Running in the New Year

Happy 2010! I hope you all rang in the New Year with friends & family around the globe.

I celebrated the New Year by participating in a track competition on Jan 2^nd, organized by the local track club. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, I am not a track athlete. I enjoy jogging up and down forested paths along riversides, going on long wandering runs through the hills and mountains, I run to keep in shape for other team sports; but running for competition has never been my thing. Nevertheless, I am in a country where any form of exercise seems to qualify as a spectator-sport, and so my weekly jogging at the local stadium has earned me the label of an “aspiring track athlete”, or perhaps the label of “silly-white-girl-clearly-delusional-about-her-fitness-and-speed” would be more accurate.

The other people running around the track actually are athletes; members of the local or national track team, premier division soccer players, high school track stars, etc.

The various track coaches and veteran athletes are constantly giving me very helpful tips on my running style (or lack thereof), and I do appreciate it, but I always feel bad because I think they are hoping that my technique will actually improve and that I’ll become faster at some point. I know the truth; that I will never be able to run like a deer or a cheetah, and I’m ok with that.

Back to the January 2^nd track meet; while I do NOT aspire to become the first Canadian member of Benin’s National Track team, I do have many friends here in Parakou who already compete at an international level or are aspiring young athletes hoping to make the National team. Other than premier level men’s soccer, sports in northern Benin do not receive much support or publicity, and it is difficult to organize competitions because of the lack of local interest or support. As a coach of girls’ soccer here in Parakou, I sympathize with the track clubs, and I do my best to participate in and support any efforts to encourage local competition, whether it is in track events, volleyball, soccer, or even rugby. So when my friend, a retired track athlete, invited me to support and participate in this small track meet, I happily signed up, knowing that I would suffer a likely embarrassing defeat as I would be racing against adults and youth who actually TRAIN as runners, not to mention that most of the athletes here seem genetically predisposed to run with the speed and grace of gazelles (and often barefoot)!

I signed up for the women’s 3000 meter race, thinking that over a greater distance my lack of speed would be less obvious. As the race official called out the names of my fellow competitors, it became clear that I would not be able to escape a humiliating loss. There were only three of us participating in the race, and I recognized the other two girls as proper athletes who seem to run without ever breaking a sweat, or breathing for that matter. On the upside, I knew that I was shoe-in for the bronze medal...

3000 meters is not very far, it is 3 kilometers, less than two miles, only 7.5 laps of the track. However, as I tried to match the pace set by my fellow runners, it suddenly felt like an impossibly far distance, especially at 7:30am on a Saturday morning. I finished the race, a full 200 meters behind the other two girls, and while I was more than happy just to still be standing and breathing (or wheezing); I could see that my track coaches were less than impressed with my performance. My goal was to not let the other girls lap me, and in that much, I succeeded, so goal accomplished. J

(Note that I represented Niger in the race.)

Thankfully my race was the first event and then I got to enjoy the rest of the competition, acting as the official photographer.

The competition wrapped up with an official awards ceremony, complete with a podium for the top three runners from each event. I was pleasantly surprised to be awarded with the 3^rd place (bronze) prize, presented in a “Just Say YES” bag promoting a brand of cigarettes. Hm... I can't imagine that a similar campaign would be very popular in your typical sports events in North America. The prizes were very modest and simple (cookies, macaroni noodles, and OMO laundry soap), but they were presented by various local sports officials and celebrities (myself included), complete with official speeches of recognition and so on.

(I represented Calgary, Canada on the podium - and had to explain that no, it is not close to Quebec...)

I don’t expect to be qualifying for any National level track meets this year, but it was still fun to participate in the first track meet of the decade here in Parakou. I hope that this year will include many more photos and stories of similar sports tournaments and competitions, as we gain additional local support and interest. If I continue to choose my races carefully, maybe I'll even win a few more "medals" - trick is to compete in races with three or less participants... ;)