We arrived at the event a few minutes past 9AM. We came in several small groups since we all came from different places so we waited as we assembled everyone from our team. A girl hung around the group quietly, as people chatted excitedly. 

When the whole team had arrived, I headed for the registration desk allocated to the corporate teams around. She walked up to me and introduced herself as Margret.

She wanted to compete in the races and wondered if I could include her in our team. She had heard about the athletic competition, 'Run for Mau' and had decided to show up, only to find that all the race categories had an entry fee.

She did not have any money and on top of that, she had ditched a shift at the restaurant she worked in so that she could run the marathon. She explained that she had competed in a number of athletic competitions and the most recent being an long-race in Nairobi where she had finished 5th.

Initially I had assumed that she was a student at the campus, Egerton University but she was not in school. After completing high school, she moved from her home town etched in the slopes of Mount Elgon and moved in with her older sister in Njoro. She then found work in a local Kibandaski (small roadside eatery) as a server.

I saw no harm and after a little consultation with some team members, we registered her with Global Fast Fit. We were given our running numbers and went out to have a stretching session. 

Soon after, our race category was next. We were competing in the Corporates and Alumni's 4km race which had upwards of 120 participants. We assembled at the start line and began the race. She maintained a moderately brisk pace and run barefoot through the gentle bends, the small inclines and declines, the 2 meter muddy patch, jumping the 1/2 meter bales of hay, through dry prickly grass and hot gravel, jumped over two ½ meter trenches and won the race. 

By the time we handed over the prize money to her, it was getting chilly. 

The day had been a scorcher but by 5pm the winds were cold and blustery. 

Standing by the bustling road, she took off the Global Fast Fit t-shirt she had been racing in and put on her cobalt blue t-shirt, then put the Global Fast Fit t-shirt back on top. She broke into a jog towards a restaurant she worked at as a server. 

She kept glancing back at us as if at any moment we would burst her bubble. She had a mile long smile on her face. She couldn't believe she'd won cold hard money.

I had earlier on asked for her contact details to which she replied that she had never owned a phone. So when I handed her the prize money, she gleefully told me that she was going to buy a phone immediately. I quickly jotted down my number on the envelope with the prize money and she promised to call me as soon as she bought her first phone.

She got quite a lot of attention and the prize money. All this just because she showed up.