The Ondangwa 10K

This morning we ran in the Ondangwa 5km/10km Fun Race sponsored by Beaver Canoe Canada (that's actually an exclusive clothing store in Namibia!). There were several hundred people running, most of them school children running the 5km fun run. Many of these kids, having no idea how far 5km was, sprinted the first 200 metres and then slowed to a walk for the rest of the race. The race was free for them and they got a free hat, T-shirt, and a coke. They were thrilled.

In the 10km race, there were only about 20 of us. They ranged from dedicated athletes to teenage boys in good shape to two white foreigners (that would be us). The elite athletes sprinted off ahead of us and probably would compete very well in the TC 10K at home. One of the girls had no shoes and still finished in under 40 minutes. Chloe and I plodded along near the back. We passed a few people near the end but they then disappeared and did not finish the race, so we continued to pull up the rear. However, I now have my souvenir T-shirt from a race that cost less than 1 Canadian dollar.

We talked to the race coordinator afterwards and told him we were from Canada. He mentioned that he went to Victoria for the Commonwealth Games in 1994. It was the first time that Namibia competed as a nation. Cool!