Running Liberia

When I was a kid, I did not really like running over a longer distance. Unfortunately though this was the only discipline in lights athletics I had kind of potential, so I went along with that. And when I became older I learned to enjoy running and today, I feel stressed if I cannot run at least once in a couple of days. It is not that I like the idea of running so much, it is rather a great way to clear your mind and to get rid of pressure, anger and feelings of annoyment.

This is why I also run in Liberia. And to avoid to gain too much weight as the Liberian / Lebanese diet is not necessarily the most healthiest one you could ask for.

Running in Liberia though is extremely different from running at home. It starts with the climate. The only chance to run and not risking to experience a stroke, is to run early in the morning - like 6am-ish, when the sun just starts rising - or after 6pm, when the sun gets down. During the day, the heat and humidity are just too much to cope with at least for my spoiled German system. 

Running after 6pm so is also pretty challenging as  I usually won't come home from work before 6.45pm and soon after most parts of the town are pitchblack. And so are Liberians (no offense at all - it's a fact). You barely see them when running along the road and you also barely see the numerous potholes. As I prefer not to break my leg, I usually run early in the morning before work. 

It is the nicest time of the day. When I leave the house around 6.15am, the shanty town next to our building slowly wakes up and I greet my neighbours before I put on my music on high volume and start running.

Only few cars and pen-pens (motorbike) are on the roads and I have plenty of space. The guards at the several UN offices which I pass know me already and friendly wave when I run along.
In general, running is perfect to get to see a bit of daily life in Libera. The early morning hours are slow though: The first people get up to fetch water, others already find their way to work, dogs are stretching their legs and from time to time you hear a child cry.
I have one route where I pass the same neighborhood twice and when I come by for the second time, it is already around 6.45am and people are up. Then I usually get some applause (yeah, no kidding) and people congratulate me - "Good job, missy!" - or show their gratitude - "Thank you, missy!". I still wonder what they thank me for and at some point I will stop my run just to figure that out.

At Benson Hill, I always meet the same group of young Liberians. They climb the hill from the other side as I do and their side is much worse and way more exhausting. However, they don't only do it once (something I am only barely able to do); no, they do it ten times. Up and down, up and down....I always feel a little embarassed in particular as they always look fine while the color of my face had already turned into an intensive red. When I am lucky though, I reach the peak of the hill just in time to see a beautiful sunrise and then I forget about any embarassement and just enjoy the view.

This is running in the morning. At weekends though, I like to seize the opportunity to run around 6pm when the sun starts setting but there is still enough daylight for an hour. At this time of the day, the streets are crowded and it is almost an adventure to find your way through the people. Again, I hear a lot of "Thank you!" and "Good exercise!" when I pass street vendors and pen-pen riders. And I can smell Monrovia then. Almost every meter, there is a different smell in my nose - freshly fried plantain (banana) chips, roasted meet, exhaust fumes, human sweat, sea water breeze, fresh fish, garbage and certainly also human excrements. A functioning sanitation system is still missing and this smell is best indicator that the situation urgently needs to be changed.
Generally, I like this mix of smells as it brings Monrovia and the Liberians closer to me and it creates memories: By now, I actually now when on my route I should better lock my nose and only breath through my mouth to avoid unpleasant surprises.

The best thing on these early evening runs are the kids. They spend their weekend on the street, keeping themselves busy whatever they can find. For example, a white missy with a red face, who is just passing by. What else could be more fun than following her. In a group on five. Or ten. So sometimes when I turn around I just see this bunch of small kids running just behind me with big smiles on their faces. I always have to smile then as well and just hope, that they laugh with me and not at me. When I am in the mood, I slow down a little and we shake hands and give each other high fives. This only applied for very young children though. In general, Liberians are in great shape and older children can at least for a while keep up with my pace and are even faster than me. About a week ago, I ran along the beach and I passed a group of maybe 15years old girls. One of them challenged me and so we got into a race. She certainly beat me by far and I was completely exhausted afterwards, but it was just great fun.

Running in Liberia is a challenge - in particular for my system which is sometimes struggling hard not to collapse - but it is a great way to recharge the batteries and a very interesting way to discover the city. So I will keep running. I wished I would have some pictures which show what I am talking about but unfortunately running and takinga camera along is no good match. So this time words have to be enough. But next time there will be pictures. I promise.

Cheers for now and take good care!