RUN UP A VOLCANO? THANKS, PHIL

"Hey, let's run up that volcano in the distance!" said no one in their right mind, ever. The view from Phil's balcony.

The paved, "flat" part of the run.

No one remembers exactly whose idea it was, but somehow it was decided that running/walking/crawling 18 kilometers (11 miles) up a volcano in El Salvador would be a great way to spend a Sunday.

Wrong. 

Before we get too far into this, we have to take a moment to first thank Phil (we'll blame him later). 

Phil is a friend of Liz's from DC who now works in San Salvador. He also lives in a gorgeous apartment with AC, cable (oh, to see SportsCenter again), wi-fi, hot water and an extra bedroom that he lets us crash in when we're not slumming it at the beach these days. We love Phil for the hospitality. We also might blame him for looping us into this 18 km volcano run. 

From Phil's balcony you see stunning views of the city, as well as of a tree-covered volcanic cone rising up on the horizon. 

Turns out, there's an annual run that goes from the base of this volcano up to the crater's edge and then slightly back down afterward. It's an 18 km race and from what Phil said, a lot of folks do it and we maybe should do it to. Plus, we get a t-shirt for signing up, and a medal when we finish. Win-win, right?

In fact, he even had a group of insane friends he works with who were considering doing the run and maybe, no, definitely we should all do it together this 18 kilometer, uphill both ways, steep-as-hell, knee-jarring, back-breaking slog and it could be a great way to spend a Sunday in San Salvador and we would all have such an amazing time and...for a while that Sunday, we no longer called Phil our friend. 

Now that we've had a while to recover, everyone's on good terms again. Phil even continues to let us stay at his place from time to time (thanks, Phil!) 

But from here on out, we'll no longer be taking his advice what's an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday in El Salvador, at least if it involves running and a volcano.

That's us with Phil after the race. It was all his fault.

Despite the volcano's best efforts the whole crew survived the run. Thanks for letting us join you, guys!

With our medals at the finish line. 

Phil helps Kip to the finish.