32 km/20km -5:30 hours - 3000 feet vertical
Samanga to Rongai, in the northwest part of Kilimanjaro
Today was an entirely different run than yesterday. In some ways it felt like we were in an entirely different region. After all the up and down yesterday over the various ridges we only had a few of those today which meant that much more of the route was runnable. As much as I love being in the mountains, I also really like to be able to run.
The first couple hours we continued to see many villages and many people. We ran through a lot of wide open growing fields. The openness offered a view towards the mountain, but the top was obscured in clouds most of the day. Looking the other direction, we had amazing views over the plains that stretch away from Mt Kilimanjaro, and on the mountains miles away.
The people we see are always so friendly. They come out from their houses to see us run by, sort of like at the Tour de France or something like that. Somehow they seemed to know we were coming. The would say Jamboree, which is hello I Swahili and we would respond with the same. The three Tanzanians would often say more. Several times yesterday and today we would have a crowd with use for a several miles, just tagging along. Sometimes it felt they were putting in no effort at all while we were running along.
We saw a lot of cabbage, maize, tobacco, avocado.
The second part of the day we started to get away from some of the villages so saw many fewer people. We ran through areas that are used for growing and harvesting trees. We would run through these amazing pine forests with a bed off pine needles on the forest floor which was so soft to run on.
Despite being a shorter day time wise, I definitely felt the distance and time running. It doesn't seem too hot here, but the sun and the warmth definitely affects me, that seems to be my biggest challenge so far.
The running is a little different as well - I've done perhaps a dozen runs of 20 miles or more this year, but none longer than about 3 and a half hours. Here we're stretching to 6 hours or more.
The other unusual aspect is we have no idea how far we've run or how far we have to go. We can estimate somewhat based on how long we've been running, but we still have to be prepared for a long day. I was expecting runs to be 4 or 5 hours, not 6 or 8, so I've had to adjust. It's just a different mental space.
The finish today was at Rongai. In fact where we finished we could see the sign for the border with Kenya. No big welcome today, just our own crew and runners offering each other much deserved congratulations and high fives. It was still a day to celebrate!
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