First International Marathon of 2020 – Even a change of route could not stop this one
I was just recovering from the malaria of last week when the date of the first international half marathon, code name ‘struggling-back-to-shape’, finally came by. After those numerous feasts of Dec, surely this run deserved that name. It was a Friday. It was January 24. The run was on. It was a run on the usual 21km Kanyariri route that has already been mapped and scouted since last year. All was well until Charles, who had promised to skip the marathon, came back from his lunch hour run.
I was just recovering from the malaria of last week when the date of the first international half marathon, code name ‘struggling-back-to-shape’, finally came by. After those numerous feasts of Dec, surely this run deserved that name. It was a Friday. It was January 24. The run was on. It was a run on the usual 21km Kanyariri route that has already been mapped and scouted since last year. All was well until Charles, who had promised to skip the marathon, came back from his lunch hour run.
“The road is closed,” he looked through my door as he came back from the run and got into the block, around one-forty, sweaty as a river.
“What do you mean the ‘road is closed’,” I looked up from my keyboard, a cup of warm water standing just next to my right hand.
“The loop is closed. That section just after the wall is now closed. There is even a gate! And… a padlock!”
This was not happening. I had hardly two hours before the early starters would be starting off the run, and now this? It takes about a month to formulate a marathon route. The initial stages involve mapping it out on Google map to see how a 21k circuit can run, followed by a physical scouting of the route to confirm that it is runnable.
Occasionally, the scouting reveals new issues that necessitate revision of route. You may scout out the route and find out that some sections are closed or impassible, information that may not be apparent on the online map. Each revision means another mapping, then another scouting. It takes a month to get the route and the distance right. Do not even mention how the MoE* have to debate and disagree on the route despite all the work done. I now had less than 2-hours to formulate a new 21km route!
That is when that light bulb flashed. If the loop was closed by just a gate, and the rest of the loop still existed, then it was possible to do the loop from the reverse direction upto the gate, then just turn back at that gate. That should still give the same distance, apart from the small addition distance to access the road to the reverse circuit. That is exactly the message that I did sent to runners as a last-minute revision. I informed them that the route had changed ‘slightly’ and provided an elaborate map of the alternative way to loop around the 1km section that was affected by this closure.
There were no formal confirmation of attendance when I got ready for the inaugural marathon of 2020 at four. If anything, only Beryl of the B-and-B had confirmed her participation. I would later see her rush to the office at four-ten for the four o’clock run.
“Coach, I am here for that early start. Si ina anza saa kumi?”
“Very funny,” I responded.
We started the run at 4.20pm from the Generator. I did not know who needed coaching amongst the two. B was already a pacesetter in the marathon ranking, having smashed 80k by week 1. The other B was just coming out of a malaria episode. If anything, I only had a January 3 and January 20 scouting runs on this 21k route as the only noteworthy runs in the year. I was already doubting my sanity in registering for the 1,000-miles-a-year online challenge, courtesy of the link from Edu. I was already off the target just in month one!
We started the run as I took over the coaching role.
“We shall be taking it easy upto the highway. However, when we cross over, we shall have to quicken it a bit.”
That is when that light bulb flashed. If the loop was closed by just a gate, and the rest of the loop still existed, then it was possible to do the loop from the reverse direction upto the gate, then just turn back at that gate. That should still give the same distance, apart from the small addition distance to access the road to the reverse circuit. That is exactly the message that I did sent to runners as a last-minute revision. I informed them that the route had changed ‘slightly’ and provided an elaborate map of the alternative way to loop around the 1km section that was affected by this closure.
There were no formal confirmation of attendance when I got ready for the inaugural marathon of 2020 at four. If anything, only Beryl of the B-and-B had confirmed her participation. I would later see her rush to the office at four-ten for the four o’clock run.
“Coach, I am here for that early start. Si ina anza saa kumi?”
“Very funny,” I responded.
We started the run at 4.20pm from the Generator. I did not know who needed coaching amongst the two. B was already a pacesetter in the marathon ranking, having smashed 80k by week 1. The other B was just coming out of a malaria episode. If anything, I only had a January 3 and January 20 scouting runs on this 21k route as the only noteworthy runs in the year. I was already doubting my sanity in registering for the 1,000-miles-a-year online challenge, courtesy of the link from Edu. I was already off the target just in month one!
We started the run as I took over the coaching role.
“We shall be taking it easy upto the highway. However, when we cross over, we shall have to quicken it a bit.”
That is how the first phase of our run went. Crossing the highway was however unforgiving, something that I had taken for granted.
“Wowi!, coach, how do you jump over this?,” she pointed at the barrier within the road, that separates the main road from the side road.
I wondered over the question for a moment. I had already jumped over the half metre, knee high barrier. I would in a moment see her struggle through a small gap within the barrier. She finally managed to squeezer herself through.
We soon got to ‘the wall’, that barrier that is put in place to prevent anything wider than a meter to pass through, and just then…. just then we saw that infamous gate to our immediate right. We would normally have turned right at this point and ran though the U-shaped loop. Now we had to run straight ahead for about one-hundred metres, then make a right turn to do the reverse of this U-shaped route back to this locked gate. We would then have to turn back after touching the gate on the other side of the gate.
“Wowi!, coach, how do you jump over this?,” she pointed at the barrier within the road, that separates the main road from the side road.
I wondered over the question for a moment. I had already jumped over the half metre, knee high barrier. I would in a moment see her struggle through a small gap within the barrier. She finally managed to squeezer herself through.
We soon got to ‘the wall’, that barrier that is put in place to prevent anything wider than a meter to pass through, and just then…. just then we saw that infamous gate to our immediate right. We would normally have turned right at this point and ran though the U-shaped loop. Now we had to run straight ahead for about one-hundred metres, then make a right turn to do the reverse of this U-shaped route back to this locked gate. We would then have to turn back after touching the gate on the other side of the gate.
That is what we did.
It did not take long before ‘good Samaritans’ stopped up on our tracks.
“Njia imefungwa. Rudini,” the fight group of about three offered the helpful advice. We deliberately ignored it. They shook their heads behind our backs as they uttered their own reservations about ‘hao wajuaji, ngoja tu watarudi’.
“Njia imefungwa. Rudini,” the fight group of about three offered the helpful advice. We deliberately ignored it. They shook their heads behind our backs as they uttered their own reservations about ‘hao wajuaji, ngoja tu watarudi’.
Soon another person would remind us that the road was closed and that we should turn back. We ignored him as well. We kept running towards the locked gate. We would later ignore a third reminder as we now just faced the gate. We touched the gate and turned back. This turn back would have been the usual way of running had the gate not have been installed in that gap earlier on that day.
We kept running and got to Ndumboini, then faced the long Kanyariri road that runs all the way to Gitaru to join the Nakuru highway. This is generally a hilly section that we faced and ran at our pace. The weather was good. The run was enjoyable.
Jeff would overtake us just as we neared Gitaru market. We waved him on as we kept going. We walked as we reached Gitaru market and kept walking all the way to Wangige road, where we resumed our run on the Wangige road that is under construction. We would use this route to circle Gitaru market then rejoin Kanyariri road for the run-down.
We met Edu coming up hill as we did our run-down. We encouraged him up, while we ran down. The pace increased as the run become more enjoyable. Our legs would get to the tapping rhythm as we enjoyed the downhill.
“Hey, ningojeni!,” I thought that I heard, but maybe I just thought that I heard.
“Nyinyi wase, hamsikii. Ningojeni!”
We turned back almost in unison, losing the rhythm of our run.
We met Edu coming up hill as we did our run-down. We encouraged him up, while we ran down. The pace increased as the run become more enjoyable. Our legs would get to the tapping rhythm as we enjoyed the downhill.
“Hey, ningojeni!,” I thought that I heard, but maybe I just thought that I heard.
“Nyinyi wase, hamsikii. Ningojeni!”
We turned back almost in unison, losing the rhythm of our run.
We saw Janet frantically waving at us from behind. We stopped and waited for her. We exchanged niceties then resumed our run. She wondered why her distance was still reading fifteen k on the ‘gadget’, yet ours was seventeen.
“Did you really do the loop?”
“Which loop?,” she asked in surprise.
“The changed loop. The one I wrote on email.”
“Which email?”
I would have to describe the ‘locked-gate loop’ circuit even as we kept running.
It was finally over – the first international marathon of 2020 done and in good time. We clocked 2hr 40min 18sec on a 21.85km distance. We were already planning for the next international marathon which was not being received well from the onset, and B was not shy about it.
“You mean that you want to ‘spoil’ my Valentine with a run on fourteenth?”
*MoE = marathoners of expert. The select committee that organizes the runs.
“Did you really do the loop?”
“Which loop?,” she asked in surprise.
“The changed loop. The one I wrote on email.”
“Which email?”
I would have to describe the ‘locked-gate loop’ circuit even as we kept running.
It was finally over – the first international marathon of 2020 done and in good time. We clocked 2hr 40min 18sec on a 21.85km distance. We were already planning for the next international marathon which was not being received well from the onset, and B was not shy about it.
“You mean that you want to ‘spoil’ my Valentine with a run on fourteenth?”
*MoE = marathoners of expert. The select committee that organizes the runs.
WWB, the Coach, Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 27, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment