Lambarene 10K

I have never regretted forgetting my camera more than I did yesterday morning. Today is the celebration of 50 years of independence for Gabon. There already has been drinking and carousing and there will be much more celebrating today. As part of the festivities, the mayor's office organized a 10K (approximately 10K, no one knows the real distance) road race yesterday morning. My roommate found out about it and invited me to come along with her. Oh the scene of it all! We took a taxi out to a police checkpoint outside Lambarene where we found about 40 people milling about with their tiny and brightly colored running ensembles. And oh the footwear! Most people were running in plastic sandals called jellies or barefoot. I could not believe it! As we lined up for the start I wished so badly that I had not left my camera back at the house. It was too incredible of a scene with all the young lithe men in jellies and tiny Gabon emblazoned singlets. There were three women besides me and my roommate to run as well. The first was a young woman who competes in track in Libreville the capital city. She was tiny and fast and beat us all handily. The second was a high school aged girl who ran in, yes, jellies, and had incredible blisters at the end of the race, but still beat me. Elise edged her out for second though. The final woman was about 50 years old and a total ham. I loved her esprit. As we wound through the different neighborhoods of Lambarene people all came out to the road to cheer for us and yell “bon courage”. I laughed with a lot of the people because I get really red when I run, which was a hilarious sight to them. Little kids ran with me, teenage boys ran with me, and at the end this super fast guy doubled back to run with me and coach me to the finish. It was very cool and felt a little like running a marathon in the US except it was tropical weather, there were no water stations, and government officials waited at the finish line here to clap for us. There was a trophy presentation ceremony at the end, and I got the “esprit de competition” trophy, which cracked me up. I think the race officials felt bad because Elise had won a 2nd place trophy and I won nothing. It also reminds me of how I always won spirit awards in high school athletics. At least if I'm not the best, than I have a good time with the competition! Once again, the internet is too slow to load pics, but Elise and I took a bunch of photos with our winnings after the race when we got back home. I'll post when I can. What a hilarious time though. Later today we'll head into town to watch the parade and celebration of Independence. A toute a l'heure mes amis!