Crossing the finishing line

Well, that's the end of my adventure in The Gambia. I've returned home, and am now doing my best to reintegrate into life in the UK. In many ways it's good to be back - back with my friends and family, back in a culture that I can understand and more fully connect to. However, it was a privilege to be invited into a completely different world. The many challenges I faced, whilst often being difficult, did add colour to life!

The Brufut Half Marathon - My last day in The Gambia was coincidentally the day of the big race, the Brufut Half Marathon. I'd been training for the last few months, braving the heat (and the bemused stares!) of the big city. Finally, the day had come. I was quite nervous, wondering how I'd cope over the 13.1 miles, and wondering how well organised the event would be (would we get the much needed water stops along the way?). Arriving at an obscure location on the outskirts of the city, true to form the only people who had arrived before the scheduled start time were the foreigners. Gambians, it would be fair to say, have a more relaxed attitude to time. I should have known that getting to the start time at the stated hour would be a mistake, but I was caught in the situation of wondering "will this be the one time when everyone is on time, and I get left behind?". After an hour waiting, the thirty participants had arrived, and we were ready for the off...


Thus, one of the toughest two hours of running I had done began. I say toughest, as I struggled at various points. The heat was tough. However, worst of all was the lack of participants, together with the lack of a clear route - after the first ten minutes each racer had spread out. Now I was on my own, with no real idea of where I should be running, what speed I was doing, or how far I had run (there were also no distance markers). I also had to stay out of the way of moving cars, as many of the roads were kept open to the busy traffic. All a bit crazy, but part of the experience too!


The loneliness of the long distance runner was broken at various points along the route, with local people fascinated to see a "toubab" running along the streets. As nice as this was, feedback from the locals was not always encouraging! "Come on, you're losing!" or "you can do better! Try, try, try - you're not as quick as the others!". After running over 10 miles in +35C, this was not the best way of motivating me!


Doing my best to focus on getting to the end, I finally saw the welcome sign of Brufut, the village where the race was due to end. Yet I had not counted on experiencing the final hurdle - the last mile of the race was on Brufut's sandy paths... Racing the last mile is always tough, but having to suddenly change from concrete paths to deep sand was almost unbearable! I must admit I did part of the last mile half-running half-walking! It was such a relief to reach the finishing line, and the thought that I had not just finished the race, but also my time in The Gambia certainly crossed my mind. Plenty of challenges along the way, plenty of things I was not used to, but I managed to get to the end. 


As many of you may remember, I signed up for the race to raise money for various charities. A very big THANK YOU to all of you who donated, that's really kind of you. I was very touched by your generosity! If you have yet to donate, but would like to, feel free to visit my fundraising page. 


A marathon race to the airport - being the ambitious type of person I am(!), I ran the half marathon the same day as my flight back to the UK. I had a good 10 hours between the race and the flight, but nevertheless was glad that I finished the half marathon in one piece, fully able to carry heavy luggage! Arriving at the airport, I had a strange mix of emotions. I was very glad to be getting back to my family and friends, and getting away from some of the problems I faced in The Gambia. However, I couldn't help reflecting that I wished things had gone differently out here. "C'est la vie", I guess every experience in life is something one can learn from.


I'm now back at home, trying my best to find a job. This is the downside to international work - it often takes a while to get back into work again. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me, hopefully I'll find something soon... I hope all of you are well and that 2012 has been kind to you so far. Love and many best wishes from the UK,


Robert