Today started with the the usual excitement of a 5am wake up call and discovering your dream of having new legs hadn't really happened!!! So after a quick wash we left the accommodation at 5.25am and retraced our extra km's we ran the previous day... We were so keen to "enjoy" the hills on the route we started running early at 5.58am... The first 10km was tough and was a roller coaster of hills which required some deep heat on the sore legs and a few bottles of Rwenzori water to recover. We were joined after 10km by the volunteers of Jinja branch and Greg "no pain" Harrand put it a good second leg.
During this leg we entered Jinja with our escort of police and Red Cross support, which took us to the Jinja branch office and a brief function. The events at Jinja the previous year was a highlight of the 2009 project and even though the event was only brief, the branch was well organised as always. We had some speeches from the Vice Chairman (a very wise and long serving Red Cross volunteer who is a true inspiration to us all), the branch representatives and all the runners...
The Jinja branch has a good feeling to it and is a branch that will always deliver 100% effort to every project. As we left the branch office we all ran together over the River Nile and gathered at the Nile Brewery, where the local volunteers ran one of their first aid and road safety sessions with the local community and buda buda riders.
As we left the brewery we realised that the next 30km of the day will be very tough with the hills of the Maberia forest. As we travelled through the rolling hills of the tea and sugar cane plantations the weather warmed up for us and allowed us to feel the harsh heat of Uganda. The hills of the forest pushed us very hard and we need to motivate ourselves with positive thoughts to get us through. The support from the local Red Cross volunteers and police was excellent and we wouldn't have been able to achieve the run safely if it wasn't for them... "Thank you so much"...
As we ran up the final hill to the trading centre (our finishing point for the day) we met the roast chicken and fruit sellers who have come to know us so well over the years and are so impressed with our efforts. After a celebrational roast goat on a stick, we left for our accommodation for the night "The Rainforest Lodge" which GEOlodges Africa and Emily have supported us with. As the jeep followed the track in the forest, I got out of the jeep and decided to walk the 2km to the lodge and reflect on our achievements. The sore blisters suddenly disappered and I realised that our efforts were very good but nothing compared to the amazing volunteers in the branches who had trained and educated thousands of people in the community and will save so many lives.
Tomorrow will be our big push to Kampala and will leave us with only 10km on Monday and the end function.
1 comments:
Hi all your blog is really insperational it's amazing what you have achieved it's been really interesting reading your blog everyday and seeing how you are getting on also great pictures you are all amazing and well done goodluck on the final push and I hope your feet are holding up wend x
Post a Comment