Christmas is a time of giving and caring. So here is an inspiring story of a runner who dedicated a whole year to a cause close to his heart!
1) Raising awareness of the troubles in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been your mission this year. Can you explain to readers what is happening there and why you took on this cause?
For over a decade the eastern Congo has been blighted by instability this has led to over 5 million lives lost and many more ruined – the Congo was the centre of Africa’s world war – no one seems to know this. Academically the war was supposed to have stopped in 2003, however, on the ground this is far from true with the region still unstable and many people fearful of returning home for the safety of their families. Despite the atrocities that occur in the DRC, it receives very little coverage in the UK, the UK has no historical links to it or troops on the ground so why should people be interested you might ask? One element that lives on after the war, and is why I’m so passionate about getting more people to be aware of the instability in the DRC is how sexual violence and rape has been used and is still used as a tactic by troops, so much so that the U.N. has called the Democratic Republic of Congo the "rape capital of the world". Throughout the conflict the use of sexual violence against vulnerable civilians has become a weapon to soldiers and militia to destroy the very fabric that binds Congolese society together – sexual violence has destroyed families, broken villages and communities apart. If you think this is all in the past then you need only to look back to August, when nearly 300 women and children were the victims of a rebel attack. The rapes happened only 20 miles away from a U.N. base.
I’ve been interested in the DRC for many years, but only in August 2009 did I feel the need to do something. I visited the refugee camps in Goma in Eastern Congo and by chance spoke with a women who had been raped and lost her unborn child because of the attack. There isn’t much that you can say to someone when you hear what they’ve been through – I just said sorry, and it wasn’t enough. I felt so weak and pitiful. I doubt anyone could have been in that position and not felt compelled to do something. When you looked around and saw where she, and thousands more, were living it just seemed completely disgusting that nobody knows what people in the Congo have been through and still are.
2) You ran 12 marathons in 12 months, plus some ultra distance events and triathlons. Has running always been a passion for you and if so, has running 'for a cause' changed your approach to racing and training?
Running is something that I love to do, because it helps me think and relax. I’ve got to thank my old man for getting me into it! I never used to race, because I was worried it would take the fun out of it, I don’t like running against a clock – running shouldn’t feel pressurized. When I returned from Congo in 2009 I had actually signed myself up for the Nottingham Marathon as a bit of a challenge. I think in that race, I realised that running marathons was going to be my way to get people interested in the DRC. The reason why, is that when I was at about 23 miles I felt completely useless, weak, tired, drained and couldn’t go on and it reminded me of when I was sat in Goma speaking to the lady who had been raped – there was a link there for me. So by running the marathons it would remind me of how I felt back on that day in August. I never want to forget that moment and never will, and the one way to remind myself about it is through running, when I push myself to the point where I feel so weak and that I’m going to collapse it takes me back. So now when I run, I use a watch, I time myself and I’m eager to run my hardest to reach that point. But also because I think if people are supporting you and, given everything that has happened to the people I’m running for, I think they deserve me putting everything into every run and that’s what I’ve tried to do this year – leave nothing on the track. I’ve trained a lot this year and I’m pretty tired from it now, but it has definitely been worth it because it has helped me run to my maximum.
3) You ran a marathon in DRC. Can you tell us more about what it was like - your lasting memories and what the run achieved. (Extra motivation or exposure,...???)
This is from my blog:
5am start. Had a rough night’s sleep. The evening before I had been pretty tense and uptight. After everything to get here, the whole year and then spending time speaking with the women who had been assaulted during the conflict…I just wanted to run. At this point I still believed that this run would change things.
After picking up an armed guard from the local police station, some sugar cane and a letter from the police authorising the run we began just after 7am on a gorgeous morning.
It was stunning I can’t get over to you how stunning the views were – a giant blood orange sun rapidly rising up into the sky, fishing boats on the lake and people milling about down by the shores. The only blemish to the view was me and Dom attempting to warm up. We looked like the visual representation of dyslexic yoga.
The first few miles of the run were quite tricky as we tried to find a steady pace. With cars, lorries and motorbikes buzzing round you; it didn’t feel the safest place to be running. I also found it pretty off-putting having three camera lenses pointed at me when we were running, I didn’t know where to look.
After a mile or so we attracted the attention of some young children who decided to run along with us. This part was immense just playing games, running in stupid ways, high fiving people, felt so alive just running along with them. This helped me relax and I begin to start enjoying the run. Felt like Forest Gump.
The day warmed up so quickly and with UN trucks flying past, my eyes and lungs began to clog up with orange dust. I remember the mixture of dust and sweat making my eyes sting and burn.
I tried counting the UN trucks but lost count after about 25 or so. All seemed pretty friendly, but they were always tooled up with guns. I couldn’t help but think that it must be hard for them to be linked into communities when you spend all day with a gun in your hand or you just [travelling] through villages on giant truck miles above the people looking down on them.
Having heard from a number of people that it was the villages where the attacks are likely to occur I began to tense up again when we left the outskirts of Bukavu. I had also begun to pull away from Dom at this point and I had lost the vehicle out of my sight. From speaking to Nicola after the race they had been spotting a fair few people up in the hills shouting at us waving machetes. I’m glad I found this out after the event.
Generally people were quite unsure about us to begin with as a lot of people thought we were UN soldiers. But with a few friendly Swahili and French phrases the stern faces turned into massive smiles.
After about 10km we must have had about 7 or 8 children running with us, by about 20km there must have been 20 children with us. It was amazing they were so happy. I remember carrying a few on my back and just running, singing, dancing and laughing so much. Never felt that happy before – the kind of happy where you feel that your mouth is going to rip from smiling so much. Wholesome like brown bread.
At 37km we arrived at a Women for Women project and spent an hour or so looking round and speaking with the women who spend time there, it was a great opportunity to spend more time there and learn, but I just wanted to run.
The whole time I just wanted to run and be on the road, I could feel my legs begin to tighten; we had 7 more kilometres to go. I was conscious that because we had been chatting and playing along the way that I had been running as hard as I could. I promised myself in January that every race I run, I do it as hard and as fast as I could. With this in mind I sped off. I wanted to feel knackered and drain at the finish, not just coast over the line. At one point I was hitting 18km/ph
As I ran quicker and my body began to tire my mind was flying in circles and becoming blurrier. I kept on going over the question of why am I running or thinking of the people I had met along the way, friends at home, and then it started to bite – what the hell would this run achieve?
It was dawning on me increasingly that what had started as my project would never succeed if I kept it as my idea. Up until then I had been pretty precious about it because of the hours and effort I had put into this, more than any of you know. I’ll sneak out my flat at 3am and going running, I’ll be scribbling ideas down on the tube, running for Congo has become such a massive part of my life. But as I came to the finish it hit me that the marathon will do little and because of this I realised I’m not able to create the change I want to see on my own. I learnt on the final few painful kilometres that the people in the DRC need all different types of people working for them in the UK to make the Government aware that the UK public want them to be proactive in helping to end the conflict in the DRC. That way the people in Eastern Congo will hopefully no longer have to suffer the fate of their parents.
I just hope that the Congo marathon and every mile I’ve ran this year is the equivalent of a Jaeger bomb on a night out, a catalyst. I hope more people are interested and aware.
I crossed the line and collapsed. Just sitting there in a storm drain head in heads. Felt lost and lonely. Up until this point all that had mattered was getting to Congo and completing the marathon. I had completed it, what next. I was lost.
I found it hard, as there were villagers all around me just staring at me not knowing what I had done or why. The click of the camera shutter in the background and a microphone in my face. I couldn’t speak, I just felt numb, my mind was full of horrific images.
As rough and as lost as I felt I also had a sense of pride about what I had achieved. So many people said I couldn’t do it, it was dangerous and I was putting my life and others at risk. My folks didn’t want me to do the run. But I did it.
None of this year would have been possible without everyone’s support. This gives me a fair amount of hope, because people are interested in the DRC, we just need a few more people to get interested. On the face of it you may think the DRC is doomed, but if you try and make a difference then things happen. I still remember the line for the Genocide Memorial in Kigali.
“To save one life is to save the world”
How about this
“To change one view is to change the worlds views”
4) How will the funds raised help? In such an unstable environment can permanent change be achieved? What can readers do to help?
Women for Women International has helped over 30,000 women in DRC rebuild their lives after they have often been violated, sexually abused, have lost their homes and tragically sometimes their children and husbands.
They do this through a one year programme where women get the help that they need. This could be counseling and support, a safe space to talk about their experiences, help with understanding their rights, help to develop vocational skills or business skills, and micro loans to help them set up their own business, so they can become economically independent and send their children to school. http://www.womenforwomen.org/news-women-for-women/congo-women-living-in-fear.php
Change can definitely happen in the DRC. What people can do is to be aware and take an interest, that’s all I’ve wanted – to see people care about an issue that is so important. One great way that people can support women in the DRC is by taking part in the the Women for Women Run for Congo and showing your support for those who have suffered because of the conflict and also raise funds at the same time http://www.womenforwomen.org/help-women/run-for-congo-women-london.php
If you want to support Women for Women then please donate on www.justgiving.com/runforcongo – all money raised goes directly to the DRC.
Photo: Run For Congo - Chris Jackson with WFWI team on July 3, 2010 at Regents Park
5) What are your ambitions for the future?
I’m not too sure. I’m glad to have finished, but just because I have finished I’m now eager to make sure that I don’t think that I’ve done my bit and forget the DRC, this won’t happen. People have asked what’s next for me……You’ll find out soon enough, but for now I’m going to focus on resting and spending time with friends and family, because one way or another I think I might have neglected them this year as I’ve been so focused on running for Congo.
I need a break now for a bit, a chance to recharge my batteries, mull over some ideas and get my drive back, because I’m fatigued, in a good way. I’m glad I feel like this because I know that I’ve done as much as I can. I was worried that I could do more, but as this year has come to an end with the last marathon I know I’ve done my best and that more people are now aware about the Congo.
To read more about Chris check out his blog at www.runforcongo.wordpress.com
or go to his fundraising page: www.justgiving.com/runforcongo
