Former gym goers in Nyahururu seek alternatives for keeping fit
When the gym he used to frequent was shut down as part of Covid-19 containment measures released by the government last year, Albert Maara was heartbroken since he would not continue with his routine exercise.
He stayed for several months without any physical exercise before he was informed by a friend that a group of former gym goers had teamed up with an instructor to be doing some workouts at a serene location in Nyahururu town.
Today, 31-year old Maara who is a businessman in Nyahururu town has become part of about 30 residents of Nyahururu who religiously turn up for energy-sapping exercise twice a week at a location normally used by the world-beating athletes, who train in Nyahururu, to build up their endurance.
He is among former gym-goers who have been forced to seek alternative ways of keeping fit after exercise houses in Nyahururu were closed following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country last year.
“I had stayed for long without exercise after gyms were closed due to Covid and when I heard there were people doing exercises here I gladly joined them and for one year now we have been coming here to exercise our bodies,” Maara told People Sport.
He added: “It has helped us a lot to keep fit and we don’t tire when doing any routine tasks at our places of work.”
On Sundays they go for 3.5km road run from Nyahururu town to Mairo Inya trading centre, on the Nyahururu-Nyeri highway, and back.
Jane Muraya, 27 years, who joined the group at the beginning of this year has been able to cut her weight from 80kgs to 72kgs as she aspires to be a top sports person in near future.
“When I joined, I received strong encouragement from the other members I found doing it.
The exercise is hard but we are enjoying it,” Muraya who is an employee of Nyandarua County government said.
Their exercise location is a set of steep staircase at the world-famous Thomson Falls.
These are steps used by people to reach the lowest point of the 70-metres high waterfalls.
The group does several runs up the staircase before closing the early morning workout with a 30 minute exercise drill.
Athletics coach, Evaristo Mogaka who has been in charge of the group said it all started with three people early last year and has grown to 30 people.
“It all started with two men approaching me because they needed to cut weight.
We tried to do runs but they did not like it, so I decided to bring them to the stairs and they like the work out here,” Mogaka said.
Mogaka who is a former athlete is full of praise for the group saying they follow instructions with precision.
The workout runs from 6 am to 7 am, a time that normally hand-numbing chilly cold with a lot of mist from the water hitting the bottom of the Falls forming a whitish cloud covering large part of the ravine where River Ewaso Ng’iro, whose source is the falls, runs through.
