Of Cheating Snakes and New Running Routes – The Story of Nairobi Marathon 2013
Cheating
“Jimama liziiiima linadanganywa na nyoka”, his eminence had said, to a congregation that responded by loud laughter. Cardinal Njue, the Catholic Church's Archbishop of Nairobi was delivering a summon as the church prepared to give Holy Communion for the very first time to its new congregants on this second of November date. It was a Saturday, my otherwise usual day of service, though I was in another church deep at the suburbs of Karen at the Resurrection gardens. The Cardinal’s statement was in reference to the Adam and Eve story, and probably a warning to women not to be cheated by snakes – literally or figuratively.
All this was going on while my mind wondered about my Nairobi Marathon 2013 performance. I had deliberately failed to write the blog story. In fact, a colleague back at the office had voiced this omission loudly when I passed by his department immediately after the marathon,
“I have not seen the marathon story on your blog”
“Am buying time. The new route needs a completely new story, which am working on,” I responded.
The truth was that I was not working on anything, I was just buying time, with good reason.
“You know,” he continued, “there is no marathon without the blog story.”
I also knew that there was no blog without the marathon. Now that the event had occurred, I surely needed to do what was expected.
While the church continued with the rituals to usher in the new congregants, I continued to think about the marathon…
Good time
I write this almost one month since the marathon. This is deliberate. I wanted to know my run time on the new route before I can talk about it. The certs are now out and I managed a 1.35.33 on the new 21.098km course.
The 2013 Nairobi Marathon was held on Sunday, October 27, 2013 on a new route. The new route was not very bad. In fact, the Ndakaini marathon route remains the route to beat. I did not expect the new route to be unmanageable, having done the Ndakaini about one month prior. When I was explaining the route to my running group, one month to due date, I remember telling them that this shall be a run of ‘many hills’. My mail had indicated that…
“We shall run the (museum) hill then (upper) hill…”
Long run
I had quite a number of participants in my team this time around, thanks for the corporate sponsorship of fifty. This was after three failed attempts to convince the management that runs are good for its staff. I even managed to get an official mini-bus to transport the participants to and from the Nyayo stadium venue. However, none of my team members dared the 42km run. I did not dare it myself since I did not want to try this long run on a new route that I was not yet familiar with.
The run day had one of the best weathers – cool with the sun from afar. I was almost in perfect shape, apart from the stomach that had decided to do a run with me. In fact, I almost canceled my participation due to the condition of my tummy. Nonetheless, I found myself on the 21km starting lineup that was flagged off at exactly 7.30am, thanks to a sudden relief that I experienced.
The first part of the run was nothing to write about. We were just running opposite the direction of the last marathon. The stretch from Nyayo to Haile Sellasie road loop, then Harambee avenue loop and finally University way loop was uneventful. If anything, I was really running fast. I recall hitting the 4km mark at 17minutes and 6km at 25minutes. If I could maintain this pace, then I was capable of doing 18km in 1hr 15min and probably the last 3km in 15min. That would mean a 1hr30min run – a new record by all accounts.
The hills
My dream of breaking a record was not to be. The Museum Hill stretch then flyover took a good amount of my energy, even as my unstable stomach haunted me the whole stretch upto the 10km turning point at Parklands. The return journey was a struggle but I maintained good pace and was not surprised to find myself doing the Parklands – UON route quite steadily, then the UON – Uhuru Park route at almost the same pace. The Upper Hill was not that tough, as I soon found myself on Bunyala road with a right time to the stadium, just after the railway flyover. I turned towards the stadium at about 1hr27min and was surely headed for a record when I saw the 18km marker!
This marker almost ended my run right there, outside the stadium. I had thought that I would be running straight to the entrance of the stadium then to the stadium but that was not to be. We were to go past the stadium towards Nairobi West, then back on Langata Road to Mombasa Road, then back to Langata Road to rejoin the route to the stadium. It took sheer strength and willpower to tackle these last 3km. I just finished the run in good time for my stubborn stomach to start on me.
Future plans
As we took photos with team members and congratulated each other for another run done, all agreed that that 18km marker was a mistake and the next route should finish straight at the stadium instead of being near yet so far from the finish line. We also complained about the sponsor asking the runners to 'go digital today', as printed at the back of the running kits, yet our Analogue team aka ENG-thoners are quite comfortable where we were. Isn't this coercion? In reflection, I note that this route is not that bad and can be beaten in under 1.35, especially if you are ready for the surprise that the 18km marker presents. On that note, I need to start preparing for the 42km on the new route, which is just the 21km augmented by another 21km on the Mombasa route double circuit.
Barack W. Wanjawa, Nairobi, Kenya, November 23, 2013
Cheating
“Jimama liziiiima linadanganywa na nyoka”, his eminence had said, to a congregation that responded by loud laughter. Cardinal Njue, the Catholic Church's Archbishop of Nairobi was delivering a summon as the church prepared to give Holy Communion for the very first time to its new congregants on this second of November date. It was a Saturday, my otherwise usual day of service, though I was in another church deep at the suburbs of Karen at the Resurrection gardens. The Cardinal’s statement was in reference to the Adam and Eve story, and probably a warning to women not to be cheated by snakes – literally or figuratively.
All this was going on while my mind wondered about my Nairobi Marathon 2013 performance. I had deliberately failed to write the blog story. In fact, a colleague back at the office had voiced this omission loudly when I passed by his department immediately after the marathon,
“I have not seen the marathon story on your blog”
“Am buying time. The new route needs a completely new story, which am working on,” I responded.
The truth was that I was not working on anything, I was just buying time, with good reason.
“You know,” he continued, “there is no marathon without the blog story.”
I also knew that there was no blog without the marathon. Now that the event had occurred, I surely needed to do what was expected.
While the church continued with the rituals to usher in the new congregants, I continued to think about the marathon…
Good time
I write this almost one month since the marathon. This is deliberate. I wanted to know my run time on the new route before I can talk about it. The certs are now out and I managed a 1.35.33 on the new 21.098km course.
The 2013 Nairobi Marathon was held on Sunday, October 27, 2013 on a new route. The new route was not very bad. In fact, the Ndakaini marathon route remains the route to beat. I did not expect the new route to be unmanageable, having done the Ndakaini about one month prior. When I was explaining the route to my running group, one month to due date, I remember telling them that this shall be a run of ‘many hills’. My mail had indicated that…
“We shall run the (museum) hill then (upper) hill…”
Long run
I had quite a number of participants in my team this time around, thanks for the corporate sponsorship of fifty. This was after three failed attempts to convince the management that runs are good for its staff. I even managed to get an official mini-bus to transport the participants to and from the Nyayo stadium venue. However, none of my team members dared the 42km run. I did not dare it myself since I did not want to try this long run on a new route that I was not yet familiar with.
The run day had one of the best weathers – cool with the sun from afar. I was almost in perfect shape, apart from the stomach that had decided to do a run with me. In fact, I almost canceled my participation due to the condition of my tummy. Nonetheless, I found myself on the 21km starting lineup that was flagged off at exactly 7.30am, thanks to a sudden relief that I experienced.
The first part of the run was nothing to write about. We were just running opposite the direction of the last marathon. The stretch from Nyayo to Haile Sellasie road loop, then Harambee avenue loop and finally University way loop was uneventful. If anything, I was really running fast. I recall hitting the 4km mark at 17minutes and 6km at 25minutes. If I could maintain this pace, then I was capable of doing 18km in 1hr 15min and probably the last 3km in 15min. That would mean a 1hr30min run – a new record by all accounts.
The hills
My dream of breaking a record was not to be. The Museum Hill stretch then flyover took a good amount of my energy, even as my unstable stomach haunted me the whole stretch upto the 10km turning point at Parklands. The return journey was a struggle but I maintained good pace and was not surprised to find myself doing the Parklands – UON route quite steadily, then the UON – Uhuru Park route at almost the same pace. The Upper Hill was not that tough, as I soon found myself on Bunyala road with a right time to the stadium, just after the railway flyover. I turned towards the stadium at about 1hr27min and was surely headed for a record when I saw the 18km marker!
This marker almost ended my run right there, outside the stadium. I had thought that I would be running straight to the entrance of the stadium then to the stadium but that was not to be. We were to go past the stadium towards Nairobi West, then back on Langata Road to Mombasa Road, then back to Langata Road to rejoin the route to the stadium. It took sheer strength and willpower to tackle these last 3km. I just finished the run in good time for my stubborn stomach to start on me.
Future plans
As we took photos with team members and congratulated each other for another run done, all agreed that that 18km marker was a mistake and the next route should finish straight at the stadium instead of being near yet so far from the finish line. We also complained about the sponsor asking the runners to 'go digital today', as printed at the back of the running kits, yet our Analogue team aka ENG-thoners are quite comfortable where we were. Isn't this coercion? In reflection, I note that this route is not that bad and can be beaten in under 1.35, especially if you are ready for the surprise that the 18km marker presents. On that note, I need to start preparing for the 42km on the new route, which is just the 21km augmented by another 21km on the Mombasa route double circuit.
Barack W. Wanjawa, Nairobi, Kenya, November 23, 2013
