BOMF- 16k race up Mt. Kenya while straddling 2 hemispheres

6k (3 and 3/4 miles) to go, about 10,000ft above sea level, I took a glance behind me and there he was just 100 meters away....a heart wrenching feeling having ascended so far all alone. I quickly commenced a mentally taxing, tactical triage as I calculated a way to create enough distance between us. The tactic, an acceleration at each of these acute gradient switchbacks in the oxygen depleted air that might establish just enough distance causing the chase to abort....

From 16K up to Mt. Kenya to 11800ft

Physical activity has not been my strength while being in Nairobi. The roads lacking sidewalks, the reckless Kenyan drivers nor the client's demands are conducive to a regular exercise routine. So when an email populated my outlook requesting someone to fill a spot in a 16k (~10 miles)race up Mt. Kenya (from 7800ft to 11800ft)I apprehensively accepted. Influenced by the fact that I would at least get to see Mt. Kenya even if I knew it was going to be a struggle to traverse the 16K up the mountain.