Finally — the Kampala 7 hills run

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WHAT’S UP!

I like hills. There is something about hills that appeals to one, it might be that as you approach, you see a challenge right there in front of you. And soon you have overcome that challenge and are moving on to the next one. So, yeah, I like hills.

But for some reason, I have never done the Kampala 7 Hills Run. I always saw the notification late and often after it had taken place. But this year, the flyer came into my feed in good time, so I duly registered, paid, picked up my kit from the Absa branch at Lugogo Mall and waited for Sunday.

The 21km race was starting at 6:30am, so I made sure I was at Lugogo Millennium Grounds by 6:00am. It had started raining around 3:00am, and it was still raining by the time I got there (my colleague Maren said it was a special type of madness that makes a person get up at 5:00am on a rainy Sunday morning to go and run. Her words, not mine. But she was there before most).

I was met by a sea of mud when I got to the Millennium grounds, which is a wetland, so the water had nowhere to go. Of course, the organisers were not there yet and the DJ showed up almost at 6:30am to get the ball rolling.

There were no prizes for coming first, so some of the 21km runners decided they would start at 6:30am on the dot, and not wait for the official flag-off. After about five minutes, I decided to follow them. I was going to walk, anyway, so definitely no prizes for me.

With Nancy from the Mountain Slayers Uganda, we set off. It was still dark, by the way and it was still raining.

One of the attractions of the 7 Hills Run is that you get a wristband for every hill you conquer and I wanted them. The map released by the organisers did not indicate which hills are part of the seven, but we figured Kololo would be one of them. So when we finished Kololo and started on Nakasero, we thought there would be bands this year. But the first one was waiting just below where the Chief Justice used to live.

Meanwhile, the ones who had been flagged off caught up with me just after the Blood Bank, skinny little guys who run like the wind. I can rightly brag that the guys who do 21km in little more than an hour had caught up with me.

And the ‘bus’ from the Fast and Furious Running Club also caught up with me around there. They run in a bunch, have a Bluetooth speaker to beat the rhythm and some guy is blowing a whistle and waving a flag. They call it ‘running with vibe’. But they do have fun while running, so I guess it works out fine. And they stop frequently for pictures.

Going down Kyaggwe Road you look up at Old Kampala and say, now that is a real hill. But hills are rarely as sharp as they appear to be and Old Kampala was no different. By then, the water on my face was from the rain, not sweat.

After last year’s run, all the talk was about Namirembe Hill; but rounding Old Kampala Mosque and looking at Namirembe, it seemed like no big deal. Ha, brave last words! I knew it was different when, as you turned off to go to the cathedral, I saw folks almost bent double. That was the first real steep place we encountered, and those steps that climb up to the cathedral had always seemed easy stuff, but some people actually fell. After 10km, your legs are not quite the same, I guess.

And by then, a pattern had emerged — folks would jog past me, especially while going downhill. But then I would catch up and pass them on the hills. Runners are courteous people, and they would always say “... keep it up, man. Well done”, as they passed me. And I would say the same when I passed them on the hills. By the time we got to the last hill, Kibuli, we were almost old friends.

From Namirembe, we took Wakaliga Road, turned off a road I never knew existed, and ended up at Rubaga Cathedral. That was the fourth hill (after Nakasero, Old Kampala and Namirembe), and it was then that my knees kind of reminded me of their presence.

We connected to the Lubiri Ring Road and past the Kabaka’s Palace. That was the fifth hill, two to go. Then we got lost.

The route markings had been washed away by the still-falling rain and there were no marshals in sight. So we did an extra kilometre in the wrong direction. But we came back, passed the new flyover at Queen’s Tower and up to Nsambya, which is not much of a hill. By then we just wanted to be over with it.

Kibuli was a little twist in the tail, as we had to go up to the mosque. Many took a breather as they contemplated that last steep incline, but they had to do it to get that last wristband.

After that, it was just getting back to Lugogo, still in the rain and hopefully a cup of hot coffee. But by the time I got there, all wet and muddy, the coffee was ‘done’. I was offered breakfast at the Absa tent, which still had lots of fruits and juice, but no coffee. So it was then double time to CJ’s for some really great-tasting coffee. It was still raining, but I had done the seven hills of Kampala.

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