Longtom Marathon

Though I unfortunately do not have any pictures to prove that I completed the race...I DID! I planned to walk at least half of the half-marathon (I’m not a very good runner), but the adrenaline, fabulous play-list that I made, and encouraging friends kept me going strong and I ran almost the entire time. I finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes, a slow pace but a pace nonetheless. The feeling of ‘bad-ass-ness’ that I experienced after finishing the race was unreal. It felt so amazing to have completed that race and to have pushed myself beyond farther limits than I ever thought I could. And by that I mean, the longest I have ever run consecutively in my life is 3 miles. And that was in high school.

There were about 30 other PCVs who came and participated in the race, and it’s always fun to get together with friends that I sometimes don’t see for 3 or 4 months. After the race we had a huge braii and dance party (pictured above) to celebrate our completion of the half-marathon (13.1 miles) and the ultra-marathon (34 miles) that some crazies kicked butt in.

Through the selfless donations that many of you made, along with those solicited by other PCVs, raised over $22,000 for the KLM Foundation. This will cover the entire tuition and living expenses at a private high school for two deserving South African students. I can’t fully explain the significance of this without you experiencing how awful many of the education systems and facilities are in these rural areas. As I said before, students are learning in overcrowded classrooms with little to no resources, with teachers who often do not show up to class because they are ‘tired’ or ‘stressed’, and are taught primarily in English by many teachers who do not even understand it completely themselves. Attending a private school (which most cannot afford) offers a world of opportunities that may not be available to these children otherwise. Thank you for your donations and your support, and stay tuned for updates about the ultra marathon (58 miles) that I will be running next month (PSYCH!).