Gaborone Half Marathon (Oct 30)

The Running Club organized a fantastic half-marathon for about 100 runners that started at Game City and went for 2 loops around the area. The race, which started only 15 minutes late, was a very flat, fast course, with only a little bit of off-road running and lots of water stops. The only obstacle was a cow blocking one of the dirt paths, but nobody could have done about that as the cows and goats have free reign of the Botswana streets. Although there were some speedy runners there from Zim and SA, the winners were Batswana! Go Botswana! Tiyapo Mosa was also there, placing 8^th for men overall. The women’s winning time was 82 minutes (I’m unsure of the men’s time). My time was 114 minutes- not anywhere near the winner, but I was fairly happy with the run.

There were at least a dozen runners without shoes, who would really appreciate an old pair of shoes, as the roads had glass, sharp rocks, and are really hot. I gave an old, muddy pair away and they were very much appreciated. If you have old sports shoes (they don’t have to be running shoes- some people were running in Keds), please send them to the following address and I will get them to the running club: Attn: Melissa Ketunuti, Private Bag 320, Gaborone, Botswana.

I realize that this sounds like a scam, but what am I going to do with a pile of old running shoes?