Heather And Kris Ville: There's a Slight Hill Next to Moshi

Turns out, there's a slight hill next to Moshi called Kilimanjaro. So, Heather and I headed to Moshi, Tanzania last Thursday so that I could run in the annual Kilimanjaro Maratho. It is called the Kilimanjaro Marathon, but they offer a half marathon, which I happily entered. So that we would not have to travel at night, Heather and I left a day before Titus and Douglas, the two coaches that I work with here at Tumaini, along with their good friend, Phabius. There have been a rash of car jackings around Nairobi lately, and it is not the greatest place to be traveling after dark. Reputation of "Nairobby" aside, Nairobi was great. I ate a decent knockoff of an American cheesburger at the Nairobi Java House, and even split a vanilla and chocolate chip milkshake. It was an even split - 80% mine and 20% Heather's. Bless her, she knows my sweet tooth is not to be trifled with.

Titus, Douglas and Phabius arrived early the following morning, and we hopped onto the bus for the 9+ hour ride to Moshi. The crossing into Tanzania was to cost anywhere from $25 to $50 for Americans, but was free for Kenyans. Nevertheless, upon our arrival, we were informed that the cost for Americans and Irish was now $100 per person. By contrast, Kenya had only cost $25 to enter, and, stupidly, I assumed the cost for Tanzania would be similar. Seemed just arbitrary enough to be real. I have since verified that this new law has been in effect since 2007 through some sweet U.S. legistation that requires a flat fee but allows multiple border entries. Other countries have the option to request a multiple entry visa, but can choose to purchase a much cheaper single entry pass. Hmmmm. We scraped together a mix of American dollars and shillings and made it across, much lighter in the wallet.

We loaded back onto the bus and made our way to Moshi relatively uneventfully. We did blow out a tire about 30 km from the town of Arusha. It didn't bother us much though, as the driver chose to continue driving as if there was no problem. We switched buses in Arusha, got into Moshi and found a hotel.

The next morning, we rose early to do some warmup jogging (running for me, jogging for my Kenyan friends), ate at another good coffee shop called the Kilimanjaro Coffee Lounge, and walked around the town some. I was a bit nervous for the race, so I couldn't rest or relax completely. Plus, the warmup run of 5 miles, together with a walk around town of 5 more miles was more than I should have done.

Our alarm sounded at 5 a.m on Sunday, then again at 5:15 a.m. All the guys were competing in the half, so we met outside. Heather wanted to take pictures of us, so, like a trooper she loaded up our camera gear and valuables and walked the 2 miles to the start of the race.

My race last November was difficult because it was my first half marathon, it was hot, and there were 30,000 people running in it. This was difficult because the race organizers chose to begin the race with a 6.55 mile climb up the lower slopes toward the base of Mt. Kenya. My Garmin says the race started at about 2900 feet, and rose steadily to 4,128 feet in elevation. At the end of the 6.55 miles, the runners turned 180 degrees on a 2 lane road and ran back down hill. The last mile or so before the turn was a particularly rough climb, then to turn and immediately run back downhill was brutal on the legs, but the change of direction felt so nice. Right before the turn, I was on a 9:33 mile pace, but almost instantly after the turn, I was on a 5:51 pace. I was briefly worried that my feet were going to go right out from under me. Things felt pretty good for the next 5 miles, but I started to tire around mile 12. Unluckily, at about that time, I passed an open air butcher on the roadside. Freshly cut goat is not a good smell at mile 12. But, luckily, shortly thereafter a group of Tanzanian school kids chose that moment to run with muzungu for a quarter mile or so. It gave me a needed push to the end.

The times aren't posted yet, but I think I finished in about 1:40, about the same time as I ran before, but on a much harder course. My Kenyan friend fared much better. Titus finish in about 1:11, Douglas in about 1:20 and Phabius in about 1:21. Titus looked completely fresh after the race, and was heartened by his performance where he had only intended a nice "jog".

The morning we headed back to Nairobi. After an 11 hour return ride, Heather and I decided to stay another night in Nairobi. Our friends hopped on a matatu and completed the trip back to Nyeri. While in Nairobi, we visited both the "Animal Orphanage" and "Elephant Orphanage". These are two good projects displaying Kenya's ever increasing support of their wildlife. If ever in Nairobi, check it out.