Track and Field Blogs - Francis Coral - Mellon

Hello Again

It’s been three something weeks since my last blog and I have been doing very well. So far I have filmed about 5 hours of footage (40 more to go) and found two of my three characters. For any of those techies out there, I am filming with a Canon HV20 in mostly 24p with a little 60i for slow-motion shots. I will add some pictures into this blog and also onto my personal gallery. These pictures are taken directly from movie footage so you can use your imagination. Sadly I can't upload any movie footage yet because I don't have the resources to take it off the camera where I am. Most of the photos are from a Tuesday morning track session where everyone gathers at Kamariny track and does their various workouts. My impression of these days is that there isn’t a gathering place of such fast runners training quite like this anywhere else in the world. To be honest it can get quite overwhelming to be there in the middle of it all.

I want to take the time to tell you a little about one of my main characters this week as well. His name is Kibet, he is 23 years old and lives in Iten, renting a room. He is one of the many sub-elite athletes here who do not yet have management or sponsorship but continue to train diligently while living with only the most basic of needs. His room is without electricity. His eating schedule consists of drinking tea for breakfast, and eating rice and Ugali for lunch and dinner if he has the money for it. (Ugali is a traditional Kenyan dish, made from maize, rich in nutrients and carbs). He ran a 29.10 10k on the track at altitude and has only been training seriously for about 2 years. A large population of the runners in Iten and the surrounding area are runners like him who have moved here in the hopes of becoming professional athletes and are struggling to get by but can run times which are quite rare in developed countries. Kibet is a great guy and I am happy to have his commitment to be a part of my film.

Finally about my own running, I been a little frustrated with this past week, because I am in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital during election time at the moment. Foreigners are recommended not to leave their houses and that means no running for me. But a couple of days rest is probably good for me since I am running much more than I ever have in my life and my body is feeling it. Next time I write I will hopefully have locked in my final character and can seriously start to shoot the meat and potatoes of the film. I am happy to be able to let people know what I am doing down here thanks to Flotrack. Thanks again for reading.

Until next time,
Francis Coral - Mellon