Early on Saturday morning, Rose followed Thabiti, who was driving one of the lodge’s safari vehicles, between vertical banners proclaiming the Lewa Marathon. Thabiti was directed to the competitors’ car park, and an official flagged Rose down.
She opened the window and said, “My husband is disabled. Is there anywhere closer we can park?”
The official ducked down and looked into the car at her and Craig before tearing off a blue ticket. “Here, put this under your windscreen. Continue until you reach Dormans’ coffee van. Then turn left and follow a track which will take you up beyond the start to the first water stop.”
Rose crawled along in the dim light. Her arthritic fingers were sore and throbbed from the effort of winding the window and clutching the steering wheel in the chill early morning. She leant forward, peering out of the windscreen as she tried to make sure she didn’t knock down one of the competitors as they made their way to the start.
She turned left and picked up speed as the number of people dwindled. She found a flat area to park and turned the car so they had a good view of the starting line, which was marked by a large overhead banner. The competitors would run along the brown soil track in front of them, which wound its way up a hill and away into Lewa Conservancy.
Craig looked around and said, “This is perfect. I can see what’s going on without being bothered by people or jostled by the crowd. Do you want to go and see who’s taking part?”
She turned to him, “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. Can you pour me a cup of coffee first? And then you can tell me who you saw when you get back.”
Rose prepared Craig’s coffee and arranged a green woollen rug over his legs.
She wandered back down the track and picked her way across the dry bamboo grass towards the competitors.
The first group she came across were some of her fellow East African Women’s League members who were all over sixty. They greeted her warmly as they bounced up and down on the soles of their feet, which she suspected was to keep them warm rather than being in preparation for the marathon ahead.
The crowd parted as a group of fit looking men and women, wearing khaki green t-shirts, marched towards the start line and the front of the crowd of runners. They were the British army team from BATUK, and Rose spotted Chris amongst them. As if he could feel her gaze, he turned and smiled at her. She mouthed “Good luck.”
The next group she met were a shivering bunch of African runners from one of the local flower farms. She knew some of them by sight, as she visited the farm regularly to check the health and welfare of the security dogs. She called, “Bahati njema,” to them.
They responded with, “Asanti, Mama Rose.”
At the far side of the assembled runners, standing at the back, were Marina, Robert and Nina.
Nina shivered and rubbed her hands down her bare arms. Over a black t-shirt she wore a distinctive pink vest which announced, ‘Breast Cancer Awareness’.
Rose presumed the figure standing apart from the group, wearing a black beanie hat on his bowed head, was Thabiti.
“Good luck, Thabiti. And enjoy your walk,” called Chloe as she jogged past him and joined Rose, Marina, Robert and Nina.
Robert’s eyes ran their way up and down Chloe and he leaned back, smiling in satisfaction. She wore a distinctive pink and light blue top with ‘Baby Loss Awareness’ written across it, and number ‘487’ in large black lettering stuck to her back.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Chloe looked around the burgeoning crowd of runners, but her eyes were dull and she picked at her running top.
“Where’s Dan?” Rose asked.
Chloe continued to fiddle with her top. “He wanted to run with his army mates.”
Marina engulfed her in a brief hug. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Go out and show him how good you are, girl.”
Chloe’s lips began to curl upwards into a faint smile. She touched Marina on the arm and said, “Thanks, I will.”
The two young women maintained eye contact and Marina stated simply, “Good luck”.
“And you,” responded Chloe as she turned to look at Thabiti, who was kicking at a kei apple bush. “And I’m sure he’ll be fine once you set off.”
Marina raised her eyes to the sky and shook her head. “He’s been complaining all morning.”
“I’m going to try to get a spot closer to the start,” Chloe stated. “But I’ll wait for you both at the finishing line. Bye, Rose,” she called as she threaded her way through the other runners who were also beginning to surge towards the starting line.
“Come on,” said Robert, grabbing Nina’s arm. He pulled her after Chloe, but their way was soon barred by the sheer number of people. Rose watched Robert raise his head and peer around as if trying to find an alternative route. He stopped and stared at someone or something.
Rose followed the direction of his gaze and thought she spotted the brunette head of the lady who’d flown in from Lewa, when they were lunching at Barney’s, but the figure vanished and she couldn’t be sure.
Thabiti slouched towards them. “This is so embarrassing. My time on the finishing board will be so slow compared with everyone else,” he moaned.
Rose pursed her lips. “How do they time everyone? Do they use safari clocks? It must be difficult at the finishing line if groups of competitors run through together.”
Thabiti looked up. “They only use stopwatches to check the winners of the elite races. Nowadays the timing is automated and done by transponder chips.”
He tore off his paper number, turned it over and pointed at a second piece of paper on the reverse side. “See that length of white plastic?”
Rose nodded as she spotted an inch long piece of translucent plastic, attached to the paper, with a bar code beneath it.
“That’s a passive transponder, and it sends a unique code that is detected by radio receivers. I’m not sure if there is a receiver at the start or if we are all given the same starting time. But at the end it will tell the judges how long it has taken to complete the course. And that is the competitor’s finishing time.”
He handed his number to Marina. “Can you stick this back on for me?”
“Welcome, everyone,” a male voice boomed, and they turned to listen to a middle-aged man, standing on a platform next to the start. “Are there any more elite runners? You have numbers with a red background.”
Rose saw the sea of runners sway and presumed people were pushing their way to the front.
The man with the microphone spoke again. “Watch the clock. Only one more minute to go.” A large digital clock attached to the banner counted down.
The man shouted, “Ten, nine, eight.”
Rose felt the tension amongst the competitors.
Marina grabbed Thabiti’s arm. “Let’s go.” She called over her shoulder to Rose, “See you at the finish.”
Rose’s reply of “Enjoy yourselves” was lost in the shouts and cries from the runners as the man shouted “GO”.
Rose followed the final competitors as they streamed towards the starting line. She looked up the track which was packed with runners and reminded her of the siafu ants they had found on their bush walk. She felt weary and her gnarled fingers ached. It wasn’t that long ago, was it, that she would have been out there, relishing the challenge of the marathon.
“Mama Rose,” a voice called.
She turned as a giant of an African man sauntered towards her. He was surprisingly light on his feet, considering his size. She recognised her friend, Sam Mwamba, an officer of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) member of the Elite Kenyan Anti-poaching unit. He had the unerring habit of appearing whenever there was trouble.
Sam cocked his head to one side. “What’s up? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
She realised she was scowling. “Sorry, Sam, of course I am. I’m just concerned that your appearance is a warning of perils ahead.”
Sam laughed. “Surely not. I’m just helping with the technical side of the marathon. What about you? Are you on your own?”
“Craig’s with me, but he’s struggling to get around at the moment. I parked the car up there so he could watch the start.” She turned and pointed towards the lone Subaru. “We’re staying with Marina and Thabiti at the new lodge they’re managing on Borana. The owners cried off from the marathon, but they offered their places to Marina and Thabiti. So I came to wish them luck.”
Sam placed his hands on his hips and grinned. “I thought I spotted Thabiti hiding under a beanie cap. And I saw your friend Chloe begin with a determined expression on her face. Did you bump into Judy before the start?”
Rose’s mind went blank.
“Judy. Constable Wachira?” Sam repeated.
“Oh, your Judy.”
Sam shuffled his feet.
“No. I didn’t. Is she running the half marathon?”
Sam pinned his shoulders back and smiled proudly. “She’s running the full marathon with some colleagues of mine from the KWS.”
Rose started. “Wow, that’s quite an undertaking. I hope she’ll be OK.”
“She’ll be just fine. She’s a competent runner, and she’s fit and determined. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check my equipment at the finishing line.”