Kampala Marathon

So it’s been over a week since I’ve updated my blog, and this is the longest silence my blog has ever had without a warning, (a fact I was ignorant of prior to my mom’s observation).

We finished up in Kasese on Friday, and drove back to Mbarara that afternoon. We’ve now spent over 1.5 months in that city. Kasese as a town received some pretty sad reviews from both the Lonely Planet and Brandt guidebooks. And while those observations were pretty accurate, the town has a certain wild west charm to it’s dirt streets and it’s slew of Ugandan restaurants (but no western, Chinese, Indian or other exotic foods).

But I have to admit that I have a new appreciation for Mbarara. This town is far larger, busier, has better restaurants (and therefore better food), and most importantly, seems more lush and tropical than Kasese. And while it’s more tropical, it’s also cooler, likely due to greater humidity. An apt comparison would be Kasese is like Kamloops (in the rain shadow of the coast mountains) drier and hotter in the summer, and Mbarara is like Vancouver (greener, cooler and bigger – but no ocean in Mbarara).

So I feel like I’m back in a much nicer setting, and it’s doing wonders for my mental state. I’m not sure if it’s the greenness, or the Canada house setting which seems more like home, but I’m far more relaxed, and far more motivated.

For those interested, we met our deadline with three days to spare, and we’re hoping to submit another proposal before we head for four days off at the end of the month. The five original projects have been pared down. As mentioned previously, one was impossible from a design perspective (despite my best efforts), one was impossible because there is no road access (though I still intend to write the proposal conditional on the road being built), and two were not expensive enough, so we will have to combine them.

We had a target of three for that district and we’ve achieved two. But frankly we don’t have the time, (I’ve only got a month of work left) to get a third, so we’ve switched to the Mbarara district for the last month, because we need to find a project in this diocese or Acts will get kicked out of Canada House.

But all of that was inconsequential to the Kampala marathon! Seven of us headed out from Mbarara on Saturday morning. Four of us (Wes, Andrea, Naomi and I) to do the half marathon, two of us to catch an emergency flight out (the camp boss, Bern has a detached retina and is flying back to Vancouver for an operation, and his wife is accompanying him), and Tim, the Acts regional director/coach.

Prior to my arrival in Uganda, I was lucky to be connected with a fellow BCer who happens to be teaching at the prestigious Kabira international school. Some of the current enrolled students include the King of Toro and the princess of Bugamba (there are several kingdoms in Uganda). I was lucky enough to be able to stay at her place on Saturday night. Also went to a BBQ on Saturday night and had an impression of what it would be like to be an expat in Uganda. All of the well traveled nations were represented; Australia, France, Neatherlands and Canada. In terms of people attending, it seemed identical to BBQs in Vancouver. Conscious of the race, limited myself to one beer and went to sleep at 10pm.

Got up the next morning at 5:30am, had a quick breakfast and headed of to the start of the race. Something beautiful about waking up before dawn, but the beauty isn’t worth the sacrificed sleep. Crossed the start line at 7:15am.

I have to admit this was one of the most unique ways of seeing Kampala (well, not so unique I suppose, there were reportedly over 10,000 running, most were doing the 10km). Having hundreds of Ugandans cheer you as you run through the smoggy haze. Running through neighborhoods on busy streets you’d normally be terrified of passing through in car. Not to say it wasn’t still thrilling, they didn’t shut down traffic, this is the main city after all. In fact, only on a few streets did the runners have complete security. In other places you had to be pretty nimble in dodging the cars, and one round-about at kilometer 18 was still in full operation. I had to stop two cars to get through that one.

One of the highlights was being offered a bag of white powder at the water station at kilometer 15. The guy ahead of me took a handful and brought it to his face. He seemed to get a real boost from the stuff, so I had to give it a shot. Glucose! Just like icing sugar. The shot lasted about 3 minutes, and then I felt worse.

I’m proud to say I...completed the course. And while I’m not certain of the time, I think it’s somewhere between 2:15 and 2:30 (there were two clocks when I crossed the finish line). I’m going with 2:15. Also, Tim’s friend measured the course the day before with his car and found it was actually 24km and not 21km. I’m not sure I believe that, but it does make me look better.

And yes, out of the four runners from Acts, I was the slowest. But I would like to point out that I’m also the oldest by six years...and my arthritis was acting up.

Anyway, now back in Mbarara searching out new sources and putting the finishing touches on the Kasese proposals. Heading back to Kampala for the off and I’m hoping to either do some whitewater rafting or kayaking.