For the cause of the pink ribbon

On Monday, I woke with flash disk like legs. My legs had become stiff. The stiffness had come in after 10kms of a Marathon I had run on Sunday. Not that am unfit but being the busy person the job has put me through, it had become evident that working too hard had put some extra weight on my belly. The 3 packs which I had have recently been a one sack phenomenon. 

Back to the terminator legs of mine now. I actually did ran 3 kilometers non-stop and my aim was to finish first and get the membership for one year at Kabira Country Club. I wanted the membership to be honest but I could only afford to be a winner if they were rewarding for the first 100m. I was in the lead at that point. I lost this lead to a couple of people who had been practicing for the marathon (Its just an excuse). 

After 3kms, my tongue was out as a hustled and puffed to get my breathe back. The 3kms were composed of a downhill and a straight road stretch. Now you know why the first three kilometers were better than white water rafting. 

At this point I had consumed a bottle on Dasani Mineral Water. The uphill was a challenge, I couldnt keep the pace so I decided to walk. My advantage over some people was that my walking pace was almost a jogging pace of some.

After one complete kilometer of the uphill, there was another downhill, and just like Bekele does it, I did it. I was overtaking people and for this I was very impressed by my performance. Then another straight road stretch. I thought I'd make it but suddenly I felt a rock in my legs. They were heavy and I couldn't lift them off the ground. Another water bottle and then I was back to the walking. 

The build up to this race had drawn up some bitter rivalries with some very passionate runners. We put our arguments aside and decided it was time to race. I needed to beat my friend in this race to prove a point.

With 1km to go I could see my friend about 200m ahead and I told my self. "I can overtake her."

I increased my pace and I was closing in. 150m, 145m, 120m, 100m, 50m and then my legs felt heavy. She had increased her pace. She had finished 55m ahead. Sulkiness engulfed my face as I searched for an excuse for not beating her in this race.

The marathon was for a good cause. It was a charity run so eventually we were all winners. It was for the sake of breast cancer. Some ruthless killer these days. Ugshs13m ($5,663.01) was raised for the cause of Breast cancer awareness. For every runner Coca-Cola Uganda contributed Ushs10,000 ($4.35616). We were 13,000 runners.

The marathon was like the sequence of events of a how detection of breast cancer can be a complicated process. There is this lady I met. She has been diagnosed with the cancer and is now on chemotherapy. Her story is a very sad one.

A lump had developed in her left breast and this was after giving birth to her 9th child. When she asked the doctor, he told her that if it doesn't hurt then its not necessary to look at it. She believed him. But the lump kept growing and eventually the pain started coming. Next doctor. "its nothing, its just the usual breast pain." 

Then another doctor recommended another expert who was apparently out of the country. Then finally she made it to Mulago, Uganda's top government hospital. She went for the first test. No Cancer. Second test. No cancer. Third test. Breast Cancer confirmed but it was too late. Early detection is one thing experts have been advocating for but if the doctor cannot tell then this will remain a challenge.

A minister at the event said people should get married so that the women can check the breasts of their husbands and vice versa.  One can also do self assessment by rubbing around the breast area. If you find a lump then rush to an expert. Don't say I didn't tell you.

And by the way after the marathon I lost some weight.