10K


Sunday was the third annual MTN Marathon in Kampala, and I did not run the 42km; I'm savin' it for next year. (You can hold me to it.) Fortunately, for those of us not up for the long haul, they also held a 10k race in which I participated…barely. I missed the registration deadline, and I was told that it would be impossible to register: even if I were a government minister, I would not be able to register after the deadline. Well I’m no minister of anything, but I did find a way to register and officially join the race.

One of the finer qualities that I inherited from my dear mother in a stubbornness that does not allow me to accept ‘no’ as an option when I don’t think it is the correct answer. People who know me know that I’m very respectful and not a pushy person; however, I’m no push over either. I really wanted to be in the race, and I missed a deadline that I was misinformed about to begin with. I talked to whom I knew that I felt could pull some strings, I made phone calls to strangers, and I almost gave up hope until around 7:30pm Saturday evening when I got the phone call that I was in and could pick up my ‘runner’s kit’ before the race, around 6:30am, Sunday.

At the race, security did not want to allow me back to the tents where I was supposed to pick up my kit. My explanations and eventual arguments got my nowhere, so I had to take the long way around (literally). I just made the block and went in the back way. I picked up my kit with my jersey. I got a number and a tracking chip. My skills in burlesque came in handy and I stripped down in front of the parliament building and changed into my running gear. The race was on.

I have no idea how well I did. I’m going to be generous and say that I performed well. I ran the entire time, never stopping to walk. I also feel like I was in the front part of the middle portion of runners; I was not in the back. My watch band broke a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve not replaced it, so I could not time myself. My tracking chip was supposed to record my time when I passed the finish line, but it didn’t (just my luck). I sent someone with my number tag to pick up my certificate verifying my time, but he came back empty-handed and said my time was not in the computer. I used to run 10k’s for fun with my friend Susan, and I always finished at just under an hour. The area I ran today was not nearly as hilly as where Susan and I ran, so I hope that I improved my time a bit. Although, I am not quite as fit now as I was then, so who knows?

Y’ello!