Marathon tourism: Travelling the world, to run and rubber-neck

If you live along Lang’ata Road or use it frequently, especially in the morning, you may have seen a lean woman jogging on a regular basis near Bomas of Kenya.

Sweat literally pouring from her forehead, she cuts the image of a professional athlete in action. But looks can be deceiving, for this woman, as we discovered last week, is a study in the unexpected.

Her name in Joyce Nduku, a mother of two and a nutrition field officer with the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Running is her other life, and, watching her heave and pant on Lang’ata Road, there is no mistaking that this is her other love as well. She has run in almost every major marathon in the world, not as a competitor, but as a participant. Or, if you may like, a sports tourist.

She started active running at the “tender age” of 53 in 2007, and for her 56th birthday she completed the 56-kilometre Ocean-to-Ocean ultra-marathon in South Africa. She runs 15 kilometres every day in preparation for world majors, and for her nothing beats the high of the wind on her face as her feet pound the earth.

Wherever.

Whenever.

Joyce may seem misplaced in the midst of the heavy Lang’ata traffic jam, but she is just one among a growing number of middle-aged Kenyans who have taken up marathon tourism as a pastime, and who regularly sponsor themselves to the world’s major running events.

CHASING CAREERS

A good number of them have never set foot on a racing track, having spent the better part of their lives chasing careers and watching over their families.

And now, most of them in their 40s and 50s, they, all of a sudden, have found a common interest in ‘running the world’... and having a great deal of fun while at it.

Joyce, for instance, has run two major global marathons since 2009. Her last race was the Nairobi Standard Chartered Marathon last month, which she completed despite a nagging tendon injury. Before then, she had been to Ndakaini, ran the Mater Heart Run, conquered the MTN Marathon in Uganda, raced on the foot of Africa’s tallest mountain in the Kilimanjaro Marathon, and sampled the delights of the US in the Chicago Marathon.

“At around 2007 when I started running I had a recurrent knee problem,” she says. “I thought the problem would blow up into something major like arthritis, but a medical colleague suggested running as a remedy for the ailment. And it worked!” That, to her, was the beginning of a journey that would take her around the world. She has never looked back, or slowed down, since.

Another recreational marathoner is Joseph Wang’endo, the executive director of Bloodlink Foundation.

About 10 years ago, he was a “regular Nairobi guy, stuck in traffic just like everyone else, eating nyama choma just like everyone else, taking elevators to first floor like everyone else, and worrying about lifestyle diseases just like everyone else”.

HIT THE ROAD

Then he decided to reorganise himself, and that reorganisation led him to the marathons of the world. In 2005, at the age of 44, Wang’endo decided to go for the 42-kilometre Standard Chartered full marathon but gave up at the 30-kilometre mark, too exhausted to continue.

He was unfit, he concluded, and so he hit the road like crazy, running between 12 and 15 kilometres every weekday morning and 21 kilometres on Saturday. The dedication worked, and a year later he crossed the finish line of the Nairobi marathon.

Now aged 52, Wang’endo splits his time between his office, his family and his jogs. His friends, most of whom play golf, cannot understand why a man his age would be testing his body on 42-kilometre courses, but he says the bug has bitten deep.

“I do it to keep fit,” he explains, “to see the country and the world, and for charity.”

The odd thing about Wang’endo is that he never thought of running before that morning in his 40s when he stepped out of his house and hit the road. He was never into sports all through his schooling, yet today marathons over the past 10 years have taken him to San Diego, New Orleans, Chicago, South Africa and all over Kenya.

'CLEAR MY HEAD'

Another runner, James Waliaula, has been athletic all his life. “I have always been active in sports throughout my life, playing basketball, rugby and doing a bit of swimming.

However, when I started working, it became difficult to find both time and facilities for active sports. I joined the gym to try and keep fit, focusing more on aerobics, but it was not as exciting because I am an outdoor person. So I started jogging once in a while to clear my head.”

His first marathon was the Lewa Half Marathon, and he swears those 21 kilometres were a painful experience for his 30-something body. But with trainings of up to 50 kilometres a week, he firmed his frame and has since been to several other marathons all over the world.

“I call myself a sports tourist because running has made me discover the world beyond my wildest dreams in the last two or so years,” he says. “In Kenya, and in the name of running, I have travelled to all the corners of the country and discovered places where no tour company will ever take you.”

More importantly, he says, he has become a better person because of running, which has improved his health in so many ways and got him more disciplined and emotionally strong.

“I weighed 115 kilogrammes a year ago and managed to cut my weight to 78 after only six months of modest running. The pastime has also introduced me to charity work.”

Sean Nowak, a 37-year-old American private equity firm executive officer based in Nairobi, joined the running group Urban Swaras to hone his skills and keep fit.

While he participated in track events while in college, he ran his first marathon in 2011, and today runs 100 kilometres a week.

His specialty is no longer the track events, but ultra-marathons, defined as anything above 42 kilometres. He has done the 160-kilometre Leadville marathon in Colorado, US, the 89-kilometre Comrades race in South Africa and the 56-kilometre Coast-to-Coast run, also in South Africa.

“I enjoy the physical challenge of doing long runs,” he says, “but there are other benefits too, both mentally and physically. Running helps me clear my mind and boost my creativity.”

Want to join the club? Run here...

A full marathon is a 42-kilometre race, but there are other races that can be made from it, such as the half-marathons, the 10-kilometre races, the five-kilometre events and such.

Below, some marathons and races in the country that you can take part in, most of them organised for charity or in support of a particular cause like blood donation, HIV or cancer awareness:

• Safaricom Lewa Marathon
• Maasai Mara Marathon
• Kisumu World AIDS day
• UNEP Marathon
• Kenya Highlands Race
• Amazing Maasai
• Ultra-marathon
• Tea Marathon
• Ndakaini Half Marathon
• Mwea Classic Marathon
• Standard Chartered Marathon
• Mater Heart Run
• Parklands Half Marathon
• Sokotoko Half Marathon

Some common marathons abroad

• MTN Marathon (Uganda)
• Kilimanjaro Marathon (Tz)
• Old Mutual Ocean-to-Ocean Marathon (South Africa)
• Leadville Ultra-Marathon (US)
• Comrades Ultra-Marathon (SA)
• Chicago Marathon (US)
• Boston Marathon(US)
• Paris Marathon (France)
• New York Marathon (US)
• San Diego Marathon (US)
• New Orleans Marathon (US)