Kilimanjaro Half Marathon Weekend

Ok, so I'm backtracking and skipping around a bit in my updates... the half-marathon was February 28th... essentially the peak of the hottest time of the year. Even after going to Zanzibar (a future post), some days in Moshi I feel like a chicken in a broiler, just going round and round and slowly being cooked. Would you believe that I am the same person who, as a child drank probably ~500 mL of water a day, to the consternation of my parents, and today drinks 3L a day... at least!! My friends and colleagues noticed and have slowly, one-by-one, started asking why I drink so much water (I'm sure the doctors among this group are thinking... diabetes insipidus??).. it doesn't help that I run early most mornings and start my day thirsty... but a nice segueway into talking about the marathon weekend...

An annual tradition in Moshi. The 42km marathon course: run around Moshi town for 21km before running up and down the mountain for 21km. The 21km half course: run up the mountain for 10.5 km, run down the same way. So which did I choose to participate in? The Moshi 5K fun run -- which was the only race that did sound like fun!! To many of my half-marathoner friends' disappointment, I chose the easy way out. But not being a runner and not having attempted to train for a long-distance run, never mind the small omission that it is an uphill course for 50% of the race, the 5K seemed like the only rational choice. And for once, I made a rational decision :)

It was quite the talk of the town, the week leading up to the race. Rumors of free t-shirts for the first 2500 to finish the 5K, medals for the half-marathoners and marathoners, and a huge party at the end!

Thanks to a constellation of events, on race day, I missed the ride to the starting line! Thankfully, a pick-up truck from the International School (whose 'team' I was running for) half-full of chairs and tables accomodated us -- so rather than starting the day by stretching, we started by squatting and contorting, attempting to avoid the shifting chairs with every speed bump and potholed dirt road. Then, our makeshift ride dropped us off about 1km away and 1 min before the race time... so Andy and I, the only ones in our group taking the 5K seriously, ran to the start line (at least it was downhill!), only to be reminded again about Swahili time... of course the race had not begun! We caught our breaths in time to hear the gun fire!

Off we went at a ... crawling pace. Because there were about 3000 people there (literally -- and 2500 of us wanted free stuff at the finish line :)), many of whom were little Tanzanian children, and because on a normal day no one understands the concept of respecting other people's space or giving way, let alone a day like race day. I finally started jogging, weaving in and out of people who would stop at inopportune times, mostly because they received a phone call or SMS. Again, who stops a 5K for a phone call?!?! Only in Tanzania...

The race course was quite pleasant, through the streets of Moshi which were thankfully devoid of cars for our race, down by Pub Alberto (hopping spot in Moshi), near the Vodacom store (major sponsor!), up by the grocery store where our savings seem to be depleted (but at least I can buy walnuts and blue cheese!), and uphill to the stadium at the business college. That last 1 kilometer, uphill of course, was bearable mostly because Kili came out from the clouds to welcome us to the finish line... I finished in 31 minutes, not the best time but I was happy -- it was my first 5K, after all, and technically, it was actually a 5.2km (per my Garmin-wearing friend). I got the free Vodacom t-shirt, too :)

To the consternation of us 5K-ers, about 2 minutes after I finished, the first half-marathoners were returning, 1 hour and 15 minutes later.. Kenyans, of course. We all milled about the stadium for a few hours, eating iced fresh pineapple, congratulating everyone on a job well done, until the heat got the better of me and I walked home -- another 3K, I'm quite sure -- mostly so that I could shower and play Wii Fit for the rest of the afternoon... just in case I hadn't exercised enough :)

Props to my friends for running a real race: Suzanne, Jen, Martin, Liselotte, David, Rick for the half-marathon, and serious props to Richard, co-med student at the Duke project here, who ran the. whole. marathon. It was worth every second of walking like an 80year old man the following week, I'm sure!

and no, no pictures, because unlike some people, I did not stop my race to either answer my phone or take pictures!! Guess you'll have to come for the Kili marathon 2011 to check it out! :)