Half-a-half – the run that needed interpretation

Half-a-half – the run that needed interpretation

It is exactly one week later, and the story has not been written.  This is quite unusual.  The story would usually be out immediately after the run, even before the leg muscles have had a rest.  So why did this Friday, June 28 international half fail to make it to be blog?

The sixth international, codename ‘half-a-half’ was meant to commemorate the half-mark of the year, with a half a marathon run.  It was meant to be that simple.  It turned out not to be.  This codename did not last long before it was corrupted.  Koki started it off.

“What is the distance of the run?,” she asked on email.

The distance had been prominently displayed just below the run route, on the email that publicized the run.  ‘21.3km’ it read.  It was the Google earth map that has traced and came up with that out.

Two emails later, and she would still be wondering if this is ‘half of a half’ or ‘half-half’.  I did not imagine that such a simple three-word codename would generate so much debate.  I would soon have to clarify to the whole of the runners that this half-a-half was what they wanted it to be.  It could be half a marathon at half year mark, the initially intended meaning, or it could be a half distance of the half marathon, or even half of the half distance that one usually runs.  

“Just make it what you want it to be”.

The turnout was better than I had expected.  Raising nine athletes on such a cold June evening was quite something.  Faye, Judy and Beryl, formerly of the B-and-B team, represented the gals.  The coach was on the ‘boy child’ group, together with Karl, Jeff, Nick, Bramuel and later Edu would join in, though not from this initial group at the starting line.  

This is the very same Edu who would later after the run make me lose a bet and force me to buy a round of drinks for the folks.  This came about after I had vowed that Edu could not make it for this run, after all he had just done another 21k run two days prior to this event.  However, this vow would turn out to be my undoing, as I regretfully discovered later in the run.  

But wait a minute!  Why am I even surprised?  Edu has a way of letting the run run his life.  While some of us control the run, the run controls him.  He is the only one whom I know, who has the habit of timing his pace to the precision dictated by ‘the gadget’.  Instead of the gadget tracking his pace, he paces as per the gadget.  

Several times I have run with him, only for him to reduce speed, to almost a standstill and tell me that we are going too fast.  All this said while looking at ‘the gadget’ on the wrist.  Then he would all of a sudden sprint it off and say that we need to catch up with the average, because… You guessed right, ‘the gadget says so’.  Nay nay, that is not my style!  My style is to start the timer, forget that it exists, and just let go.  I stop the timer after the run and confirm the stats – that is me.  However, Edu is Edu.

When we flagged off at the generator at 4.45pm, five minutes later than scheduled, we did stipulate a compulsory turn-back at the 1hr point.  Those who would not reach the turnaround point at the highway by this time would have to turn back when they get to their 1hr point.  The route was the same old ‘new international’ route.  

This route runs from Uthiru, though Ndumbo-ini, onto the Kanyariri road all the way to Nakuru highway on the 10k mark.  Then runners run the outer perimeter of the Gitaru market partly on Wangige road, and get back to Kanyariri road on 13k at the other side of the market.  From there, the same road that brought you to this point takes you back to the starting point some 8k back.

We left off as a group, but soon Karl and I were on the leading pack by the time we reached Ndumbo at 3k.  I was however alone after the Ndumbo downhill on the 4k, as we started the 6km of uphill that leads to the highway.  He would later confess that he could not cope up with the uphill pace.  I was the first to reach the 13k mark after circling the market and getting back to Kanyariri road.  

Then I decided to stop and wait for the pack, after all, it was a group run of sorts.  Karl would pass me by, some ten minutes later.  He told me that he was not stopping or waiting.  I shooed him on.  Momentarily, Beryl then Bramuel would reach this point and would be forced to turn back due to the 60-minute stipulation for compulsory turn back.  I kept waiting.  

Another ten minutes later and the group of Faye, Jeff and Nick would emerge to find me standing at the 13k junction.  I was taken aback to see Edu in this group.

“Coach, I am here,” he declared as he passed by my stationary form.

I knew the implication of that statement.  It would hit me later.

I joined into their run, staying at the back, after they had confirmed that no one else was behind them.

By the 15k at Kanyariri High School, the boys had run off and left Faye and I behind.  Faye would soon come to a stop.

“A stitch!  The stitch!”

I would join into the stopover.

“Take a brief rest.”

She did take a minute of two of rest, then we started the run once more.

A second stitch stop would hit her, hardly a kilometer later.  For this one, we decided to just take a walk for about five minutes, then resumed the run when the stitch had subsided.  We kept moving and were soon facing the Ndumbo uphill on the 18k.  Clearing this hill would surely mark the end of the run.  

It was now getting dark.  We were just about to get to the 1900hour mark.  The hill ended and we would in a moment be facing the now very dark road at the Vet loop, past Ndumbo.  Our destination was now just the other side of the highway.

We joined Beryl as we were about to hit ‘the wall’ near Kabete Police as we crossed the Nakuru highway on our way back to our finish line.  By this time it was already totally dark.  Despite this, Faye decided to sprint off the last kilometer from Kabete Polytechnic, leaving the B-team to walk it back to the finish line.

We would hit the finish line with a time check of 2.13.05.  This was the earliest that I have ever finished this group run.  We set a new record of all our runners finishing by that time.  Two hours later, and I would be paying off the bet that I lost.  Lesson learnt – do not wager on super-humans.  That mantra shall come in handy during the seventh international at the end of July.

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, July 5, 2019