Running scared

After a couple of hours lying poolside yesterday, I decided it was time to get moving, so I went for a run with my housemate Guthrie. I think that 45 minute period may have been the most overloaded my senses have been yet here. We started out on a road I typically take, but then took a sharp uphill and ran past Monrovia’s (abandoned) Masonic Temple. It sits atop a hill on Benson Street, and looking down, it seemed like the busy, crowded city was laid out in front of us. The view was pretty from a distance, but running into the middle of it was a little maddening.

As we approached our first car and pedestrian-clogged section of the street, Guthrie explained that we should do what the cyclists do during the Tour de France, essentially staying really close to the car in front of us and darting ahead when there’s a gap (say, perhaps, the car stalls or there’s a break in the pedestrian traffic on your right). The intersections were particularly challenging, as there are no traffic lights in Monrovia (well, there’s one, though unclear if it’s actually working; the area around it is called “Red Light”), so you have to assess your chances and just go. At one point I was almost hit by a motorbike that darted out from traffic, but other than that, it was just a lot of stop-and-go jogging and looking left and right obsessively.

You get a lot of comments from people as you’re running around (“Let me jog with you!” or “Keep it up! Keep it up!”), which can be pretty funny, though you can’t let it distract you from your first priority, which is ensuring that you are not hit / run over / jostled by a car or motorbike.* These runs are great way to learn the layout of certain sections of the city. I also think it might send the message to the city dwellers, who are generally accustomed to seeing white people drive around in big white jeeps, that some of us are willing to get outside, explore the city, and be a part of the action.

*For any family members reading this posting, my morning runs aren’t nearly this crazy and the city is much quieter at the beginning of the day.