What a weekend! Well. Let me tell you.
As you may or may not know, Lewa hosts the international Safaricom Marathon every year on the conservancy. This year was the 10th year in a row. All day Saturday I shot pictures of the marathon start and finish line, and also walked around a bit and took pictures of the people enjoying the afternoon.
The starting line:
The hospital/recovery area at the finish line:
The male winner of the half marathon, Joseph Nganga:
Left to right: 3rd place, James Kigen & 2nd place, Johana Manyim:
Being at the finish line of a marathon was very interesting. Now, some people reading this know me well enough to know that the most running I do "voluntarily" is for the TTC when I'm late (probably a lot more running than I realize!). Well I have to say that watching people complete the half and full marathon under the beating hot sun and the clouds of red dust was really emotional and inspirational.
The female winner of the half marathon, Catherine Ndereba:
Some people looked like they had just taken a walk in the park (like it was not problem). But many more looked like they were about to die, or at least they had thought they were about to die. Several people would cross the line and just start to wobble, having to get support from the Kenyan Red Cross workers standing by. Others would just cross the line and almost stop on the spot. People would have to tell them to keep walking or their muscles would cramp up. Some people kept running right through and had to be physically stopped to get their medal and number listed (and so that they wouldn't plough right into the crowd).
A man who somehwere along the way acquired a small son:
One man I took a picture of was blessing himself. Another came through the finish line crying. Bawling out loud as hard as can be. At that point the MC (a national sports commentator dressed in his traditional Maasai costume) was standing next to me. We looked at each other, then he paused only for a split second, and said into the mic "Emotions are running high... The man is cRrying (insert rolled R here)... Tears of Jubilation..."
Torome Tirike, the MC:
This man is 79 years old:
The male winner of the full marathon, Benson Kaptikou:
3rd place in the full marathon, Githu Kariuki:
The founder of Lewa Ian Craig:
The head of security, John Palmeri:
The female winner of the full marathon, Lucy Mugambi:
My friends, Aloyse and Kitonga - teachers in the Lewa adult literacy programme:
People said this year was much hotter than the previous two years. At one point one of the motorcycles came through with a woman hanging onto the driver's neck. Apart from holding him, she was out cold (in fact I think there might have been a third person holding onto her from behind). It was intense.
I could see in people’s faces that they had gone as far as they could go, and I respected that. The day of I was like "okay now it's my new goal to run a marathon..." However, you'll be relieved to know that when I woke up on Sunday the desire was gone!
Another thing I wanted to tell you about was the kids' race. The children 9 years and above started early and ran 5 km. There were many local kids and others who had come with their parents, who were running the marathon, from all over the world. Lots of the local children ran in bare feet. Some ran in just socks. And you know what? They were the ones who won. And you know what else? They won Bata Shoe vouchers.
Children at the starting line:
The kids starting to run (seconds before the gun went off actually):
I didn't make it to the finish line before they arrived. I got confused and was lost in the crowd telling security guards that I was staff and just didn't have a staff wrist band... aaaaand I ran into a colleague who drove me to his house to have coffee and watch the marathon on telly for a few minutes. So what I am trying to say is that I missed the children crossing the finish line. But I was told that they ran as fast as they could for the whole 5-Kay and were literally crossing the line and passing out cold in droves. Apparently the local schools receive money so the teachers put a lot of pressure on the children to win. I guess it happens everywhere (the movie Spellbound comes to mind).
Anyway it was a very hot intense and exciting day. After the race there was a festival and then an enormous bonfire. You should have seen this place. Tents everywhere you looked. Music, people BBQ-ing. The British Army set up a bar and the bonfire, and had music and a dance floor, which I obviously stayed on all night! I ran into my friends and had a few beers ("Tusker" is the Kenyan beer BTW). It was So not like being on a wildlife conservancy.
Festival:
The prize giving ceremony:
Former vice President of Kenya, Moody Awori:
CEO of Lewa (who gave his entire speech in Swahili), Jonathan Moss:
Hilarious physical comedians, don't know their names but they were awesome:
Traditional dancers:
Children's dance contest (hilarious by the way):
A night in the wild:
And the next day while I slept off a hangover, everyone packed up and left on me.
Now the place is empty except for the crew in my camp, who are dismantling the tents and getting ready for their next job in Maasai Mara Park (AKA "the Mara"). In a week they too will be gone and I will be here just me and the baboons, who have moved in in high numbers to eat the leftovers I am told (I got Fridah to walk me to work this morning because I was scared of them. We literally had to walk right through the middle of them - and she had to throw a rock at one of them that didn't back off fast enough).
....Oh life in the bush, honestly. Discos, bonfires, baboons, who knew?
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