The Kenya Edition

The Real Running "Staff" at the Equator

Once a year Real Running relocates its offices to Kenya for some service work and a little vacation that includes running on the famed red dirt roads that have brought the world so many of the great distance runners. On any list of running destinations, Kenya must be near the top, and there is no doubt that staining a pair of shoes with red dirt is a magical experience.

Arriving in Nairobi it is easy to wonder how anyone runs here at all. The streets are impossibly crowded, diesel exhaust chokes out the sun, and there doesn’t seem to be a sidewalk or path to be found anywhere. And indeed, if you see someone running in Nairobi, they are likely being chased.

So a running tourist in Kenya is best served by getting out of town as soon as possible after visiting the few requisite museums and attractions Nairobi offers.

Boys in Cura Showing Off Their Football Skills

Kenyan distance runners come from the villages and towns in the interior and west of Kenya, where the traffic is a mix of livestock and bicycles and the air is gloriously clean. Those of us here at Real Running work with a school and orphanage in a village called Cura (shooruh) near Wangige. It is only a 30 minute drive out of Nairobi but it feels like a completely different country. It is out here that you can imagine runners training and logging serious miles. The dirt roads wind through maize plantations and banana farms. Goats keep the grass and weeds at bay, and every corner has a small kiosk where you can buy a bottle of water or a cold Coke. Everyone waves, and the local boys invariably fall into line to run with you, barefoot and smiling.

Running in Kenya is a beautiful, surreal experience, and make no mistake: it’s hard. Most of the interior of the country is above 4500 feet, and the roads are rough, twisty, and steep. In places even the main roads feel more like mountain trails, and if you happen to be here after a rain, the red dirt turns to a mud that surely has some industrial application as a lubricant and sealant.

For a very different experience, head out to the coast. Malindi is a totally runable city on the Indian Ocean, with wide streets and a beach that seems to go on forever. There is nothing at all disappointing about running barefoot at the water’s edge with the local beach boys hollering and running with you.

Of course, it’s not all good news and happiness here. Most schools in the country have little, if any, formal physical education programs. Many children and malnourished and sleep-deprived. The streets of Nairobi are dangerous. And let’s not forget the wild animals.

On a recent visit to the Masai Mara for a game drive, I marveled at the single track trails and beautiful landscape, and I asked the camp director – a Brit who was himself a runner – about joining him for a morning run. He casually reminded me that to a lion, a running human looks like great sport and can quickly become breakfast, and informed me that their insurance policy expressly forbid any such activity. Watching a lion take down a zebra the next day sealed it for me. No running on safari.

As a parting gift, and as I prepare to put my running shoes away, I thought I’d leave you with a few things I have learned here over the last couple of visits:

• The treadmills in the hotels here are set to kilometers. Duh. But it took me about 45 minutes to figure this out. For a while there I thought I was a running superstar as the “miles” clicked by.
• You need not know any Swahili to get by in Kenya, as seemingly everyone speaks at least a little English. However, if you are white you should at least get used to hearing kids yell “Mzungu! Mzungu!” as you run through towns. Don’t worry, they’re just calling you a white person. No offense. Also, a quick “Jambo!” with a wave of the hand is a friendly hello. That’s about all you need to know about Swahili.
• Don’t bring shoes you intend to keep. They will be ruined before you leave.
• When running on the streets, note that traffic runs the opposite direction as at home. I know you know this, but it is easy to forget at 6:00 a.m. on the opposite side of the planet.
• Observe the rules of right of way: trucks have right of way over everything. Cows have right of way over cars and humans. Goats have right of way over people. Chickens have no right of way.

Our purpose for traveling here is not pure recreation, I should note. We are seriously committed to our work with the children at Cura and other issues related to this glorious country. Please visit the links below for more information about Cura, our trips to Kenya, how you can get involved, and several Africa-related running charities that could use your support.

Cura Orphanage http://curaorphanage.org/Cura_Orphanage/Welcome.html 

Shoe 4 Africa http://www.shoe4africa.org/

Asante Sana. Thank you.

See you back in the states!