The Race of Hope

Once a year in Buea, Cameroon there is a grueling race to the top of a volcano, many people from all the provinces of the country and from all over Africa and from all over the world run it. It is regarded as an inspirational feat of achievement and it is called 'The Race of Hope'.

Let me, in my limited vocabulary, explain to you what these runners go through, I hope i can do it justice.

The race started today at 6A.M at Buea football stadium, they began their epic journey up to Buea town, and when i say up, i mean up. To get there you must find the stamina to run up the steady incline for about 20km. At some points the road climbs very sharply but this is by no means the hardest part of the race. Once up to Buea town they must tackle the 4017m high active volcano named Mount Cameroon. When the clouds clear it looms dark and massive in the skyline, it's a foreboding obstacle to climb with its loose volcanic rocks which cause frequent, race-ending accidents, to its steep savannah slopes which take you to the summit where the air is stingy with oxygen. You may be forgiven for thinking that the finish line is up there, but no, they must run all the way back down to where they started!!!. In the boiling heat!!!. It's insane.

Ines and I watched the runners collapse over the finish line at 11A.M, shoes battered, legs bruised with a look of either emphatic achievement or complete euphoric exhaustion, i couldn't tell which. Yet they all had hope in their eyes as they had just completed one of the toughest races on planet Earth.

I'm sorry but i didn't catch the names of the winners over the loud makossa music but i know the woman who everyone wanted to win came second. That is a woman called Sarah Etonge who has won the race a spectacular seven times, and finished second and third on numerous occasions too. She is known locally as the Queen of the mountain and she is an inspiration to many people here. She's also a source of contraversy as many people think she has won with the aid of black magic. There is an air of celebrity and myticism about her, everyone has an opinion about her. All i know is she has proved herself so emphatically that i think queen of the mountain might be a slightly un-worthy term. I think the local government realised that too as they have erected a statue of her today in Buea town.

My friend Bonnie has the privilage of training with her and she's going to introduce me to her, i'm going to try and do an interview with her and hopefully publish it here. That should be pretty cool because Bonnie says that her sons are very good marathon runners too and that they are looking for any kind of publicity so they can leave here to train more. Sarah must have an incredible story to tell as well.

Watch this space.