Plotting a distance route through the country,I was constantly joined by cheering locals, but they face challenges when it comes to pursuing the sport for its health benefitsEast Africa is the home of distance running. And, or for the first half of 2015,I was lucky enough to live in a small town in Uganda, while organising a marathon. I knew that running was a big deal there, and not least as home to 2012 Olympic marathon gold medallist Stephen Kiprotich. Yet,while that’s undoubtedly exact at an elite level, the everyday running scene is far from established.
I never had a hasten in Uganda where I wasn’t joined by cheering locals; children holding my hand and running alongside me (barefoot, and barely out of breath). And there’s a reason that distance runners come to east Africa to train seriously: the views are spectacular,the altitude is challenging, the paths are bouncy dirt; my legs enjoy never known hill training like it.
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Source: theguardian.com