Unveiling… more than we bargained for

Unveiling… more than we bargained for

The idea of having our own marathoners running kits was mooted in March 2019, just after the Kilimanjaro international marathon.  It was while on our way back when we were doing reminiscence on the goods and bads of that marathon that the issue of running kits featured.

“Did you see the Swaras?  They retained their attire even in Tee-Zed,” Edu would say at some point.

“True,” Faye confirmed, “I even saw the Jashos there!”

“For the international runners like us…. Eh… we had nothing to show for it,” was all I could say, amid another stretch while nursing the painful legs, even as the minibus sped along the 380km route of the return journey from Moshi.

That topic died at that point, but not for long.  The issue would soon re-emerge on the WhatsApp group, when the members started sharing the pictures of Kili.  That we needed our own kits was now a topic of discussion.  

Many other discussion points ran on that group, but somehow the issue of kits would be back on the leader-board.  In early May we decided to do something about it.  I send a message to the runners.

“… as an expression of interest,” my message continued, “all are requested to send 1k to me for this mission”

By then we had nothing.  Just the desire to have our kits.  We would then progressively move towards discussing designs, and then debate quite a lot on the issue of colour, which would eventually be resolved by a poll won by a simple majority.  The material was fixed.  There was no debate on this.  

The other aspects of the kit would become optional – name of back of kit, flag on sleeve, size, number of Tees needed.  We did not even know whether the k would enable us have these kits, but we had to start somewhere and we were determined to make this happen.  Even our runners in the diaspora – Tanzania – were with us in this project.

Said what?

Many reminders later, and we would collect around fifteen ks.  Many reminders later, and we would have the final poll done and results published.  Many reminders later, and we would have all the information needed for the Tees finally availed to our colleague Ericsson who had volunteered to ensure that the kits were ‘published’.  Then the topic just died again in early July.

The issue of the kits would get back on the radar when the MOE announced the seventh international marathon and settled on July 26 as the date.  The decision was that the kits would be availed to the runners on that day.  However, as late as that run Friday, we did not have confirmation from E-sson that we would get the kits.  

To set ourselves on a plan B, just in case, we had sent a final call to runners and informed them that the kits ‘may be’ provided after the run.  This was a complete change of tone from the strong message of a week before, where we had stated that we would unveil the new kits ‘before’ the run.  In fact, the seventh international was code-named ‘the unveiling’.

Still exists

It is usual for the MOE to scout a route before any marathon, just to confirm that it is doable and that it still exists.  This is especially necessary with the ongoing road construction on Waiyaki way and Gitaru-Wangige roads.  The task of this scouting fell on me, and that meant that I had to do a ‘scouting-21’ on evening of July 12.  

I was able to confirm that the route still existed in a ‘runable’ state and that it still measured 21k, in fact 21.28km.  The scouting was done in 104 minutes.  I reported an ‘all clear’ for this marathon and the announcement was cleared for dissemination to marathoners.

A new introduction was also included in this edition of the marathon – a ‘mock marathon’, open to all runners.  This was to be a 15k course on the route, just to give runners an advance feel of this ‘new’ international route, which has been a route on our event calendar since last year.  

The July 19 mock saw the B-and-B doing the 15.58k to Kanyariri shopping centre and back in 106 minutes.  The mock was also a good prep for the real thing that we would be doing in the next seven days.

Finally, because we have suffered having to finish the runs way too late, when it was too dark, the MOE introduced a new rule.  All runners had a compulsory turn-back whenever the 5.30pm time check got them.  To sweeten the deal, it was agreed that runners who may be beaten by this rule could start their run earlier than the usual 4.40pm start time.

Surely, the MOE had done and considered all aspects of this run.  It was therefore now a matter of just waiting for the run, and hoping to ‘unveil’.

Time flies

The bread that Beryl brought for the evening energizer before the run was still lying on the table when I asked the group of four to start moving towards the Generator starting point.  There was no time to take a final carbo-load.

“You can’t do me like this,” Bee would complain even as she grabbed her bottle of water ready for the 500m walk to the generator.

“Rules are rules,” I reminded her.  We had decided that we would be on the ‘early-starters’ group.  The one that would start at 4.00pm.  Bramuel and Ericsson were the other members on this group.

“Wow, you guys look great!,” Edu complimented loudly, interrupting our preparation to start going to the starting point.  He was having a glimpse of our newly ‘unveiled’ Tees.  He was collecting the balance kits for the team that would be starting at 4.40pm.

“You can say that again,” Bee stated.  Expressionless.  She had just suffered a setback by getting a kit that was smaller than what she had ordered.  The guys had assured her that the kit was ‘quite good’, but she had ignored the voice of three and followed her inner spirit and ‘refused’ to kit up.  She even described its size of ‘tumbo cut’.  Surely, B, how dare you!

As an alternative, she had a run gear that was almost green, but nothing like our very great looking luminous green Tees, which had our choice of name branded on the back.  The Kenyan flag was printed on the left sleeve.

We would get a few more “Wows!” from passersby as we raced to the Generator starting point as the early starters.

Run or wait?

We flagged ourselves off at 4.15pm.  We almost delayed the run and just waited for the 4.40pm group since we were already late for our intended four o’clock run.  Nonetheless, we started our run and our quartet slowly made its way out of the gate towards Kabete Polytechnic and crossed Waiyaki way.  By then Bramuel was on the lead, with Ericsson on tow, while the B-team remained behind by a few metres.  Bramu would drop out of contention by the third kilometer at Ndumbo, leaving our trio to tread it on.

As we started off the hill at 4k, Ericsson overtook our B-team since Beryl decided to reduce the pace to the bare minimum.  I got worried for a moment.

“Are you OK?  Will you make the run?”

I had been on this exact route with Bee hardly seven days ago.  On that day she was tops.  Running up this selfsame hill quite effortlessly.  But today?  Not today.  She was really struggling.

“I am OK,” she said amid labored gasps.  The hill taking toll, “I shall… shall tell… tell you all after… after the run.”

We kept going, upto seventh k at the University farm, where we walked briefly.  Then resumed our run, then walked some more.  This was quite unlike last week’s run, when we actually did run all the way to Kanyariri shopping centre on the 8k.  Nonstop!

“I know… know that I have… have let you… let you down,” she said when we passed Kanyariri shopping centre.

“Why comes?”

“My… my run speed… speed today!”

“Nothing to worry, we shall make it,” I then added a universal truth, “Run days are usually different and no two runs can ever be the same”

While she absorbed the impact of the statement, I looked at the watch that now read 5.10pm and informed her that we had a compulsory turn-back point coming up.  That was going to be a reality unless we got to Nakuru highway in the next twenty minutes.  The fear of the turn-back surely worked, since I now saw B increase pace and start tackling the ongoing hill with new zeal.

“Turning back is not an option,” she said.

“Rules are rules,” is all I could say.

Compulsory turn-back

We reached Nakuru highway at about 5.22pm, a good eight minutes before compulsory turn back.  That meant that we had the all clear to go round Gitaru market through Gitaru-Wangige road and back to Kanyariri road.  That is exactly what we did.  Relief on our faces.

We met Janet and Nick on the uphill towards the Nakuru highway as we finished our circling of Gitaru market.  The time was just about 5.45pm.

“You must turn back,” I told their approaching footsteps.

“Wewe Coach wacha wana,” Janet responded, “Tufike hapa halafu turudi?”

“Rules are rules,” is what I managed to say, even as their footsteps got fainter as they kept going behind my back.

I joined the pace set by Beryl and we started our run back.  We now had only seven kilometers to our destination.  We kept going, mostly running, with the terrain now being downhill.  The luminous upper body of Ericsson remained visible about four hundred meters ahead.  

The announcement

Our run continued until the final hill at Ndumbo.  We walked briefly on the hill and soon resumed our running before the end of hill and continued to the finishing point. 

“Stop the timer!,” I reminded Beryl as we stepped on the ‘Stop’ sign at the gate.  She did stop her timer.  Mine had just been stopped.  The time was 2hr 31min 38sec.  The Endomondo on my phone indicated a distance of 21.29km.

“Now, let me tell you why I was a bit slow”, she introduced the confession time, as we walked to the three other finishers ahead, “I have another hike at Elephant hill tomorrow.”

Our finishing ‘group selfie’ of five would soon show the tired faces of B-team, JV, Ericsson and Phillip.  Talking about Phillip, he was the only one whose Tee had his name printed on the front.

Just when we thought that we had had it all, we would soon be given two unexpected announcements while at the dinner party held after the run.  That Fay is out of our runs for the rest of the year as she joins ‘team diaspora’ was devastating.  Her only consolation was that, “I shall represent you in the Amsterdam marathon.”

The second announcement was unprecedented.  It would be said by the very coach, “I shall also be out of the next three internationals.  I shall be out of Nairobi until mid-November.  I am handing over the reins to Edu.”

WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, July 26, 2019