First International Marathon of 2019

First International Marathon of 2019

The hill

“Do you see a bar around?,” Fay asked.

We were just hitting the 10km mark, on the first international marathon of the year.  That was a strange one.  By this time, we were walking up the hill, on this new international route.  The very route that has a 6km hill that stretches from the Ndumbo river on the 4k mark, all the way to Nakuru highway on the 10k mark.

Earlier on, we had started with a run – just the two of us.  She was doing her first run on the new route.  I was on my third.  The usual B-and-B team was not participating on this particular run.  One B has just disappeared without a trace and gone incommunicado.  That is why I was on F-and-B on this Friday the twenty-fifth day of January.  The FB team left ‘the Generator’ at exactly 4.35pm, having been ‘generated’ (being at the ‘Generator’) by 4.32pm.  We did not wait for anyone, nor was there anyone to be waited for.

At the gate pit-stop, we met Ben, who was supposed to have been ‘generated’ with us, but had somehow succeeded in getting late for his first international run.

“Edu shall show you the way,” Fay had told him while he disembarked from the motorbike at the gate.

The run started well, and was going at 7min per km by the time we were at Ndumbo on the 3km mark.  This was after we had a first-aid break near Vet Lab at the loop.  What are the chances that you adorn a First Aid jacket, as a fire marshal, and you actually do first aid?  The chances are low, and the first international of 2019 was one of those rare occasions.

First Aid

All of a sudden, Fay slowed down and almost stopped.

“This hurts,” she said, pointing at the back side of the leg.

“It is called the calf,” I responded, “You can take a rest and confirm that you are still able to run.”

She did take the rest by sitting on the grass patch and starting to have a feel of the leg.

“You need to help me out with some first aid,” she said.

“I am a fire marshal.  Let not this jacket fool you.”

“You branded yourself as one.  This is your chance to prove yourself,” she said as a matter of a fact.

The first aid break did not take long – just 5 minutes max.  From there we were back to the normal pace.  The sun was still hot, but the temperatures were starting to lower with the approaching evening.  After Ndumbo we met Edu in a big car.  He flashed on us and shouted in our direction that, “Ben is just ahead.”

We could momentarily make out Ben’s form, as we now rolled down to the river ready for the 6km hill.  We ran and walked up the hill and eventually reached the Nakuru highway.  By this time we had already caught up with Ben and were running and walking together as the ‘international’ trio.

I was wondering whether Fay seriously needed a drink, but kept the thoughts to myself.  The marathoner creed expects us to ‘judge not’ and respect other marathoners points of view.

“Here is one,” I pointed towards the roof of a side building.  While I said this, Ben kept going and left us behind.

“Let’s get in,” she stated and led the way.

We got in.  I stood near the exit, while observing the almost dark internal, with loud vernacular music and smell of barley spewing towards the entrance yard.

“What drinks?,” the waiter asked.  By that time Fay had somehow disappeared into some place in the dingy.

“Not yet,” I found myself saying, then momentarily started the downstairs walk out of the building.

Running is a must

Fay would soon join me and explain that she is having a day similar to Isaac’s.  I later got to learn that that ‘similar’ situation meant a stomach problem.  Though I asked her whether we should turn back and call off the run, she maintained that we had to finish the run on the prescribed course.  We therefore just walked and ran until we got back to Kanyariri road ready to face the downhill back to the river.  

We then had the reprieve of the downhill to keep us going all the way to the river.  We once again caught up with Ben and kept going uphill to Ndumbo.  With only 3km to our finish point, nothing would stop us from finishing the first international in 2019 – and that is what we did exactly – finish the first international marathon of 2019 in 2hr 39min and 55sec.

Though we missed the teq, which was one of the marketing goodies for this run, we still managed to have a substitute when we ‘door-crashed’ a staff party and still got our fill.  It was however not long before I saw a reminder on WhatsApp that we have the next marathon already planned.  

The ‘no-love-lost’ Valentines marathon on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019 promises to bring the best of the marathoners since the rules for the day have already been set – you are allowed to run your best run… ‘without looking back’.  Whether the experiences of the day influences the participation by Fay (and Ben) remains to be seen, in 3 weeks’ time.

WWB the coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 25, 2019