Written by Zanzibar intern, Faye Sherlock
After months of training, various equipment issues and our fair share of injuries (one resulting in our team mate Sarah having to drop out), three runners became two – Faye and Celeste, The Wazima Wazungus!
We started our marathon journey travelling from Zanzibar to Tanzania, then across to the beautiful Mwanza, also known as Rock City. Marathon day came soon enough, and at 3am our alarms went off telling us it was time to wake up and get on the road, starting our journey from Mwanza to the Serengeti National Park.
We arrived just as the sun was coming up, a stunning welcome to the renowned Serengeti National Park. We registered for the full marathon, much to the amusement of the registration person who assumed we’d be doing the 5K. Then all of us piled into buses and headed 4km into the park. You could feel the excitement as wildebeest and zebras galloped across the planes and we spotted a snake in a nearby tree.
The race got off to a shaky start, with arguments regarding the prize money, resulting in us starting two and a half hours late, not ideal with the sun quickly rising and the heat soaring. Our other running comrades taking on the 42km were from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and one American lady. The run itself was a once in a lifetime experience, despite the heat, the locals were out in force with a lot of them running alongside us for sections of the run, and I am thrilled to say that Celeste and I both completed it.
We are so excited to have raised $602 for one of The Happy Africa Foundations (THAF) focal projects in Zanzibar. The Education and Empowerment Fund is an initiative focused on experiential education through field trips and skills development workshops.
From all of us here are THAF and African Impact, especially Celeste and myself, we want to say a huge thank you for the incredible support and generosity from not only our family, friends and volunteers but also to the local businesses who supported us. A particularly grateful mention to Stephi from Migoz Supermarket for the kind donation, to Halais-Zanzibar for discount on our terrific t-shirts and to Fortes Africa for their invaluable hospitality in Mwanza, particularly with accommodation and transport over the marathon weekend.
We can’t wait to put this money to good use in the New Year, watch this space for updates! To donate to this project click here.
THANK YOU from the Wazima Wazungus!