Brian Runs for WCN: Ewaso Lions

Hello! I'm Brian, and since 2013, it's been my ridiculous good fortune to raise funds for WCN Ewaso Lions—in Samburu, Kenya—with little more than my feet.

 

2021 has been difficult—in the United States, in Kenya, the world over. I quite honestly wasn't sure what to say, what to write. So I sought out inspiration, as I often do, from Ewaso Lions; and I found it in a July blog entry from Dr. Shivani Bhalla, their founder and executive director. She said, "I had no idea what I was doing back then [2007], but I knew why—and that is what mattered and what kept us going."

 

That absolutely resonates with me today. I truly have no idea what I'm doing (I'm just running!), but they have, indeed, been my why since a lion named Loirish was shot and killed and dismembered in 2013. Looking back, our "found family" was forged in that tragedy. Now Ewaso Lions inspires me; and I, in turn, inspire Ewaso Lions. That's what matters. That's what keeps us going. "Why" on an infinite loop.

 

My latest adventure on their behalf started on 21 December 2020 and concludes on 19 December 2021. I called it #52Weeks4Lions with the promise to run at least 5 miles (8.047 km) a day, 6 days a week (1 rest day a week), for 52 straight weeks.

 

I, uh, overshot a little bit—in the running community, we call those "bonus miles".

 

And so what was supposed to be 1,560 miles (2,510.577 km) became 2,260 miles (3,637.117 km)—yeah, I sort of overshot by 700 bonus miles, surpassing my previous best year (2,211 miles in 2012) by 49 miles. "Ridiculous good fortune," indeed.

 

I know, I know, I can hear your question forming, "But... my dude... why?"

 

And my answer is both singular and plural. It's because I mourned the death of Naramat (2008—2021), the famous grandmother lioness of the Koitoger pride. Because I had to celebrate the arrival of 8 new warriors to the team—including Lkasian, who I met in camp in 2020. Because the Ewaso Nyiro river from which this team takes its name—it ran dry for several months. "Because" on an infinite loop.

 

Because.

Because.

Because.

 

In parting, thanks for your infinite support—past, present, and future! Coexistence is possible between wild lions and the pastoral people living alongside them. I've seen it with my own eyes, there, in Samburu. Any donation you share is much appreciated, and will go towards Lion Collaring—the tracking of lions through GPS monitoring.