Kathmandu 5k

The last time I ran a 5k was in college. The night before the 5k I busted my nose playing ultimate Frisbee in the middle of the night. The morning of the 5k I dawned a baseball cap in hopes of covering up my swollen nose and black eyes...fast forward 7yrs...

We were all surprised to hear that Kathmandu actually had a an "annual" 5k. A few of my friends decided it would be a fun experience and I agreed. The day before the 5k I wrecked my scooter providing some nice road rash on the left side of my body. I was however still determined to run the 5k so the morning of the race I bandaged up my wounds, took 2 extra strength tylenol and headed out.

The race started at the national stadium. The participants were an interesting mix of Nepalese and foreigners. For the 5k event my friends and I were the only foreign women running. Everyone was excited thus making the 5am wake up call much more bearable.

Kristin was a 5k virgin and had surfed the web the night before to get running tips and make a runners play list for her i-Pod.

Summer had run a 5k before but came a little over prepared. We all had a good laugh as she pinned a map of the race to her shirt just incase she, the one white woman amongst 500 Nepali runners, got lost.

Carol was there for the same reason I was...the experience and because everyone else was doing it.

When the race started it was crazy to be running down the blocked off streets that were usually packed with busses, cars, motorcycles, and bikes. At times you had to run around cows, mysterious puddles, and garbage piles. My goal was to just keep running. I did not care so much about speed I just knew I did not want to walk as I always end up doing on the tred mill.

As I neared the end of the race there were locals applauding and encouraging us to finish strong. They yelled out your time in Nepali so I think I know how fast I was.

Once all my friends arrived at the finish line we headed over the the water station. There were no cups, just communal pitchers. So we Nepali styled it and drank it by pouring the water into our mouths never letting it touch our lips.

The event as a whole was fun yet a little bazar. Nepal's pollution and congested streets do not lend itself to the ideal location for a race. If anything it was fun getting to experience it all with some good friends.

I hope to run it again next year...maybe even improve on my time.