Enduring til the End--The Milo Marathon

So last year I wanted to run the Milo marathon. I even started to train. I trained once and it was no special training. Instead of driving to work I decided to walk. Granted the distance from where I parked my car and work was very short, I still had to start somewhere. So I start my walk and after a few meters, I ran out of breath and was very tired. So I reassure myself that this is an average start but at least I attempted to start. So I take a taxi back to my car. Ok don`t laugh. I know I am totally out of shape. Needless to say as soon a as I got into my car, I realized I was not ready to run 100meters let alone run a 52km race.


Running a marathon has always been on my list of things to do before thirty. I have this list of milestones I must achieve before I turn 30 in order of priority. Number 15 is to run a marathon. I am gradually approaching thirty and need to start crossing many things off my list. Number 16 is to go bungee jumping but I had to tackle 15th first.

I heard of this year’s milo marathon and I was very excited. The timing was perfect. I was not too busy with any commitments. So I ask my friend for a registration form. Now registering for the Milo marathon if you a first timer can be a bit tedious, since there is not a lot of information about the registration process. So to get more information, I called Nestle Ghana Limited and a polite lady was willing to assist me. She explained the process to me. The process is very simple. You pick up an application form, fill it out and drop one part of the application form. You take the other part which has been filled by the registering officer, pay 2 cedis and that’s that. You need to know where the registration centers are located. I just went to the nestle office and registered there. The officer who registered me was surprised I wanted to register for the marathon, but he did what he had to do and wished me good luck. I smiled and said thank you. But we both knew I needed more than luck. What I needed was a miracle to be able to complete a 52km race.


Contrary to normal and acceptable behavior, I didn`t train. I know this was a dumb thing to do. But in my defense, the last time I trained, I talked myself out of running the marathon. I figured I was going to run the race on sheer determination. Oh I was also planning to use adrenaline by imaging I was being chased by a man eating lion. So a day to the marathon, I got a good night’s rest. I woke up at 5:00 am got all dressed for the marathon. I believe as a marathon runner you must dress light so you can be free to run. However I was not there to win. I was just there to see if could complete the race. I was afraid I would fall and hurt myself, so I covered up well. When I was done and looked in the mirror I had a good laugh. I looked like I was going to officiate the race instead of run it. Well at least I was well covered up.

I go the Teshie Nungua barrier which was the starting point. There were literally hundreds of people at the park. Most of them were men. I immediately felt intimidated. I started to contemplate if what I was doing was a good idea. So I had to spend 5 mins psyching myself up and telling myself I can`t give up now. I just remembered how my friends back at work told me that with no training I would not go far in the race. I just had to prove to myself that I could run a marathon. So I joined the queue to pick up my t-shirt.

Once you present your registration form, your thumb is marked and you a given a t-shirt with your number. My number was 1978. Wow that was a big number, but I hoped I would do better than that in terms of positioning.
The race started one and half hours late. You could tell who the serious athletes were. They stood by themselves and were stretching. I was considered a joke by my fellow runners. Most of them laughed at me and said I was not dressed appropriately for the race and they could see I lacked training. I explained to them I was just there to be part of the experience and see if I could finish the race. They just laughed at me and said I wouldn`t even make it half way and why run if I did not intend to win. Well sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

In summary I run the race and yes I finished. I used 7 hours to run the race, I got sun burned , dehydrated and I couldn`t walk for 2 days, but I finished the race. I loved the experience. People kept telling me give up and take a taxi. I realized that with determination and will power you can do anything. I wanted to give up several times. I reached points where I could not even move a muscle but I just kept going. The funny thing was that the more people who told me to give up, the more I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

So Number 15 is off my list. I run marathon and I may run again next year. Now I need to bungee jump. Keep reading I will update you on if I get the chance to do it.

On my way to work!!

Hi I know it has been a while since my last blog. Well at lot has happened and I have so much to share. But for now I just want to tell you all about what happened to me today on my way to work. Ok so I wake up at 5:45 and I struggle to get out of bed as usual. I run a bath and open my fridge to entice myself with some breakfast options. I end up closing the fridge and smiling to myself. I don`t remember the last time I had breakfast at 6:00 am and I remember ooh I don`t eat breakfast it makes me slow. I want to pause here and say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So please try and eat breakfast.

Anyways I am running late as usual so I rush out of the house and into my car. I get into the car and spark it and brakes are not working properly. I sigh and think I hope I am able to drive it into town without any incidents. So I get in. I am kind of partially dressed and my kinky hair is flying all over the place.

The plan is that since it takes a whole hour to get to work and I need to leave early to get to work on time, I finish dressing up in my car. So I am driving and my car is behaving itself. I am very happy at this point because I think ok I will make it to work in one piece.
I start driving slowing because I am approaching a traffic jam. I actually don`t mind the traffic jam since I can fix my hair. I try combing out my hair and I look like an electrocuted prisoner. This is because my hair is very curly.

I then remember that yester night I saw Charlie Thereon on E!, with a very classic and striking up do. So I reach for my hair pin and then try to recreate the look in traffic.

I am not sure if I was successful or not I guess I will find out when I get to work. If someone goes like aaah what is going on with your hair then I know I failed to recreate the look.

So I am putting the final pin in my hair then I am interrupted by a street hawker trying to sell my tissues. I roll down my window and then think do I need a box of tissues. Well I think every woman needs a box of tissues. I remember the past couple of months I couldn`t live without my box of tissues because I had a horrible month. I lost something very special to me and it took me a while to get over it. I am not sure I am fully over it but I decided that I had to pick myself up and continue with my life since I am not getting any younger and life is too short to spend it crying every day.

Anyways I am in a good place in my life now but a girl always need a box of tissues cos you must always be prepared to clean up any mess.

So I buy the box of tissues and then continue to finish my up do. The final pin goes in and then I think well at least I got all my hair in one place.

So now the traffic starts to move and then I start to concentrate on driving again.
Well I meet another traffic jam I then stop my car and proceed to look around after all what is one to do.
I notice that a man in the car ahead calls a street hawker selling shaving sticks and then buys one. No this is nothing special but since we are in traffic and I have nothing else to do, I keep looking at the car. To my astonishment the guy starts shaving his beard right in the car. I rub my eyes to be sure I am seeing right. Well I certainly am. This is new shaving in traffic and I thought I was weird.

This reminds of me of the time I was parked opposite a monumental circle with a statue of a prominent statesman called JB Danquah. So I am parked opposite the circle and since the circle is in my line of sight I just sit there starting at the statue. I then see a figure rise from under the statue. I think well this must be a homeless man who decided to rest under the statue. I am thinking this is a really strange place to sleep.

The circle is in the center of town and there so many people and cars around. I assume the man must have been very tired to be able to sleep in such a public place. The circle has a lot of flowers so no one can tell that anyone is sleeping under the statue. Well the man seems to dusting himself no wait he is dressing up. Yes he is buttoning his shirt and pulling up his zipper. Ok now I sit up in my seat and pay more attention. Just as I suspected a few seconds later a young lady also gets up and she starts fixing her skirt.

Oh my goodness I can`t believe what I am seeing. Now it is 8:00pm so it relatively dark so I can`t see their faces clearly but I can see that the man has a pot belly and looks old and the young girl is a teenager probably 16 years old. Then the man does something I would not have predicted. He hands the girl some money. Then he leaves the circle and then 5 minutes late the girl also leaves the circle counting the money in her hands as she leaves. Ooh my goodness I am so shocked.

They had just had sex under the statue of JB Danquah in the center of town. Wow I think what is Ghana coming too. I decided to investigate, ok ok so investigate is a better term than snoop around. Anyways I drive around the circle to see if I will see any more odd couples pleasuring themselves. It seems clean. If I was bold enough I would have parked my car and actually walked around. I guess I have to leave that kind of investigating to the experts. I drive off astonished.

I hear a car honking behind me and I snap out of my little memory lane trip. The cars are moving and I quickly start to move. I finally get to work in one piece. I am quite happy since I can start my morning stress free.

Journey to the West-- Part 1

So as usual I have quite an interesting story to share. I had planned to go to America for 4 days. For now I will keep the reason to myself. In order to successful make my trip, I had to cross several hurdles and that is where the story begins.

The first hurdle was to get a Visa. Now I am sure you have heard of all the horror visa stories, yes so have I. Nevertheless it was a big piece of the puzzle. So the process is you pay for your visa fees at Standard Chartered Bank, get an appointment date and then turn up to be interviewed for the Visa. Sounds simple right? Well unfortunately due to the large demand for US Visas in Ghana there is quiet an interesting twist.

The easiest part is paying for the visa. Well that part is easy if you have the money. Currently the visa fee is 170 GHs.
Now getting an appointment date is a nightmare. Well if you don’t plan ahead. So appointment dates are released periodically but now due to the demand people book them as soon as they are released. So my advice to you is that if you want an appointment date book early. Or have someone monitor the internet 24/7 for you :)

So I managed to secure an appointment date by determination and help from my mother. Now the big interview.
So my appointment was at 7:30. Since I don’t practice GMT (Ghana Man Time), I was there 30 minutes early. But to my surprise, the door opens at 7:30.So I had to loiter around.
I met a woman who told me not to go far since at 7:30 when the gates are opened people will start to run. Run! Can you imagine? I mean Ghanaians is Ghana that bad. That people have to run for the chance to get an American Visa. I know America is a land of opportunity and hope but still we can make Ghana better than America or any other country.

So after the 100 meter dash to form a queue, we went in batches of 10 at a time. Ok so I thought with the appointment system you would walk into an office, meet with your interviewer at the appointed time. Man I had quite a shock. So the structure is like bank with teller points.

You first present your documents at one point and then all your fingers are scanned into the system. Then after a while, you are called for the interview.

For those who think the interview is a private affair, then think again. You do this interview in front of everyone. Well in all honesty you can keep the matter private if you speak in a low tone. But of course at that point especially when the interview is not going well, trust me people raise their voice.

I had to hear a young lady pour out her personal issues and in the end she was refused a visa. The refusal process can also be public. This is because they will give you back your documents if you are not getting a visa. If you are getting a visa then you get a white slip. You are then asked to come back.

So if you are going for a visa make sure you have a genuine reason and you can prove that you will come back to our good motherland.

This is the end of phase one. Well I got the Visa and my four day adventure to the US begun.

But that is another story.

Keep Reading things get really interesting…

High Tension---Ghana Waits

Well by popular request my political blogging must continue. Before I start , Happy New Year to you all. This year promises to be great. Don`t doubt it just take my word for it. So here goes …..

Can you imagine we are still in the process of deciding who should be the next president of Ghana. In fact as I blog now elections are going on in the Tain constituency. Hopefully by Saturday a winner should be declared. I heard the ruling party took an injunction to the fast track court to prevent the Electoral Commission from declaring a winner. I need to pause now and drink water for this one. When I heard it I was like WHAT!!!!!!. I mean how long must we wait for the obvious. The opposition Party is in the lead and the Tain constituency voted for the opposition party in the first round of elections. Unless there is a political miracle or some senior political tactics, I can`t see Tain shifting their vote for the ruling party.

Ok for the person harboring some hope at least you can believe the numbers. For the ruling party to win they need to secure at least 40,000 of the 53,000 vote available in that constituency. In the first round of the election only about 33,000 of the electorate exercised their electoral franchise so you see already the numbers don`t favor the ruling party. Hmm but some die hards are still holding on. Please oooh, Ghanaians are tired of this back and forth. We need to end this and have a winner declared and sworn in by December 7th so that we can progress. Remember that at the end of the day we are all Ghanaians and we must do all we can to keep the peace and see the nation progress.

On another note I am suffering small small now you can’t use these expression moving forward and changing without some raising an eyebrow and associating you with one political party. Even the media are shying away from it expect some radio stations who have shown that they lend their full support to one political party. I find that unprofessional, as a national radio station one should present an objective view to the public not one filled bias.


I almost forgot to inform you of the state of the nation on Monday (29th December 2008). It was not easy ooh. Apparently the night before the ruling party had sent in some numbers from their strong holds and their validity was being contested by the opposition party. Some supporters from the opposition had gathered at the electoral commission with machetes, sticks and other offensive weapons. There was tension in the atmosphere. So the following day saw banks closing early and everyone going home to listen to the electoral commission announce the results. Man Ghana was at a standstill, we were all waiting. We were scared that the peace that the nation enjoyed would be marred by political violence. I have to confess that on that day, I was without my trusty Renault Clio so I had to rely on public transportation. As I was waiting for a taxi I saw a group of about 10 people men and women chanting we want change with sticks in their hands. I immediately panicked since I was all alone and was not sure if this was a breakaway section of the irate opposition supporter or friendly demonstrators. We I didn`t stick around to find out. I jumped straight into a taxi that had just arrived and for lack of a better expression fled the scene.

We waited for hours for the results to be announced and when it was announced we discovered that the opposition party was in the lead but had to secure more votes from the Tain constituency to keep the lead and win the elections. The ruling party however followed closely behind the opposition and could overturn the results. However the numbers are not in their favor.

I would have to like to end this with a flip side, but unfortunately this is no laughing matter. The only thing I can say is that Tain has become popular and it seems one of the ways to gain popularity in both foreign and local media is to boycott elections. Can you imagine! Now we all know Tain when at first most Ghanaians had not heard of Tain. Hmm No one should get ideas oooh. Their other ways to get you village on the map. I will think of some and let you know.

My final thoughts are that the ruling party and the opposition party should let the will of the people prevail. I know it may not be easy for some since they have poured in a lot of money in the campaign but at the end of the day Ghana is most important. So please let the transition from the old government to the new one be smooth. Losing an election is not the end. It is just a new beginning. The next round of election is just a few years away
So to all Ghanaians let as agree to disagree about who we think will be a better leader but most importantly to agree that we want peace and Ghana to progress into a developed nation.