Final Running Club

Every week the dock vibrates under the feet of 4o young people (and some of us not so young) who are part of the Africa Mercy running club. The children run up and down the dock and get a special card stamped to mark each lap. 3 laps equals one mile and they are all aiming to do the 26 miles required in a marathon over the length of our field service. Last night was the last chanvce to gain miles. Rachel and Iona already had done more than 26 miles so their medals were 'in the bag'. Nathaniel needed three more miles. He'd never done more than 2.6 miles in one go. He was nervous. Mum was nervous. Dad (who runs with him) was feeling guilty for not getting him to run a bit further in previous weeks. Dad was also nervous. 6pm starting time came around and the clouds had gathered. Not itty bitty little grey ones like in England, but thick, black menacing clouds that seem to suffocate the sky and soak up the sunlight. Would we run? Would Natty miss his medal by only three miles? "WE WANT RUNNING CLUB, WE WANT RUNNING CLUB" The children started to shout as the rain started to fall. What could the teachers do? We lined up, got ready, braced ourselves for the starting whistle, and the heavens opened! Torrential, freezing, thumbnail sized shards of rain lashed down on us and the whistle blew.

40 minutes, thousands of gallons of rain, and hundreds of smiles later it was all over. The rain stopped, the sun set and we sat on the dock to eat our celebration chocolate cake. Wet? I've been drier in a swimming pool! And what of Nathaniels performance? Oh .....he did 4 miles :-)