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Monday, September 26, 2011

Weekend BBQ, world-class athletes and a mountain road

On our first weekend in Kenya, Sue and Nico had returned from their holiday, a Canadian lady connected to the mine's head-office visited the valley, so we had a BBQ at the guest house on Saturday night.

The next morning, Grant and I took the lady back to the airport in Eldoret. Along the mountain road, we passed many athletes doing their training. The runner below was pounding the road at such a pace, once Grant overtook him and I and the visitor got out of the vehicle to take photos, he was already overtaking us!  
Cross-country runners train by being taken down the mountain in a truck and dropped just before the boom gate at the mine entrance. They then run up the tortuous route - 24 kms of rutted gravel road - to the tarred road leading to Eldoret. Then they pound the tarred road (about 40kms) to Eldoret.
Watching the ease with which these runners lope along, it's no wonder they are top winners in the Olympics

After dropping the visitor at Eldoret International Airport, we drove back to the town to find a road race taking place in town. Like their counterparts running along the dirt roads of Kenya, these athletes are also pure running machines. Eldoret, which is 2700m above sea level has a number of athlete training academies.

Waiting at an intersection for the runners to pass, I managed to get a number of action photos.


Note how the runner is off the ground


Another runner I managed to capture in mid-air

While we were in town, we did our monthly shopping. And of course, afterwards, we had to do the trip down the mountain again. Not on foot, thank goodness, but in an air-conditioned 4x4 vehicle.

Although I've been up and down this road a number of times this year, I never noticed the funny notice at the top of the mountain until yesterday!

Meandering sloppy road!
 
This is a meme I post for called What did you do this weekend, hosted by Gattina of Writer Cramps. She has such an interesting blog, so do pop in there and visit her.

A wonderful week to you all!

9 comments:

  1. When I hear there is a Kenyan runner competing in a marathon, I always think...'that person will be the winner'. How exciting that you get to see them train!

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  2. It's amazing to me the prowess of Kenya's runners. There are many excellent runners from Kenya. They win races all around the world and they are well known for their strict running regimen and disciplined practise.

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  3. The blacks are always the best (or nearly) in all sports ! We whites are stiff against them, lol !
    In the different football teams there are more and more black people even in the Belgian group !
    This road must be a nightmare !

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  4. HOw wonderful to see these athletes in training JO. Now I can see why these Kenyan men always win, they have the best training for the marathon. You got them so well on the photo's.
    YOu asked if we were near Spain. We are in the very north east of Spain for our holidays, just over the border with France. It is the Spanish Pyrenees.INdeed beautiful country.
    Have a nice day
    Riet

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  5. Those runners are something else. What a thrill to see them training. Thanks for the pikkies.
    Sorry I have not been around much lately but he worry over my sister combined with the surprise of my son and family flying in for my birthday, took up all my time.
    Things will settle down again sometime when my sister is out of danger and I will again be able to enjoy your posts with regularity.

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  6. Jo, it must have been neat to see the runners in training. They are fast and seem to do very well in the marathons. Cool mid air photos, I am glad you had a great weekend!

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  7. I wonder why it is that there are such great Kenyan runners. Must be something to do with their life style and the way they are built. Diane

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  8. Hi There, I'm back after a few weeks off from blogging. Hope you are doing okay. I have missed all of my blogging friends --but needed that break!

    I have missed you--and your gorgeous photos from Africa.. I'll try to catch up with some of them soon.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. The road might be sloppy, but the runners aren't.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo