On the afternoon of Friday March 25, I was assigned to cover the Kigali Night Run that took place the evening of the same day. I was excited to relive the same experience I had last year in the 2021 Kigali Night Run. Only that I was this time ready determined to do better.
Over 1700 participants from varied backgrounds took part in the run. They included adults and children and the run started at 7 p.m. and ended at 9 p.m, covering 5.4km of distance between Kigali Heights and the roundabout between the Office of Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence and back.
I was at work finalizing some articles, and at 4. p.m, I decided to go home and change into sportswear. So was the photographer, and so when I came back to office, we were all ready to conquer the evening.
We took off from The New Times’ office at 6. p.m. and we reached Kigali Heights in time for some warm ups before set off.
The night was so beautiful and fresh I was afraid it might rain but it didn’t instead there were beautiful lights and a cool night breeze.
People were already warming up, children with their parents, couples, groups of friends, you name it...
"You are doing great”, "let’s keep the energy”, "esprit, esprit”, a young man’s voice blasted through the big speakers that were installed on a big stage that was in front of the roundabout. He instructed the participants to warm up and he kept changing different styles with the participants in tow.
An old man who was alone and only wanted to be identified by his surname Kamali, caught my eye as he was doing some stretches beside me, I decided to start a friendly conversation asking how he was feeling and how come he had so much energy at a seemingly advanced age.
"I do exercise regularly as my doctor advised me to do, I have different conditions that require me to exercise and stay healthy and in shape, I am very excited and happy to be here I enjoy mass sports, it also gives me courage. The night is very beautiful and it also gives me a chance to go out and take in the amazing air of Kigali,” he said.
The place was full of hundreds of participants, a boy was rolling away on his skates, a few people had brought their bicycles. It was a night that everyone was visibly enjoying.
There were a lot of policemen, youth volunteers with their green-neon reflector jackets, and at least two ambulances. There were stands where refreshments like water were being sold, while some corporate companies could not miss the opportunity to advertise their brands.
The warm-up took a whole hour, and at 7. p.m. sharp we started our run.
I was running down the road and occasionally taking pauses to catch a breath before proceeding. We kept on with the road between Kigali Heights and Kigali Business Centre then sloped towards Kimihurura.
A Zimbabwean couple living in Rwanda, whom I met on the way told me that they regularly do exercise together at the gym but they always look forward to the Kigali Night Run.
"I cannot leave my wife when going to the gym, we made a pact to always stay healthy together,” said the husband.
"I enjoy doing sports with my partner, but whenever the Kigali Night Run is announced, I am overly excited, I don’t know why but there is something about taking a run at night and especially in Kigali with the road closed and streets lights on,” said the wife.
We proceeded to the roundabout near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went around the roundabout to the Ministry of Defence and then back towards KBC and later Kigali Heights.
I arrived at the finish line short of breathe, yet some people were going back for another round. I had had enough and was proud of myself that I had completed the round.
I took a bottle of water for which I paid Rwf500, and joined the others at the roundabout between KCC, KH, and KBC, the Kigali Night Run was closed by another warm-up to relax our muscles.
Another Kigali Night Run is expected on May 13 just ahead of the Kigali Peace Marathon which will take place on May 29, and another one is expected during the week of CHOGHM in June, according to officials.