Hello, I hope everyone is doing well. I am checking in from Iten, Kenya. I am one of the college interns for STRIVE this summer with Peter. We both arrived in Nairobi on Saturday morning and flew to Eldoret with the group leader Rob and got a lift with the smiley Kibet to the High Altitude Training Centre in Iten. This is my first time in Africa and my first time with Strive Trips. So far, my experience has been great. I have been enjoying exploring the city of Iten and walking into town with Rob and Peter. We went on our first run yesterday and  I DEFINITELY could feel the 8,000 ft elevation limiting the amount of oxygen I could take in. Had a lot of fun running on the famous red dirt roads and am really looking forward to working hard and running a lot over the next few weeks. The high schoolers don’t arrive until Saturday, so that gives us all time to meet people and explore the town a bit more before they arrive. I am excited for their arrival and for them to experience something new – almost all of them will be experiencing this together for the first time – and to see them meet and make as many connections as they can. Iten is a bit chilly, I have noticed. It has been raining a lot at night and in the mornings. The weather here is perfect for running, which is a bonus of training here. The people here are very sweet and welcoming. Overall, I am super excited for this adventure and I am looking forward to meeting more people and helping the community as much as I can.

–Sunitha

I met another Sunitha in Iten – a school girl at Kamirany Primary. Her classmates got a kick out of hearing we share a name.