Almaty’s Bristol2Beijing Challenge
Various shades of bright lycra bounced up and down outside an Almaty park – perhaps a late night party that had lost its way in the bleary morning light.
Despite the early hour, there was palpable excitement in the air, which rapidly infused into my own waking body. We, a group of fourteen, had gathered to do our own B2B challenge – and believe it or not, this was the first time I (by which I mean Kate) had organised an event en route to bring people together. I was left wondering why it had taken so long and determined to do more in the future.
Marzhan (top left), Akhbar (bottom left) and all of the other wonderful people who joined us for the B2B run in Almaty!
After the stretching and obligatory photos we set off from the Botanic gardens, our first ‘B’, running along Almaty’s shaded cycle paths and dodging the occasional speeding electric scooter. Chatter hummed through our moving group as people got to know each other, or caught up on the happenings of the last week. Mountains, sun and bright blue sky were the backdrop as we ran past a column 28 metres tall, atop which stood the Golden Warrior and snow leopard, commemorating Kazakhstan’s independence. I realised I was experiencing something very special – people we had brought together being active and having fun. The positivity was impossible to ignore.
Marzhan, in a bright blue top, told me she had started running two years ago, initially to accompany her cousin who was training for a race. At that time she was searching for balance in her life: “I was only working and reading and I didn’t have any hobbies” and she had started counselling sessions. Running helped Marzhan find that balance and although “it took three months before running began to feel easier”, it has now become her community and passion. Marzhan’s smile and relaxed and warm attitude suggests at the positive impact it’s had on her life.
As we continue through a tree-lined avenue, a young Kazakh, Akbar, with chocolate eyes and a bambi face, runs alongside me. He tells me that most men in Kazakhstan in their mid-twenties begin to gain weight – and it’s seen as a good thing as “being big means you are powerful,” Akbar tells me. But Akbar doesn’t subscribe to this mentality and started running eighteen months ago though now he does Crossfit. I wince. From what Jeremy has told me – and made me do – I know that Akbar must have a high pain threshold.
We reach our second ‘B’ – Bowler’s coffee shop, in a trendy part of central Almaty. The pavements are spacious and tree-lined and the plain grey-beige of the upper apartment floors contrast with the bright and modern ground floor shops: fairy lights, slick signage, and shiny cake counters. Welcoming chairs spill out onto the street and we plonk into them.
At the end of the run outside Bowler’s
Post-run the energy levels are even higher, and I ask the group what it is that binds Kazakhstan together – after all, it is a country almost the size of continental Europe, with Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Koreans, Tatars, Chechens amongst the plethora of ethnic groups represented, predominately as a result of Stalin’s purges between the 1930s and 1950s. At independence, in 1991, Kazakhs were a minority in their own country though now they form around 70% of the population.
“Freedom” replies one woman.
“Our hospitality” answers another, “we welcomed in the exiles of the Soviet Union.”
“Our schooling alongside one another,” comes a further response.
Whatever it is that brings the Kazakh nation together, today it has been running that has brought this group together.
It was a surprising morning for me; I have always prioritised the physical workout of training – I want to feel I have really used my body. But that morning I began to discover the immense power of connecting through exercise – to be moving together, doing something a little different together. Seeing so many people enjoying themselves gave me an entirely different sense of satisfaction – that of having facilitated a happy event. This will be a “duh!” moment to some people, but I am glad I am beginning to learn this now and not even later.
One of the key aims of the Bristol2Beijing expedition is to spread the CanLive philosophy: create your own opportunities to make your life a little richer, fuller, healthier. It’s not about cycling to China. And one thing I have learnt, and loved, is that the Bristol2Beijing challenge has opened up the expedition so anyone can participate in their own way. It has been a joy hearing of the different challenges you have done – whether that is tutu-wearing Londoners or an Anglo-Saxon adventure (check out Jane Phillip’s adventure), and much more besides – which are wonderfully in the CanLive spirit. It is heartening and hugely motivating to see the positive energy and goodwill that comes from giving people an excuse to do something a bit different.
I know this will be the first of many Bristol2Beijing challenges and I, for one, can’t wait for the next.
Kate and I during the run through Almaty