Reviewing 2015, with a Certificate
The certificates are out – 1.36.46 is the official time for my 21km run at Nairobi Marathon 2015 held in October. The gadget had given me a 1.36.55. That means that I can now trust the gadget for my runs going forward. It reminds me of the run in that I recently had with a local school administration. We had gone for a fund raiser, where we were urged to donate, “kwa moyo mchungufu”. By that time, a 30k-per-student had been imposed as ‘compulsory-voluntary’ contribution for school building projects. Another voluntary contribution of a ‘one-off’ 35k that every student ‘must’ pay was included in the fee structure for 2016. I do not mind building schools, or any other development project for that matter. It is the trickery they use to get the fund raising going that gets to me. Why can’t they just be forthright and state that, “the budget for construction of a new block is this much and we need to get the money from the students” – straight!
Straight
Talking about straight, the year is coming to an end and I need to set the record straight as far as my 2015 runs are concerned. Let me revisit the first lady’s marathon in March – Sunday, the eighth to be precise. A good run, good weather, but no certificates were forthcoming for so long that I gave up on ever getting one. My only regret is their ‘strong’ promise of certs immediately after the run. I can swear that the organizers swore to have the certs ready after the run – why promise what you cannot deliver?. But the run is for a very worthy cause, hence their breaking of promise is not a big deal. I also cringe to see a select team of runners parading medals, yet all ordinary runners know that there were no medals on offer! Liars! My run time then was a 1.34 to 1.36 range. Read the blog story as to why I am convinced of this range.
(Oooppsss! Spoke too soon! I have just input my runner no. 1008 on the organizer’s website now, and to my surprise, my certificate is available with an official time of 1.35.04. I also observe that the next edition (3rd ed.) of the run has already been fixed for Sunday, March 6, 2016. It is now the time to give it a ‘come-baby-come’, sorry, ‘come-marathon-come’ shout out!)
Then came the Mater Heart Run on Saturday, May 23. The run that ‘pretends’ to be 10km, yet I know better. Since when did I run a 10k in 36minutes? I know that I am fast, but that is stretching it. Let me honest – that run is 8k or thereabout. 10k – no way! This is not competitive – just a family fun run to partner with the Mater Hospital as they fund-raise for their corrective heart surgery programme for the young ones. I finished the run ready to run, but it was all over. I got a blank cert! So that I can do the honours! However, it has no provision for the run duration. A simple, ‘Certificate of Participation – This is to confirm that _____ participated in the Mater Heart Run held on Saturday, 23rd May 2015 at Nyayo National Stadium, signed For The Mater Heart Run. Thank you’. It is still blank!
Medals
The next competitive run was the 12th edition of Ndakaini half marathon, held on 12th September. I know the run edition and the date due to the rhyme in numbers. I was doing a third attempt… and the run did not disappoint. It lived up to its expectations as ‘the toughest marathon on planet earth’. The hills! Nonetheless, I had a very good run, with the gadget giving me a 1.48.25. This is the other run where you do not get a cert. Just forget it. I had initiated communicate with the organizers about my last two certs, but the email trail grew cold when they promised to ‘get back to me soon’ and never did, despite three reminders. Just like FLM of March, you do not get a finisher’s medal. That is why I call it a run with nothing to show.
I cannot believe that I have to do another ‘Oooppsss’! I am surprised to see that the certs for 2014 and 2015 are on the organizer's website. I know I have visited that site many times, hence this must be a recent development – and development it is!
The 2014 run cert is elaborate:
11th UAP Ndakaini Half Marathon held on 13th September 2014
Distance covered – 21km
Overall position – 248
Time – 01.46.36.56
The 2015 cert is...
12th UAP Ndakaini Half Marathon held on 12th September 2015
Distance covered – 21km
signed
Is this a joke or what! Where is the position? Where is the time!? At least the main search page gives me position ‘X’ with a time of ‘0.00.00’ – the fastest run ever, a flash!
And... I am also used to having a rainbow of spelling for my name – the two Ndakaini certs have 4 different names.
The winner
Finally, the Nairobi International marathon, one of the best organized marathons in this country – they have everything going for them. In the 13th edition, my 9th participation, I still managed to bag a medal and a certificate – the only run that gives me something to show! The October run was quite good, apart from the impostor who wanted to claim silver in the 42km run, only to be discovered at the nick of time. It is his confession that gave him in, otherwise the other ‘evidence’ could not hold. They accused him of ‘not being sweaty’ after such a long run. He was also accused of ‘shoes not being dusty’! (surely)! However, his own confession that he was in financial distress and needed a quick 0.65M to sort his issues out is what saved the day. Though the winner of the men’s event pounded the tarmac for 2.13.25, while his women’s even counterpart did the distance in 2.29.32, the impostor just sprinted behind the winner from outside the stadium and wanted to claim silver. The real silver winner would not take that!
It is time to do strategy 2016 – where I had been ‘forced’ to ‘move over’ to the next run, so that I can ‘create space’ for those who want to give the 21km a try.
Barack Wamkaya Wanjawa, Nairobi, Kenya, November 19, 2015
The certificates are out – 1.36.46 is the official time for my 21km run at Nairobi Marathon 2015 held in October. The gadget had given me a 1.36.55. That means that I can now trust the gadget for my runs going forward. It reminds me of the run in that I recently had with a local school administration. We had gone for a fund raiser, where we were urged to donate, “kwa moyo mchungufu”. By that time, a 30k-per-student had been imposed as ‘compulsory-voluntary’ contribution for school building projects. Another voluntary contribution of a ‘one-off’ 35k that every student ‘must’ pay was included in the fee structure for 2016. I do not mind building schools, or any other development project for that matter. It is the trickery they use to get the fund raising going that gets to me. Why can’t they just be forthright and state that, “the budget for construction of a new block is this much and we need to get the money from the students” – straight!
Straight
Talking about straight, the year is coming to an end and I need to set the record straight as far as my 2015 runs are concerned. Let me revisit the first lady’s marathon in March – Sunday, the eighth to be precise. A good run, good weather, but no certificates were forthcoming for so long that I gave up on ever getting one. My only regret is their ‘strong’ promise of certs immediately after the run. I can swear that the organizers swore to have the certs ready after the run – why promise what you cannot deliver?. But the run is for a very worthy cause, hence their breaking of promise is not a big deal. I also cringe to see a select team of runners parading medals, yet all ordinary runners know that there were no medals on offer! Liars! My run time then was a 1.34 to 1.36 range. Read the blog story as to why I am convinced of this range.
(Oooppsss! Spoke too soon! I have just input my runner no. 1008 on the organizer’s website now, and to my surprise, my certificate is available with an official time of 1.35.04. I also observe that the next edition (3rd ed.) of the run has already been fixed for Sunday, March 6, 2016. It is now the time to give it a ‘come-baby-come’, sorry, ‘come-marathon-come’ shout out!)
Then came the Mater Heart Run on Saturday, May 23. The run that ‘pretends’ to be 10km, yet I know better. Since when did I run a 10k in 36minutes? I know that I am fast, but that is stretching it. Let me honest – that run is 8k or thereabout. 10k – no way! This is not competitive – just a family fun run to partner with the Mater Hospital as they fund-raise for their corrective heart surgery programme for the young ones. I finished the run ready to run, but it was all over. I got a blank cert! So that I can do the honours! However, it has no provision for the run duration. A simple, ‘Certificate of Participation – This is to confirm that _____ participated in the Mater Heart Run held on Saturday, 23rd May 2015 at Nyayo National Stadium, signed For The Mater Heart Run. Thank you’. It is still blank!
Medals
The next competitive run was the 12th edition of Ndakaini half marathon, held on 12th September. I know the run edition and the date due to the rhyme in numbers. I was doing a third attempt… and the run did not disappoint. It lived up to its expectations as ‘the toughest marathon on planet earth’. The hills! Nonetheless, I had a very good run, with the gadget giving me a 1.48.25. This is the other run where you do not get a cert. Just forget it. I had initiated communicate with the organizers about my last two certs, but the email trail grew cold when they promised to ‘get back to me soon’ and never did, despite three reminders. Just like FLM of March, you do not get a finisher’s medal. That is why I call it a run with nothing to show.
I cannot believe that I have to do another ‘Oooppsss’! I am surprised to see that the certs for 2014 and 2015 are on the organizer's website. I know I have visited that site many times, hence this must be a recent development – and development it is!
The 2014 run cert is elaborate:
11th UAP Ndakaini Half Marathon held on 13th September 2014
Distance covered – 21km
Overall position – 248
Time – 01.46.36.56
The 2015 cert is...
12th UAP Ndakaini Half Marathon held on 12th September 2015
Distance covered – 21km
signed
Is this a joke or what! Where is the position? Where is the time!? At least the main search page gives me position ‘X’ with a time of ‘0.00.00’ – the fastest run ever, a flash!
And... I am also used to having a rainbow of spelling for my name – the two Ndakaini certs have 4 different names.
The winner
Finally, the Nairobi International marathon, one of the best organized marathons in this country – they have everything going for them. In the 13th edition, my 9th participation, I still managed to bag a medal and a certificate – the only run that gives me something to show! The October run was quite good, apart from the impostor who wanted to claim silver in the 42km run, only to be discovered at the nick of time. It is his confession that gave him in, otherwise the other ‘evidence’ could not hold. They accused him of ‘not being sweaty’ after such a long run. He was also accused of ‘shoes not being dusty’! (surely)! However, his own confession that he was in financial distress and needed a quick 0.65M to sort his issues out is what saved the day. Though the winner of the men’s event pounded the tarmac for 2.13.25, while his women’s even counterpart did the distance in 2.29.32, the impostor just sprinted behind the winner from outside the stadium and wanted to claim silver. The real silver winner would not take that!
It is time to do strategy 2016 – where I had been ‘forced’ to ‘move over’ to the next run, so that I can ‘create space’ for those who want to give the 21km a try.
Barack Wamkaya Wanjawa, Nairobi, Kenya, November 19, 2015
