Running for Office

I’m not a great runner – I have an inefficient stride, little floppy ankles, and a tendency to wince involuntarily at the mention of marathons. But here in Malawi, where so much of my time is spent behind the walls of some “mzungu-safe” institution (even our house in Lilongwe has barbed wire atop the outside walls), the idea of ranging freely is very appealing. So my little sunburnt ears perked up when one of the housestaff here mentioned a previous runner’s solution – the Lilongwe golf course.

Running, or any non-work-oriented exercise, for that matter, isn’t really done in Malawi. (To be honest, I’ve never really seen “joggers” of the American type outside of the US in any of my trips; even England and Western Europe don’t really seem to do gyms or laps or any of those purposeful-wasting-of-calories activities.) So trying to go on a simple run can be a bit overwhelming. In addition to the usual special attention one gets for being a tall white woman in the streets, you get twice as many stares for being a damp one wearing shorts. I’ve never been so conscious of my knees in my life. It’s enough to keep a little globe trotter inside.

But the golf course! Brilliant! If I can handle the stares for a short half-mile trot to the opening gates, I get all the wide open space I can handle – as long as I get out before 7 AM. I’m not a morning excerciser at all in the States, and I’m only a sporadic one here. But if I can drag my lazy bum out of bed early enough, trotting around the course in the breaking dawn is actually a lot of fun. As you might imagine, the “greens” in a golf course where it hasn’t rained in four months are…not so green. Lots of dried grasses and red-brown dirt underfoot. It’s also much less manicured than the golf courses of home – lots of leaping over holes and dodging fallen “sausages” from the sausage trees. Between that and the fact that there are almost no signs to orient me, it’s a bit more like trail running than jogging. I even used the position of the sun to navigate when I got turned around last week. A run where you can get covered in dirt and really quite lost is pretty exciting.

And today’s was even extra exciting! Celebrity sighting! On most runs I only see one or two workers clearing brush, if anyone at all, but this morning I was running amid a flurry of activity: police officers, people wearing important-looking Safety Orange vests, and drummers audible in the distance. I eventually gathered that some sort of tournament was underway, and headed for the exit at my usual time – only to be stopped for the presidential motorcade! Bingu wa Mutharika himself! I saw him in the back of the presidential limo, looking a bit grumpy but clad in a fine-looking polo shirt and headed for the clubhouse. Guess Malawi’s current political imbroglio (ahem) is no reason not to get a few holes in.