Werunnairobi - A community of runners.

In her book, 'The Mountain Is You,' Brianna Wiest says aimlessly scrolling through social media is a form of self-sabotage, no?

I agree to some extent because everything exists in perfect duality. In regards to social media and all other dualities, I try to strike a balance so I can consume just enough. Lately, I have been a bit intentional about attaching value to the social media content I assume and that mentality keeps me in check.

However, on days when my energies are low and I just want to stay cuddled up on a coach, I find myself aimlessly scrolling through social apps, especially Instagram. In one of such moments last week, I bumped into this page - 'werunnairobi' is their Instagram handle. As a photogenic person, the quality of their visual content immediately drew me to them. They capture their moments so well. Better still, I am into fitness and any activities to do with fitness are my cup of tea. 

Interestingly, you don't have to pay any registration fees to be part of them. All you need to do is show up - you cater for your fare of course. It could be because of my love for black colour, but I find their posters simple and aesthetically pleasing:

They run in the above location every Saturday and at Karura Forest every last Saturday of the month - starting 7.30am in both locations.

After keenly 'stalking' their page and making enquiries, I challenged myself to show up.  

I was up by 5.20am on Saturday, 20th July. From the Instagram pictures, the runners looked like good time keepers, like they belonged to a certain social class that didn't joke with time-keeping. I stay in Rongai so I had to get to town and then to Westlands and then find my way to Riverside Drive. Mind you I don't even know Nairobi town that well, or should I say city, because I haven't stayed here for long, but I love challenges so I was confident I will get to the location just fine.

One thing about me, I must have breakfast in order to function well, always! I would rather wake up before my alarm goes off so as to get extra time to fix something to eat than head out without having anything at all. Breakfast sets my mood just right. I managed to get ready, have breakfast and leave a few minutes before 6.

As I walked to the stage, I did some pep talks telling myself how much of a conqueror I am, literally! Something about being up and outside so early always has me feeling like I could squeeze the whole world in my little arms. And there is no chaos on the roads that early, isn't that a plus? Just birds chirping and a beautiful sunrise if you're lucky enough.

I boarded a half-full PSV and once I was inside, I silently studied every human in there, trying to make scenes in my head about why they were up that early.

Just after we passed MultiMedia University, a guy dressed in sports wear joined us. Immediately I saw him I was like, 'We could be headed to the same place with this one.' I was dressed the same. A couple of minutes later while he talked to his friend on call, I learnt that he was going for a hike somewhere in Karen.I love hiking. I wanted to ask him if he is part of any hiking community, how often they do it and all the logistics around that but a row separated us, he was sitted at the very back and on the opposite side. I think I am using that as an excuse actually, I just couldn't. I don't mind being up early but talking to new people that early is something else - probably intrusive. I also don't like being around people who talk too much in the morning, so I minded my business, missed shot?

With my hands wrapped around my bag which was on my lap, I blankly stared outside the window, thinking about random things and being grateful for this beautiful thing called free will.

Once I was in town, I thought of taking an Uber boda straight to Brioche but since I was working on a budget, I had to make decisions that would favour me financially. From town to Westlands costs 30/=, not sure if that's the standard price. I was like the last passenger to get in the matatu I boarded and when you're racing against time, such little things feel like stars aligning. I let the conductor know where I was headed and when I alighted somewhere in Westlands a few minutes later, I took a boda to Brioche. I paid Ksh 150 - have money in your Mpesa rather than cash.

I arrived at 7.20, which is the time warm ups start. True to my guess about the community's time - keeping culture, they were doing stretches already. The sight of a bunch of people dressed in cute sports wear doing warm ups and who all looked so fit made me brighten up. I instantly felt energized.

Now here I was, in a totally new place where I knew no one. First things first, I had to figure out where to put my bag and water because I figured I wouldn't need to hydrate during the run, the weather was so chilly. 

I arrived at the gate at the same time with some guy who said hi just after we were done paying our riders:

Him: Hi, I'm Oliver.

Me: Hi. Nice to meet you. I am Nesh. (while gesturing to the runners) Werunnairobi? 

Him: (smiling) Yees.

Me: It's my first time here, do you guys have somewhere where you place your bags before the run?

Him: It's my first time as well. 

Both of us giggled and then parted ways - him to go find the men's bathroom because he needed to change and me to go figure out where to place my bag. That's how I met my running partner for the day. 

I talked to like 3 more ladies before I got help - there were many first timers. I joined the team just as the warm up session was coming to an end. We then received a few instructions from Emily, the founder of the running club, who I later got to interact with. She is a kind human who speaks really good English, her eloquence is top notch! I know that sounds basic because almost everyone speaks good English but if you met her, you would get what I am saying.

Just as the crowd cleared out into the running pathways, Oliver came into sight - sigh! There was nothing like, 'Can we run together?' It just happened so naturally - two first timers keeping each other company.

The paths were clearly marked, different routes for different distances which merge at some point - If you are a keen reader, you already know which distances. Oliver and I decided to do 14km - daring first timers, huh! We were not sure we were going to manage but we were so in for the challenge.

You know that line by Kendrick Lamar, 'They are not like us?' Oliver kept pulling it everytime we passed by runners taking the shorter distances and we would laugh and gas each other up - pun intended because in hilly paths, I would feel like i was running out of gas. 

We ran through highways, deserted roads, into and out of gated communities. Most runners were in pairs or groups of three at most - each with their pace. Aside from the stares, we'd get occasional waves and claps from security guys and random people walking on the not-so-busy streets - strangers cheering us on. We took walking breaks and since we were within the prestigious Lavington and Kileleshwa areas, I couldn't help but admire the ambience and well-built houses. It was a lot of good to take in. Ouh and Oliver? He made me a good listener which, really, is all I could do apart from panting shamelessly.

Tech guys are interesting when they talk - because most of them are introverts who are always on their laptops coding or doing all those tech things. I can't remember the exact wordings of the course he studied but I think it had a 'microchips' in it. He told me of how they started the course as a class of 98 students and only 4 of them graduated - I am good with numbers so at least I don't forget that. They had a tough professor who was outwardly racist. The kind of british professors who would say mean things like, 'Y'all are more stupid than my shamba boys.' One time he set a really tough exam paper and decided to mark it while they did it - yoooh! And it was those exams where question 2 needs you to refer to question 1. When one of them decided to cheat with his phone, the professor found out and was like, 'You can use that but it won't help you, you will still fail.' Sadly, he passed on during COVID. Everyone has something sad to say about 2020, right?

He told me one of the most fulfilling projects they ever worked on was sending a satellite to orbit using a rocket (sorry my terminologies may not be accurate, I'm trying!) Did you know that without rockets, we wouldn't be able to use our cell phones, watch a lot of our favorite television shows, find out the weather forecast, navigate with Global Positioning System (GPS), or explore our solar system—just to name a few?

While in campus, him and his friends found a niche in the tech field - that teachers in most international schools don't know programming and that most programmers are not good teachers yet kids in these schools want to learn these things from as early as age 7. He does that even now. When we passed by international schools while running, he'd make mental notes to research and email them later or he would be like, 'I have worked with this school before.' He talked about the pros and cons of navigating that as a Gen-Z , that it doesn't sit right with the older generation to see a young person thriving in their space - he teaches part time so he only shows up during his teaching hours if it's a physical class, hence the meanness from some of the teachers in some schools. He joked about how everytime he experiences bad energy, he goes like, 'Ooops!Makosa ni yangu. Peace out.' He loves a healthy working environment even if it's a short-term contract and he doesn't settle for anything less.

He is currently working on building an application that helps you do irrigation from your phone, which is actually not a new concept, but it's so interesting listening to someone explain how they can do that from scratch. In layman's language, how this works is that the moisture sensors installed in a farm and which operate within a certain radius determine the humidity level of the soil and depending on the humidity levels needed (different for various plants), the sensors send signals to the control unit which then enables pumping of water until the required humidity level is attained. So just like any other software, the user interface enables you to check errors and manage everything from your phone or computer. Aren't tech solutions interesting?He said it might take sometime before that picks up because you have to be approved by KEBS before you release anything into the market and this is Kenya!

He talked about how some prototypes need to be sent to China so that they can be checked for errors and if they are found faulty, you need to keep making corrections and sending them back until they are approved, you can imagine how costly that must be. Also, in the tech world, there is always something new to learn every day and you must do that if you want to stay on toes.

In one of the walking breaks while we passed through Kileleshwa, he asked me how much I think it costs to rent a 2-bedroom house there. I gave a very wrong estimate and he went on to tell me facts before I had a minute to feel embarrassed - people pay up to 395k per month for a 2-bedroom apartment. And sometimes you're required to pay rent for the first 6months in lumpsum - you've done the math? Think about the monthly expenses of such a person, heh!

Him and his friends are also working on an app that will help the elite deal with Gender Based Violence. You see the way our society is wired to expect cases of GBVs only from the less privileged or from people living in marginalized areas? That's not the reality. Rich and famous people are met with violence from their partners behind closed doors. And the victims suffer in silence because of their social class and societal standards. From this app, victims of GBV can access therapists, relevant medics, shelters and a community of people that is free from prejudice, people they can feel safe to talk to - with the option of doing it anonymously I guess.

He also asked random questions like, 'What percentage of Kenyans do you think have Ksh 100,000 in their account? And while I tried to make a guess, he'd be like, 'No, actually think about it this way, how much do you think is the average salary of a Kenyan?' 

I gave another wrong guess and he was like, 'It's okay you can't get it right the first time.' Mans knew statistics! If you don't know the answer to that, go do your research and know basic things about the country you live in.

I always think about my life from an abundance point of view, but you don't do that in statistics. If you're ever asked such questions, think about facts.

'Tell me one thing that happened to you in the recent past that changed your perception about life.' - I was halfway answering that when we got back to Brioche, 14km done! We were both proud of us but shocked at the same time, we didn't expect it would be that easy. On my side, I would say the cheatsheet to enjoying a run is having a running partner who tells you a bunch of stories and random things while you fight to stay breathing! - may you be lucky enough to find one.

We took lots of pictures while interacting with other runners and then he proposed that we go have some coffee after our bathroom breaks.

 In case you're planning to join the 'werunnairobi' gang, nothing much happens after the run. People who complete their distances around the same time do stretches together and then you choose whether to leave or hang around and interact with people over coffee or over nothing - I mean you can just sit and talk without spending on anything. There is a special breakfast menu for the runners by the way. Have a minimum of Ksh 500 if you want to budget for tea or coffee.

Over coffee, Oliver talked about his love for golf and the upcoming tournament in Kigali and other parts of Africa.He told me how the ease of playing golf is so underrated - that to hit that ball right needs a very clear mind. He talked about his friends and he hangs around the right people for sure.I asked him if he would be able to show up the next weekend for the run and he showed me how packed his calendar was, such a busy guy! He had been recording our run on 'Strava' App and it felt so good looking at the  the sketch of the distance we covered. 

When I told him where I stay, he told me he had been invited to a friend's birthday party at a restaurant in Rongai - Rustic Haven. You know why this world is a little village? My older brother leaves so close to this Restaurant, so I pass by it everytime I go to his place. When I told him I love the restaurant's aesthetics and art details, he told me his cousin, who happens to be the manager, has been working hard to give it a good look.

Me: 'Wow! It's coming together nicely.'

Him: 'Is that what he said?'

If you didn't get that, your sense of humour must suck. Ooops! Sorry.

Some 5 friendly ladies were sitted with us on the same table:

When we told them that we were first timers and did 14km, they warmly welcomed us to the community and jokingly told us how they would be on our case if we ever did anything less than 14km - talk about setting your own bar so high! We took pictures of them, with them and exchanged our Instagram handles - the age we live in!

I was going to see the 'Joy' in my previous piece after the run. We were supposed to go for the run together but her menstrual cramps decided otherwise the previous night. Since Oliver knew his way around Riverside Drive better, he offered to walk me to a place called 'Corner' from where I would find my way to Joy's place.

Our conversations got wilder during that extra walk - something good to get me going because I started to feel the effects of the long run- my inner thighs were giving up. 

Have you ever met a tech guy who lives with 5 cats? Wild, riiight? Wild but cute - he goes shopping with his favourite one peeping from the pockets of his hoodies sometimes. Each of the cats and their names have an explanation to it's origin:

Dot/Pixel:

Dot is the tiny one. Really tiny. He talked about the intrusive thoughts he gets when Dot is being annoying, like he can squeeze him to death with his hands. 

Meow:

Meow used to cry a lot when he was little.And he would cry with that sound, 'me-ooo-www!' I love you if you imitated Meow. So they named him that because it doesn't sound bad for a cat that's always trying your patience, they didn't want neighbours knowing that side of him. I found that cute.

Luffi the 2nd: 

Oliver has a friend called Luffi who moved out of his parent's house with a cat. His parents told him he wouldn't manage to take good care of it but he insisted on taking him. The cat disappeared because his parents were right. So Luffi got another cat and gave it to Oliver. His parents know that the cat is alive and that it's being taken care of by their son's friend. Wow!

Pep:

Pep used to poop around a lot. And his poop used to look like Tomato Sauce - so Peptang - Pep. Eewww! I know!

I can't remember the other one. There was a Luna but that one died - that must have had something to do with a selephonile.

One of these cats was gifted to him by his ex- girlfriend. He told me how his friends roasted him saying, 'She ensured she gave you a physical representation of what she used to give you.' I laughed my lungs out, like what!

We talked about him being pro - choice and me being pro - life and so much more. I guess the conversations would have continued if we didn't get to 'Corner' like an hour later ...

Going to places I have never been to before and interacting with new people, doing things I have never done before and consequently finding new hobbies...To me, this is living! Find your kind of fun and indulge in it - live!

By around 2pm, I was safely at Joy's place.A few months earlier, I had visited her in her previous place where we took these pictures: 

Balcony/rooftop views and silhouette photos are my kind of obsessions. Now that I am in her new place, it's safe to say Joy has good taste in houses. It could be because she is a mechanical engineer and part of the work she does is services design - while architects design the overall look of houses, buildings and structures, service design focuses on the nitty-gritty of building. I love listening to people in different fields talk about what exactly their work entails. And Joy? Oh she could make a perfect lecturer!

We bonded over catch-ups on our lives, good food, walks and coffee. She loves the idea of having someone to come home to and I love her cosy space, so I stayed longer than I had planned. Need I say we enjoy each other's company a lot?

It's on the morning of Wednesday, 24th July. She is headed to work and I am travelling back to Rongai.

 I love my little life, I hope you love yours, too.