Tonight I ran with Masai warriors..
Brought my running stuff with only hopes of getting in a few runs but I had promised the Mr. no adrenaline runs that included me and a lion, hyena etc. As it turned out, our safari guide, Doug, is a runner and he arranged this special run.
Attached below are a few quick snaps enroute and post run.
The pictures don’t show it but Masai wear shoes made from re-purposed motorcycle tires, somehow rigged with straps. And I should clarify, they don’t run, they float.
After quick introductions we got underway, Cheryl up front, Katie and I hanging in there. The Mr. ran with our safari guide. The Mr. is not stupid, he knew who was carrying a gun.
I’ve run in many places on this planet, but never with zebra and wildebeest grazing, elephants trumpeting, and a guide with a spear, surreal to say the least. We had talked loosely about how far we would run, wouldn’t a 5K be great, “we” being the English speaking idiots, but certainly no communication to our guides in Swahili or better yet the Masai language. Lots of smiles and bows at the outset (yup me bowing, where was I Asia suddenly?)
Sometimes the lost in translation conversations lead to the most hilarious travel stories, but for an out of shape runner, this disconnect on distance had shades of train wreck written all over it. I had a general idea of where we were and where our camp was, but at mile 4, we had made no move to circle back. I looked over at Katie and her face read my sentiment…what the what??!!
I grunted some noise of “yo”and one of the human clouds floated back to me. “How far are we planning on going my friend?” He smiled and we kept running. At 5.5M, we saw salvation in the distance, a jeep. Cheryl sprinted to the jeep, not missing a chance to say she had dueled with a Masai.
Katie’s “Aunt Chris I don’t think that is a jeep” comment was lost on me as I dreamed of a shower and cocktail. And indeed 19 year old eyes are far better than 50+ year old eyes. The “jeep” was 3 old barrels. In fact we were at an old airstrip and that vast cool feeling when we arrived by plane, suddenly had the holy shit we are in the middle of a nowhere feeling. My only salvation was Katie…I knew her mother would not let us be gone for too long before she sent the National Guard.
At this point I went into pantomime mode, “is a jeep (hands outstretched at 10 and 2, gripping a steering wheel) picking us up?” Smiles from Masai man. And then more pointed, “what’s the plan here man?” “We run back.” In my head I am screaming wtf, but at the same time, cursing myself for blithely jumping in and not cementing the details. Also wanted to be upbeat for Katie who had no plan to run more than 2M, 3 at most. We were staring at a run back that included hills. Cheryl is a beast, fit for days, I knew she was up for the task at hand.
Nothing to it, but to do it. Sunset is upon us, lets not waste time. And we started back.
About a 1/4 mile up the road, “Aunt Chris, I think that is a jeep”. And sure enough it was. Cheryl and Katie blazed toward it, this old gal was d-o-n-e, and ambled in. Reaching the jeep, my Masai friend had a devilish smile that would make a leprechaun jealous. Between English-Swahali-Masai, he knew exactly what was going on and had a fun time at my expense. I punched him and his buddy and they laughed out loud. Truth be told, even if we had run back, I would have felt safe. The Masai know their land and their animals. They would have kept us safe. Would love to hear the story being told in their village…yea so this one old white lady who shook the ground with every stride…
A running experience of a lifetime.
On we go.
Hope to see you along the way.
