The Kilimanjaro Marathon – so much more than a race!
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
― Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen ―
Did you know that the Kili Marathon was an idea born over a cold Kilimanjaro lager by the event’s organizers, Wild Frontiers, in 2002? They felt it would be a great way to draw tourists to Tanzania, with the iconic name of Kilimanjaro offering a unique place to hold a marathon. The idea was to attract runners to Tanzania who would participate in the marathon and then extend their adventure by doing a Kili climb, going on safari or visiting beautiful Zanzibar.
This year a group of people in Arusha took part in this race to raise funds for and create awareness of Land & Life Foundation’s initiatives. I decided to sit down and have a chat with a couple of them to find out how and why they decided to take part in this event.
Emmanuel Shoo was running the Kili half marathon for the sixth time! He works as a Reservations Consultant for Sopa Lodges, where he has been since August 2014. He is 36 years old, married, and comes from Mailisita, Kilimanjaro region, so he is familiar with Moshi, where the marathon is held.
This year Emmanuel ran the half marathon, as he does every year now, and completed it in under two and a half hours. He raised a total of $150 for the Land and Life Foundation.
Amani Bura is 26 years old, single and was born with brittle bone disease. He lived with his grandparents who later took him to Huduma ya Walemavu in Monduli where he grew up. With the help of Sarah Rejman, founder of Plaster House Arusha, he attended Olkokola Vocational Training School. He studied tailoring and learned life skills, and eventually moved into Plaster House, a home in Arusha for children to recover from orthopaedic surgery or receive care for disabilities. Amani started doing bead work with other children and developed his natural talents into employable skills. He has been working at Shanga for 4 years now in the beading department. He enjoys the design work and all the love and support shown to him by his colleagues.
This year as every year Amani competed in the Disabled and Wheelchair 10km race, and he was delighted and proud to finish in 10th place! Hongera Amani!
This is my sixth time participating and my friends motivate me to continue! The first time I ran the 5 km with friends for fun and then decided to graduate to the half marathon the following year. I enjoy it, it is fun, a good way to meet new people and it is also good for your health.
This year’s Kili Marathon is my 4th time participating. I keep running because it’s part of exercise which keeps my body fit.
How do they ensure that they are physically and mentally prepared for the race, I ask.
I run 5 km usually three times a week, more sometime depending on the weather. I run very early in the morning between 4.30 and 5.00 a.m. – it’s usually quiet, no traffic and not many people around apart from other runners of course!
I do exercises to make sure that am ready for the marathon. Confidence is something else, I have confidence that I can participate and complete the Marathon, he responds emphatically.
And if they could have one word to describe the feeling that they get when they cross the finish line what would it be, I ask.
Wow! The first 7km is hard as it’s an uphill. However, after that it flattens out and I find it easier to run, he concludes.
I feel very Happy and relieved that I have safely completed the Marathon. There are always risks like falling from the wheel chair and badly getting injured.
Emmanuel and Amani ran to support the Land & Life Foundation. I sought to find out why they felt that it was important to help the foundation and how much he raised.
This was the first time I have ran to raise funds and I succeeded! I raised over US$135 for L&L. When I looked at the L&L website and found out that you work with children and in conservation areas in East Africa I felt the need to offer my support. It is good to support because in the tourism industry we have properties and businesses in these conservation areas and we make money there so it is good to give support back to the communities that live there and to protect the wildlife.
I ran to support Shanga and the Land & Life Foundation. It is important to help these foundations because they support the communities. For example Shanga foundation, employs disabled people who are viewed as a disgrace in their communities. This gives them a chance to live happy independent lives. Also the recycling activities that are done at Shanga helps to keep the surrounding communities’ environment clean.
Parting comment to colleagues in Tanzania and Kenya?
Running is very good – it’s a great way to stay in shape, be healthy and energetic. They should run all year round and not only for the marathon! I plan to run again in April at the Ngorongoro Marathon if I can get time to do so, he concludes
I would like to encourage my colleagues to work hard and generally being independent. I would also like to advise them to participate in the marathons because it helps to keep body fit and refreshes mind.
