Wadana Kakakhel, Grade 12
UWCEA Moshi Campus
I never knew the words “24-hour run” would spark so much joy in my heart someday. Second weekend of 2022 and campus was up and running (quite literally). I didn’t know what to expect from the event as everything I had heard was awfully vague. There would be themed laps, various groups, one group of non-stoppers, and different stalls near the field where everything was to take place. Students from Arusha campus would also join us and all residential students would be out and about the whole night. We had gotten tents to pitch on the upper field but a lot of people ended up staying up either all night or a substantial amount of the night anyways.
The run began somewhere in the afternoon on Friday and extremely dedicated individuals were running under the heat of the sun. Songs were blasting from the speakers and soon the sun set and the real fun began. So many memories were made that night that the details blur into each other now. I remember walking around in the dark while reading on my Kindle and then walking with other people and having some interesting conversations with people I hadn’t interacted with in the previous semester. As the night progressed it got colder and it was funny how people that were still walking around the pitch were now wrapped in blankets and looked like a huddle of penguins.
I was on duty at one of the stalls at one point and the amount of people buying sodas was actually insane. When I got back to the field, I saw a friend do some rounds blindfolded, people being pulled in carts, students in costumes for themed laps and a bunch of glow sticks everywhere after midnight. I stopped walking after a couple hours and I caught up with a friend, while I can’t even recall what we talked about, there is warmth associated with that memory. I remember how cold it was and halfway through the conversation loud Spanish music started blaring from the loudspeakers. Occasionally people would take the mic and scream “WAKE UP!!!” and then the music would take over again. I stayed up until sunrise and witnessed the sky light up in beautiful hues of pink and purple, and there was this sense of calm at sunrise.
Kilimanjaro looked breathtaking and it was the perfect end to that night. I have seen that mountain with a nearly white sky as the background, a dark blue, one that feels like childhood losing its grasp of your heart, and countless other moments. This one is by far my favorite. While I have an unhealthy obsession with the night sky and darkness, this view of Kilimanjaro stole my heart and kept it to this day. I’m wary of saying things like “I wish I could go back” because I realize that reliving the moment might ruin it, the course of action for a certain event is not influenced by our future self’s wants and going back to a certain time might ruin the beauty of how naturally it flowed.
And with that I say, I hope the memory of that night and the sunrise that followed always brings me warmth.
The run began somewhere in the afternoon on Friday and extremely dedicated individuals were running under the heat of the sun. Songs were blasting from the speakers and soon the sun set and the real fun began. So many memories were made that night that the details blur into each other now. I remember walking around in the dark while reading on my Kindle and then walking with other people and having some interesting conversations with people I hadn’t interacted with in the previous semester. As the night progressed it got colder and it was funny how people that were still walking around the pitch were now wrapped in blankets and looked like a huddle of penguins.
I was on duty at one of the stalls at one point and the amount of people buying sodas was actually insane. When I got back to the field, I saw a friend do some rounds blindfolded, people being pulled in carts, students in costumes for themed laps and a bunch of glow sticks everywhere after midnight. I stopped walking after a couple hours and I caught up with a friend, while I can’t even recall what we talked about, there is warmth associated with that memory. I remember how cold it was and halfway through the conversation loud Spanish music started blaring from the loudspeakers. Occasionally people would take the mic and scream “WAKE UP!!!” and then the music would take over again. I stayed up until sunrise and witnessed the sky light up in beautiful hues of pink and purple, and there was this sense of calm at sunrise.
Kilimanjaro looked breathtaking and it was the perfect end to that night. I have seen that mountain with a nearly white sky as the background, a dark blue, one that feels like childhood losing its grasp of your heart, and countless other moments. This one is by far my favorite. While I have an unhealthy obsession with the night sky and darkness, this view of Kilimanjaro stole my heart and kept it to this day. I’m wary of saying things like “I wish I could go back” because I realize that reliving the moment might ruin it, the course of action for a certain event is not influenced by our future self’s wants and going back to a certain time might ruin the beauty of how naturally it flowed.
And with that I say, I hope the memory of that night and the sunrise that followed always brings me warmth.
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