Running in the wild for charity

By Oscar Pilipili

Blanche Mweu of Riara School is a generous girl who enjoys participating in charity events. A lover of athletics, she embraces every charity sports event that comes her way.

The 11-year-old girl accompanied her siblings to the Sotokoto Marathon that was partly run inside Nairobi National Park.

Although the girl had participated in other events including Dettol Heart Run, the Sokotoko Marathon was totally a new experience.

"It was terrifying to run inside the Nairobi National Park, the home of wild animals," she told Generation Next. "I came across big hoof marks on the route, which I am convinced are buffalos’."

Blanche has seen buffalos on television documentaries.

"After a short distance I heard a roaring sound that was very frightening," she says.

"My heart missed a beat and I said to myself, ‘God, take care of me, that’s a lion!’"

"But, it was a Kenya Wildlife Services Land Rover that was coming from the opposite direction," she says amid hearty laughter.

Blanche finished 73rd in the four kilometre junior race. She did not meet any animals in the park.

"My wish was to see a lion or cheetah chasing an antelope or gazelles but the only animals I saw were lazily lying in cages at the Animal Orphanage," she says.

"I hope that one day I will be able to convince my dad to take us for a ride in the Park, to see many and active animals," she says.

Blanche admires Olympic Games 800m champion Pamela Jelimo and she hopes to emulate the successful queen of the track.