Running in Cantho – A Progression

As Bilbo would say, “It’s an adventure.” In February of last year, when we first started our work with Can Tho University, I tried running on the streets here, but I found it too frustrating and mostly abandoned any kind of a fitness routine for the time we were here. In July, as I reported in earlier blogs, I decided to fit in some kind of exercise and took to walking during our long lunch breaks. These walks provided me with the opportunity to see and experience parts of the city close up.

This visit, however, comes in the midst of a stepped-up fitness routine for myself, and I am determined to keep it going. So I decided to again try running. Those of you who have done both walking and running will appreciate that what you see and experience with these two forms of exercise is quite different. With running, I am no longer a casual observer of the street scene in Can Tho, but one who struggles to make it back without first a) collapsing from exhaustion, b) breaking my leg on a dislodged piece of concrete, curb, or a large stone jutting out of the ground, and c) being hit by one of an infinite number of passing motorbikes, bicycles, trucks, or buses.

I have found running on the streets here to be roughly equivalent to a Pike’s Peak Run in downtown Manhattan, only without the ascent and descent, and with motorbikes and bicycles instead of yellow cabs. The surface changes almost constantly and I am always scanning the ground three to five feet in front of me for impending disasters. For one or two blocks I might have finely tiled sidewalk, gleaming in its almost marble-like appearance. Then it abrubtly ends with a dirt path winding through the overgrowing grass and weeds along the side of the street. The dirt path might then taper off onto a rough patch of concrete that seems like, at one time, it might have been something like a sidewalk but has long since succumbed to the constant shifting and heaving of the earth. Then perhaps more tiled sidewalk and then a drainage ditch, with nowhere to run but the street, where I both gingerly dance around pools of stagnant water mixed with a variety of petroleum products and artfully dodge oncoming motorbikes and bicycles. To an outside observer, it must surely seem like I am auditioning for a dancing part in West Side Story.

In addition to the terrain, I have also overcome my feelings of self-consciousness and being quite conspicuous. Imagine this large white guy, lumbering down the crowded and hectic streets of Can Tho filled with Vietnamese citizens, in the middle of the day, wearing shorts and a t-shirt soaked with sweat. My strategy? Avoid eye contact whenever possible, which is not hard when your primary job is to keep from tripping or falling flat on your butt in the middle of traffic. It is also very hot during the middle of the day, the best time for me to run both in terms of my energy and available time.

But, following Kris’ lead, I have tried running in the early morning, going out about 5:00. Again, not such a noble effort when I have been awake already for at least a couple hours, still trying to adjust to the time change. At first, it seemed great and the perfect solution to almost all the barriers I had experienced – much cooler, far fewer people and vendors on the sidewalks and vehicles on the street, enough darkness so I didn’t have to see people wondering what in the hell I am doing, but enough light from the street lamps to illuminate this crazy patchwork surface. But alas! Paradise lost – the street lights shut off about 30 minutes before it becomes light enough to really see much of anything! Then, paradise has been transformed into a literal struggle for survival. So, the trick, I have decided is to go out early enough to get back before the lights are extinguished. That would mean about 4:30. Hmmm.

I am absolutely amazed, however, at the level of human activity going on in and on the streets at 5:00 in the morning. People of all ages, from the young playing badminton on the sidewalk (another minor “obstacle” to dodge around) to older women walking. People schlepping their wares on trailers behind struggling motorbikes, or on foot pushing carts along the darkened streets. A woman setting up her “shop” on the sidewalk, her wares and station dimly lit by a small, battery-operated lamp sitting on the ground.

Yesterday (Sunday), I had the treat of meeting a herd of lamb grazing on grass and garbage along the side of the street. Perhaps a dozen of them, at first loosely scattered and strung out along the draining ditch but, as I approached, they quickly organized and acted as if I was herding them home, bleating and prancing in front of me for a distance, until they turned off onto a driveway. And yes, you unbelievers! They were confirming to my theory of grazing in herds – all facing in the same direction. Further cross cultural support for an emerging theory.

The other neat thing about running is the gazes I received, from onlookers on the sidewalk to passengers on motorbikes and bicycles who, as they pass, turn their heads to look at this bizarre scene and to often smile and greet me. It is hard not to make eye contact with such an interesting and hospitable group of people.

Well, that is perhaps more than you wanted to know about running in Can Tho. Evidence, though, that we can overcome our inner fears and doubts. Just buck up and do it!