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The 23rd edition of the annual Lewa Safari Marathon
went down on June 25, 2022, attracting 1,200 participants from 20 countries. There
were professional athletes, the calibre that goes for world Championships,
amateur runners and hundreds of participants eager to tick off this bucket-list
activity off their lists. While the runners are obviously the main act of the
event, I belonged in that other category of unique participants: the spectators.
Since marathons start at the crack of dawn, we all
arrived at the Lewa Wildlife Conversancy on Friday, a day before D-day. The
drive from the main gate of the conservancy to the camping and activity area
was quite serene, with sightings of some wildlife winding down their day- the antelopes
and zebras probably wondering why there were suddenly so many humans passing
by. The buffaloes, well, they seemed a tad bit rattled.
At the camping arena, the mood was just as tranquil. If people were not strolling, they were lounging in the mess area or sitting outside their tents, lazing the afternoon away. It was the perfect ‘the calm before the storm’.
The evening was for briefings for the following day, detailing the order of events and the time allocations. At these briefings were the CEO of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mike Watson and Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO. Safaricom has been associated with the marathon as a sponsor for two decades and was joined this year by Huawei, TetraPak and KBL. After the briefings, everyone went back to the ol’ merry mood before retreating to their quarters for the night since a good rest is an essential before going for a marathon.
June 25, 2022: Let’s Hit the Road
Breakfast was served early in the morning and by 7am everybody was trotting, jogging, or sprinting to the marathon's starting point, with the marathon set to kick off at 7.30am. The mood was a sharp contrast to the previous day’s easiness. There was sense of urgency amidst the dawn chill, and a bit of anxiety. If you were keen too, you could also catch a bit of excitement.
There were four categories: the 42km full marathon, 21km half-marathon, 5km family marathon and the 10km corporate marathon. While the full marathon was largely the preserve of the pros, most other marathoners put their best foot forward for the half-marathon.
Before the races, Watson could be seen hovering above in his helicopter to give an all-clear. Then off went the first starter pistol for the excited children who took off energetically for the 5km race. Probably not aware of how long five kilometres is, they happily sprinted their legs off towards that unwelcome realisation. The full and half marathons followed soon after as hundreds of people heaved off in one sweep from the starting point. The corporate marathon category was last off the blocks and had the fewest participants.
Along with other spectators and cameramen, we got into our ride of the day, a majestic truck driven by Kaelo Jonathan, himself an award-winning wildlife photographer. We followed the laid-out spectator route that was punctuated by various vintage stop-points. Here we would alight and cheer on the runners, take in what was going on and, for posterity, take pictures and videos before moving on. Along the way we sighted some more animals, after all Lewa Marathon is all about running in the wild.
Above all, the goal of the marathon is to raise money to fund the conservation of wildlife at Lewa, in an effort that brings in and focuses on the development of the local community too.
By now the morning chill had given way to the sun, but the runners wore the face of determination even as the sweltering heat made it a little harder for them to keep going.
Thankfully, along the way, TetraPak had come through with enough water to go around and keep everyone refreshed and hydrated. It is good for your health to stay hydrated during a marathon.
Of course, the first people to get to the finish line were us, the spectators. Having covered the spectator route, our truck was now parked as we waited for the winners, and other participants, to start arriving.
The winner of the full marathon, which was the main event, was Peter Wahome. He touched the tape at 2hours and 24 minutes. Fridah Ledopa claimed the ladies' marathon with a time of 3hours and 2 minutes. Other marathoners started trickling in one after the other, and the last one wobbled across the finish line a little into the afternoon. The winners received their awards as people settled down, shielding from the sun and easiness into merriment.
The after-party hosted by Tusker Lite took place that evening from 5pm till midnight and DJ Protégé on the decks did not disappoint. The energy was unmatchable- I almost could not believe that those were the same people that had run for kilometres that morning.
The next morning, people had a leisurely breakfast.
Most of us were checking out- soon, it would be back to default settings and
nobody really yearned for that. Besides, Lewa is a really beautiful place. A
perfect getaway from the city and its air of busyness.