization as “phenomenal.” From herding gear, to helping with visas and hospital visits, Komo said that the organizers of The Great World Race enabled an enjoyable race.
Weinberger said she brought extra gear, allowing her to share it with people that may have forgotten things.
“We had a runner (from Wales) who was running the marathons in firefighter gear, so she had a lot of chafing from the jacket, and so I was putting tape on her to cover it up,” Weinberger said. “But it said, ‘Go USA’, because that’s all I had, so she just had ‘Go USA’ all over her.”
Although the runners were competing against each other, Komo said they helped as if they were on the same team.
Both Weinberger and Komo agreed that the camaraderie among the people running the race was their favorite part of the experience. Komo said everyone supported and cheered for each other, hugging one another at the end of each leg to celebrate their accomplishments – a feeling she misses.
Weinberger shared a similar sentiment, noting that it felt a little bit like the United Nations.
When the race came to an end in Miami, Weinberger said, “It was almost a little bittersweet for me. A part of me was happy that I was crossing the finish line, but then the other part was like, ‘Oh, this is our last one, oh, I’ll miss everybody’.”
Weinberger and Komo both said they felt lucky to have the opportunity to travel the seven continents in seven days while doing what they love – running.
“I just felt like it was all meant to be that we all came together to do this journey,” Komo said. “That was never a question, like when people asked, ‘Are you nervous?’ I said I was concerned, but I just knew we’d all be able to do it. I feel like it’s one of the biggest gifts I gave myself in life.”
