Route
Guayaquil ──── coach, 96 km, ~1 h 10 min ──── Playas (General Villamil)
│ │
Terminal Terrestre Beach, malecón, fish stalls
The marathon starts at 04:00, which means you can finish, shower and still be on a coach before lunch. Most runners will not want to. The legs usually announce themselves around hour six, on the first staircase. Playas is the sensible answer, because the only gradient in town is the angle of the beach.
The town sits 96 km west of Guayaquil on a long, pale-grey strip of sand. Locals call it General Villamil, and the coach destination board does too, so look for both names. Coaches leave from the main bus terminal on the north side of Guayaquil. The journey takes about an hour and ten minutes in light traffic, longer on a holiday weekend, and the October independence celebrations make the first Sunday of the month busier than it looks on a timetable. Buy a return ticket if the operator will sell one, and ask what time the last coach leaves.
October in Playas
October is the dry season on this coast. The Humboldt Current runs cold along the shore, so mornings are often grey and cool, and the sun burns through by late morning. Expect around 24 to 27 °C, with a breeze off the water that makes the heat easier to take than it is in Guayaquil. The sea is cool rather than warm. Sunscreen matters more than the forecast suggests, because cloud cover disguises ultraviolet exposure.
Walking it off
The beach itself is the recovery walk. At low tide the sand is firm and flat for several kilometres, which is kinder on sore quads than pavement. Walk the tide line, not the dry sand, which is soft and slow. The seafront promenade runs parallel to the beach and is paved, level and lined with stalls selling ice and sunglasses. A slow half hour in each direction is plenty.
Lunch
Playas is a fishing town first and a resort second, and the best food is whatever came off the boats that morning. Ceviche here is usually made with shrimp, or with the conchas (blood clams) that line the stalls, and comes with toasted corn and plantain chips. The beachfront restaurants all serve a similar menu of fried fish, rice and encebollado, the fish and yuca soup that Ecuadorians treat as a hangover cure. Ask the price before ordering anything sold by weight. A seated plate of fried fish and rice is usually a modest sum, but tourist-facing restaurants on the main strip charge more than the stalls two streets back.
What to do besides sit
The fishing fleet lands on the western side of the beach, and it is worth wandering down in the afternoon to watch the boats being hauled up the sand. Beach chairs and umbrellas can be rented by the hour from vendors along the sand. Surf lessons are offered locally, but a marathon is enough exercise for one day.
Getting home
Coaches back to Guayaquil run through the afternoon and into the early evening. Leave Playas by about 17:00 so you are back in the city before dark, and so that you have time to find a taxi at the terminal. Fly out of Guayaquil's José Joaquín de Olmedo airport (GYE) the next day, not the same evening, unless your flight is late. Check the current schedule with the bus company at the terminal before you go.