For
those of you that do not know me, I am on my own personal journey to run seven
marathons on seven continents. So far,
my running has taken me all around North America, Europe for the London
Marathon (04/01), South America for the Easter Island Marathon (05/03),
Antarctica for the Antartica Marathon (02/05), and now, to Africa for the Mt
Kilimanjaro Marathon (02/06).
When
I look for international events, I tend to pick ones that will be more than
just an event. They will provide some
life experience at the same time. I got
plenty of both at Kilimanjaro.
I
left Portland Oregon to fly to Minneapolis, to fly to Amsterdam, to fly to Mt
Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania.
11
time zones, 25 hours and 47 minutes of continuous air flight, I arrived.
The
marathon takes place at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. The elite runners, A level
marathoners, from neighboring countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Congo, and others
were all there. This event is hotly contested amongst the local countries for
regional bragging rights. Walking to the starting line, I saw some of the most
fit marathoners in the world. I was
traveling with 28 other American marathoners; we were all at the back of the
start, looking forward at them, and looking at each other, amazed we were
actually there.
The
marathon starts out in very old soccer stadium. We started at 7 am, it was about 65 degrees, and the sun was just
cresting on Mt Kili, quite amazing. The
first 12k take’s you out and back on one of the main highways. This portion of
the course is mostly flat. From 12k to
15k you run through one of the poorer neighborhoods in Mosi, down by the train
tracks. From 15k to 18k you run up
through Mosi to a road that takes you out of town towards the mountain. This section is an 11k up-hill rolling climb
of about 750 feet. It was like climbing
up and over the St. Johns Bridge in the Portland Marathon, but you had to do it
about four times, back to back to back to back.
At
about 20k I stared running with a group of kids, 6 to 9 years old. Four ran
about 15k with me, but at times, I had over a dozen kids running along with me.
I was run / walking and trying to talk to the kids at the same time, and before
I knew it, I was at the top of this hill, 30k. It was about 90 degrees by this
time; I had already drunk about 6 liters of water to get to the 30k
turnaround. I took the kids some
Coke’s, doused them each with a sponge of water, and we stared down the hill. I could not believe these little kids, so
strong, and keeping up with me the whole time, amazing. At 35k, I was shown the home where the
oldest boy lived. His family was coffee
growers. The field surrounding their
home was about 100 acres, full of rowed coffee plants. We stopped at the next aid station; I gave
them each a power bar, a crisp one-dollar bill, and a hug; as I knew it would
have been so much harder to make the climb by myself.
At
about 40k, the course enters the local area community college. I caught up to
my friend, Bill, from Antarctica. The finish is in the stadium where we
started. My finish time was five hours
and fifteen minutes. I did not expect
to see anyone in the stadium, but it was packed to overflow with people, and
when I entered, and I could hear the people cheer for me – the white, slow,
American. My traveling buddy Connie
from Phoenix, she was the only
non-African to place. She was 3rd
overall Female Veteran.
After
finishing, I walked back to the hotel in temperatures around 95 degrees, drank
two liters of water, took a shower, and meet my friends in the hotel bar. After recovering, we drank a few Mt
Kilimanjaro beers, and began to prepare for the 6 day climb up and down Mt
Kilimanjaro; but that is another story for another day.
Next
continent, Asia and The Great Wall Marathon in May of 2007.