Many people warned of the negative impact of the altitude when we first arrived and to allow a few days to acclimatise. We did not feel it particularly until we went for our first run which we both found incredibly hard. I lasted 4 minutes before having to stop! We have now started to acclimatise properly and can both run for some 30 minutes, together with the hundreds of others who run the streets of Quito in the early mornings or late afternoons. I am not sure who oversees this, but every second Sunday the main street has a lane closed to traffic so that people can run, cycle or roller blade a route that goes through the city; and at regular intervals there are people posted with boxes of water bottles which are freely distributed. Hundreds are out participating which is great to see.
