The Perfect Valentine: Mount Cameroon Race of Hope

My valentine this year was the tallest mountain in West/Central Africa, and what a date we had!  On February 14^th, I participated in the Race of Hope Relay – a 24-mile race up and down the 13,250ft tall Mount Cameroon (an active volcano, I'd like to add!) – with my two amazing teammates Layne Anderson and Calla Kingery.

Logistics of the relay:

There are three legs.  Runner 1 (Layne) starts at the stadium at 7:00AM (Cameroonian time…so closer to 7:30).  She runs 6km to the beginning of the trail (all uphill), and then 5km up the mountain to Hut 1.  She then passes the sash to Runner 2 (Calla), who hiked up the night before and slept on the mountain.  Runner 2 then powers through the steepest and most technically challenging 2.5km of the mountain, and hands the sash to Runner 3 (me) before hiking back down to Hut 1.  Runner 3 then hikes about 4km to the summit, and then turns around and runs down the mountain, collecting the other teammates at Hut 1 and running back to the stadium to finish together.

Okay.  So now that the basics are out of the way, let’s tell the tale.

There were three Peace Corps relay teams running, which meant that I had two other PCVs to hike up with the day before the race – Bridget Patton (who I did site visit with during training), and Will Godfrey (a fellow White Rice agro!)

We had scheduled to begin hiking at 10AM that day, but we were told that the relay t-shirts would be ready soon, so we thought we’d wait so that our Leg 2 runners didn’t have to carry them up the mountain.  After discussing with many race officials, we learned that the t-shirts were still being printed in Douala.  Of course.  Around 11:30AM, after buying plenty of food and water, we decided to just take off and send the t-shirts up during the night with someone else.

I had hiked the mountain previously with my mom and my brother Mike, but this time was different.  This time we were hiking with a goal.  Will, Bridget, and I trucked along, with the goal to make it to Hut 2 with enough time and daylight left to set up camp and binge…er… “carbo-load” on peanut butter sandwiches and all the other tasty snacks in our bag.

We made it to Hut 2 by 5PM, and while Will and I waited for Bridget and our porter Smith to catch up, we downed dozens of cookies and peanut butter.

Prior to starting the hike, we had been assured that the race officials would provide tents for all of the relay runners at each of the huts.  Upon arrival at Hut 2 (“Hut 2” being just the name to symbolize the remains of the structure that burnt down over a year ago), Will asked the officials where the tents were.  The response was essentially, “there are no tents…I hope you brought sleeping bags!"

So we wiped the dirt and dust from all our limbs, changed into our warm clothes, and as soon as we finished chowing down on the various food items we had brought, we snuggled up in our sleeping bags on a bed of straw, inside the remains of the burnt down hut, under a corrugated tin roof.  After some chitchat, we decided that it was probably time to go to sleep… (Time check: 7:35PM)

Throughout the night, other relay runners, porters, race officials, and reporters kept arriving.  I fell asleep around 8:30, but remember waking up at 9, 10, 11, and 2:30AM.  When we went to sleep, we were the only people sleeping in our section of the burnt down hut.  By the time we woke up, we were packed in like sardines, next to Cameroonian runners, Kenyan runners, and their crews.

Our porter, Smith, decided he was tired and was ready to hike down early that morning, but luckily the Leg 2 runners’ porter, Vitalus, had hiked up in the middle of the night to deliver our “official race t-shirts” – XXXXL polo shirts (yep, you read that right.  Four X’s).  Vitalus allowed us to take our time moseying on out of our sleeping bags and packing up our bag.  In fact, we ate our breakfasts while snuggled up, and had just barely finished packing up as the first runners flew past us around 9:00AM.

By 10:00AM (probably earlier than that, actually), our Peace Corps superstar solo-runner Kat McNeil had already past.  Not long after, we saw Drew, our first Peace Corps relay runner, approaching hut two.  He handed his sash off to Will, who began sprinting to the summit like a beast.

The race officials warned us that if the Leg 2 runners didn’t reach Hut 2 by 11:00AM, the Leg 3 runners could not continue.  Around 10:40AM (once he had had plenty of peanuts and water), Bridget and I decided to send Drew back down the mountain to the farthest point that we could still see, and give us two hands up if he saw either of our runners.  As soon as we got the signal, the nerves really kicked in.  We saw Calla powering through the steepest part of the hike, and began cheering as loud (not the best idea to waste your breath screaming when you’re about to begin running at high altitude…).

She passed me the sash and off I went!

I’d be lying if I said that I was actually able to “run” the to the summit.  Let’s call it a fast hike.  A power hike.  Using a walking stick to help me power through the steep parts (as per advice of other runners), I gave it my all.  At this point, the first runners were already beginning to pass me on their way down, and I had to make a few brief stops to make way for those who may actually have a claim-for-fame or money at stake.

I had been hiking for about an hour and still hadn’t seen Kat pass me on the way down, so knew I had a ways to go.  A foreign hiker (not participating in the race) informed me that I still had about an hour to go til hut three.  Not long after, Kat breezed by me with her gigantic smile.  We cheered for each other and she said “only 15 more minutes!!”  Phew!!   Five to ten minutes later, Will came thundering down. “You still have so much farther to go!”  ARGH.  Is it an hour?  Is it 15 more minutes?  Will I ever make it?

Along the way, I passed so many people (runners, hikers, photographers, journalists, water carriers) and received nothing but encouragement.  “You’re such a strong woman!”  “Du courage!"

I reached Hut 3 at exactly 12:30PM.  I knew from here, based on my hike back in November, that there was only a 40 minute hike left – and that was walking pace, in the pouring rain and thick fog.  That meant only 20-30 minutes running til the summit.  Totally doable!

But that’s when I was stopped.  The race officials, water carriers, and security had already packed up.  “We know that if you’ve reached this point, you’d be able to make it the rest of the way.  But we’re ready to start hiking down, so you should turn around here.”   Dang it!   So close!  But nonetheless, they gave me the bracelet saying that our team made it all the way, and we became the second Peace Corps relay team ever (or at least as far as we know it, with Will’s team being the first) to not be disqualified.

I was thrilled to finally be headed downhill.  I ran as fast as I could while still paying attention to the loose rocks.  I channeled my inner gazelle.  I fell gazillions of times (I guess my inner gazelle isn't all that gazelle-like), and quickly learned that American curse words are very much understood by francophone Cameroonians, as the man in front of me kept turning around to check on me.  I followed that man closely, making sure to step on the same steady stones so as not to lose my footing... (I love running down mountains, but there are so many loose rocks on Mount Cameroon that it wouldn’t be crazy to put on a helmet and some elbow and knee pads and just log-roll all the way down).

Finally, around 2:30PM, I made it down most of the mountain, and arrived at Hut 1.

“Team USA is coming!  USA is coming!  Which team is it?  USA 1 GET READY!"

I was SO relieved to see Layne and Calla, along with Mary and Cait from the other girls’ team.  As I ran past Hut 1, our team was reunited.  Without stopping, the other two joined me and we began the final stretch to the finish line – only 11km to go!   

The first 5km we were full of energy, hopping over rocks and stumps and sharing stories from our own portions of the run.  Then we hit pavement and I began to lose it.  There was only 6km remaining, but it was the most difficult 6km of my life.  I was nearing the point of having run 5 hours straight, my camel-back was empty, and there was no water in sight (except a fountain, which I gladly stuck my head in). I was so incredibly thankful to have my amazing teammates by my side, enthusiastically pulling me along, encouraging me all the way to the finish line.

The three of us crossed the finish line just after 4PM, and were greeted by many PCVs with cameras, cheers, smiles, and water.

Race of Hope has by far been the coolest experience I’ve had in Cameroon so far.  I got to sleep on a mountain in open air; everyone that I met throughout the course was full of encouragement and wonderful sportsmanship; I ran up and down a gigantic mountain; and I got to share this incredible experience with my two incredible teammates (we will forever be bonded by that sweaty sash!)

Basically (sorry for my lack of eloquence), it was just really freakin’ cool.

I’d like to give a shout out to all the other PCV’s who were in Buea that weekend.  First of all – huge congrats too all of the runners, especially to Kat for running solo and being the 11^th woman overall, finishing in less than 6.5 hours and shaving 25 minutes off her PR.  But I’d also like to congratulate the 40ish volunteers that were in Buea to participate in a malaria sensitization campaign and an HIV/AIDS testing campaign.  Peace Corps tested more than 700 people in Buea during the Race of Hope, along with providing pre-test counseling.

What a great way to spend Valentine’s Day!