kilimanjaro 1/2 Marathon

Nothing starts on time here. Except for a foot race sponsored by a beer company...

I signed up for the race via ISM (kid's school) to support the scholarship program. I arrived at the start of the race about 20 minutes before 7am and the ISM booth to learn that my race number was locked in the office about 10 minutes away but the office did not open until 9am. there were a few of us in this infortunate situation. Luckily we had a car and drove to the school, found a gaurd, found the office, found our numbers, raced back to the start only to find a cloud of dust. The thousand plus runners had left the stadium a few minutes prior.

No problem. As I ran I was passing the walkers, then the fast walkers, then the kind of runners, then the slow runners then the runners and finally at about the turnaround at mile 6.5 I was at my place - running at pace with runners around me. The first 1/2 of the race was uphill running from Moshi town to the base of Kili. Then back down to town. It was hot but good water stations and lots of fans cheering which helps the motivation. I was running pretty slow and finished in over 2 hours (about 2:10 I think).

Best part of the race was after a few Kms I made eye contact with a village kid standing by the side of the road. I gave him a head nod of encouragement to join the race. Faster than his smile could spread across his face he was running next to me. Jeans, long sleeve shirt and flip flops. He ran the entire 13 miles next to me. I gave him a visor and at each aid station he got water and sponges - he loved it. I was impressed.

Next year I think I'll try running in flip flops.