A month ago it was announced by Rosa Associati Management that a 10k road race would be organized in Kapchorwa. The first version of the "Nike Discovery Uganda", supported by Jacob Kiplimo with the partnership of Nike and the Uganda Athletics Federation. Since we are already here in town at the same time, it is a race we must participate in and test ourselves against the locals. The total prize pool was 25 million UGX. Probably not something we'll get our hands on.
The day before the race we had to register ourselves for the race in Rosa's camp, which is located somewhere in Kapchorwa. We could not find any information about the address, so we had to ask around a bit before we found the location of the camp. At the registration we were told that the race would start at 8am the next morning, from the town's sports ground. Before the start of the race we had to pick up our race number.
On my way out on the 5th and last lap of the race.
We arrive about an hour before the start of the competition, and we meet a huge chaos of people wanting their race number. Queuing culture is not something that exists here. It wasn't long before the organizers decided that they would call out the names one by one. I couldn't wait to hear how they pronounce my last name Dewett.
Apparently there were several races to be held. It turned out that there would be a total of 6 classes that would start one after the other. Men and women separately in the U16, juniors and seniors classes. No one really knew what order it should be held in, so we had to hang around not to miss the start of our race. Some said seniors would be starting first, others said juniors first. A few minutes before the start at 8 am, fully warmed up, it turned out to be U16 women first. From here we did not know how the races will be run, so we tried to hang around the arena as much as possible.
In Rosas camp with Milos to registrer ourselves for the race.
The race
After the third warm-up, it was finally our turn. Race start for senior men was at 10.15. In direct sunshine and 26-27 degrees we had to run the 10k. The route consisted of 5 laps of 2km. The first km went slightly downhill to a narrow u-turn; not very nice in my Nike Alphafly 2. Then an easy climb before there was a steep climb up towards the end of the lap. About 20m of climb in total per lap. So close to 100m of climb for the whole race, which is something you feel at altitude with high intensity.
We were being called up to the front of the starting field, not sure why, maybe the organizers think it's interesting with mzungus in the starting field (Milos and I were the only ones). In any case, they took some pictures. I ran the first k in 2.50min, and I'm already behind the field - it's crazy. The front runners ran well under 2.35min on the first 1k.
Here together with Milos shortly after the finish of the race.
During the race I see many people dropping out, and especially in the last half I start to overtake several runners who where slowing down. I end up running 32.34min, while the winner runs 28.37. My final position was #42. So I'm 3.57min behind, which I'm pretty happy with in heavy training only on day 16 at altitude. At the finish I met Iacopo (Kiplimo's coach), and he told me that he has wheel measured the route.
The atmosphere during the race was one of the wildest I have experienced for a long time. The spectators were standing in layers all the way around the course. I would guess there were several thousand who came to watch, all locals in the area. Was constantly shouted "mzungu" all the way around. If I get the opportunity again, I will definitely prioritize running the race again!
Top 10.
