We had the option to run again today at 08:00, but I felt I’d done enough now and wanted to rest my legs a little before race day. The plan for today was to be ready in reception by 09:15, to be on the road fifteen minutes later. I was awake early, and without really thinking about it, I got myself ready for a run. I must have been crazy - I didn’t need to run today! I went for breakfast around 07:00, and then met the others in reception for the run. There were far more of us today.

Surprisingly, I was asked if I wanted to lead the run today, so I suggested doing the same route as yesterday, but in reverse. The dirt track was longer than I remembered, but I kept an eye out for the turn with the red bricks - I remembered them clearly from yesterday. I hadn’t realised there was a similar turn though, and almost took the wrong one. The one we wanted was near the school.

As we got closer to the Answer Blessing School, Dana asked Nick B if we could have a look. When we got to the gate, one of the teachers invited us in! We watched as they sang, and danced, with cheers of “I love my country.”

When they started marching in a loop, they got us to join in. We were however running short on time so had to leave a little abruptly, and continue on the run back to the hotel. Fortunately it was simple to find our way back from there.

One shower later, I was back in reception once more, this time for the drive to Musanze. We parked up near the shopping centre and split into groups. Musanze is Rwanda’s second biggest city, so I was sure there must be things to see here. I hadn't done any research, so I wasn't sure where to go. Instead, I decided I’d be better off joining one of the groups and to see what they come across.

Adrian wanted trousers for the gorilla trek, so we went round a supermarket to start with, and found they sold the same tea we’d seen being made. It was tempting but I was unsure if I’d actually drink it or not. We then found some shops upstairs, and from one of them I bought a handmade wooden container for 5000 RWF that I thought I could use for putting paint brushes in on my desk.

Over the road we went into the indoor market, and as we went in a couple of students started talking to us. The one that spoke to me showed me he’d heard of Impact Marathons by showing one of their reels on Instagram. I suspect he’d seen the name on the side of my cap and decided to Google it to try and draw us in. Everyone that spoke to us seemed to be students studying tourism at university, and wanted to practice their English. Fair enough.

We found Bea and Lyndsey there, and as an expanded group we were led around the market with people buying various things as we went. There was a lot going on I felt, and a lot of people trying to talk to us. Adrian did however manage to get some trousers, and tried them on whilst a group of the guys in the market watched him. It felt like we were something of a novelty here. From what I understood, those that were trying to help us, rather than expecting us to tip them, would get a tip from the people they led us to that we bought from.

When we headed back to the bus, Sami arrived back around then too, but one of our group had the thought of getting water whilst waiting for the last few to get back. I joined them and got ice cream, and whilst we were out the rest of our group went for coffee. We then got back, and waited for the others whilst two of our group and Sami were now gone again. When the group of three that had split off at the beginning returned, they wanted water too so were led off to get that. I took that opportunity to run over the road to buy some tea as a souvenir, and got back before the two groups we were now waiting for. Eventually they got back, but Sami did not so we left him behind and drove back to the hotel.

We’d got a very short break before lunch in the room by the pool. It seemed likely we’d been moved there for lunch so that the main restaurant could be used by the conference they were hosting. I think this is what may have caused some delays as they’d insisted we be at lunch promptly at 13:00, but were then quite slow which gave us little time before we needed to be heading back out again.

Whilst we waited for food to be delivered, I was busy placing an order online using my phone, and when I looked up, found we were now playing some games. The game they were playing at the time was to name all countries with four letters… I thought I’d try alphabetically, and started off with Cuba, which just happened to be the one they’d not been able to figure out! I realised Chad would have come first, but I’d forgotten about that one so I doubt I’d have figured them all out either.

After lunch we drove for the best part of an hour to the Ellen Degeneres Campus for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. It’d started raining by this point, and the temperature had dropped too so I was glad it was indoors. Before starting the behind-the-scenes tour, we had to register online, and was then led out to the research centre building.

We started with the ‘poo lab’ where they test faecal and urine samples collected in the field for various things. Our guide for this was an American student looking at hormonal changes in gorillas when they encounter others, specifically cortisol levels. They can also send off samples to European lab partners for DNA testing which can help show parentage for the gorillas they’re studying. Their hope is to bring this in-house in the near future.

He explained the sample collection process, and how they’ll be left inside a glove, and tied up. From the smell in the room, Scott had instantly noticed there was one on the side and pointed at it. Sure enough, it was an example of what we’d been told about. It kind of felt like being on a school trip, but an interesting one.

In the next room were the bones of many gorillas filed away, but one specific female set from the Pedro group was laid out on the table. Next to it was also a male skull to show the differences between the two. The female one had some bones missing on her right hand, and a broken femur as well. It looked like this one had been used for bone samples due to a couple of clean bore holes. We were told that in Rwanda they have a naming ceremony each September for the gorillas born that year. These days, unlike the times of Dian Fossey, the names are of typical Rwandan origin.

As it was raining quite heavily again, they brought some umbrellas across to us so we could use them to get back to the main building. There were switched guides, and were told about the life of Dian Fossey, her work in protecting the gorillas, her murder, and eventual burial next to her beloved Digit - her favourite gorilla. Sigourney Weaver, who portrayed Dian in ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ had paid for a reconstruction of her hut as well, and inside are artefacts that had been owned by Dian. When we heard audio clips of Dian Fossey I was unsure if it was actually Dian, or if it was Signourney.

One of the gorillas that Dian had studied was Poppy, who was famous for having had twin daughters which is uncommon in the gorilla world. She was part of the ‘Susa’ group, which would occasionally interact with the ‘Pablo’ group - sometimes having females moving between the two.

This moved on to talking about the poaching of gorillas, and I started reading the signs towards the end of this.

“…and who are you?” the guide asked me. Confused, I replied “David.”

Everyone started laughing, and I was confused why. It was then explained that whilst I’d been reading, the guide had suggested completing a questionnaire on the iPads to see which of the gorillas you most identify with. Oops!

I went ahead and did this, and got ‘Titus’, but the moment was now gone so I kept that to myself.

We then watched a short video on a 360 degree screen, before moving on to being told about the tracking of the group over the last few decades, and their plans to show tracking off another group also. We could see the hard line between land that belongs to humans, and the part of Volcanoes National Park that is reserved for the gorillas. It felt very abrupt, and showed how little space gorillas have due to that farmland.

At the conclusion of the tour, we spent time in the gift shop. I bought a large slice of chocolate cake for 5000 RWF (it should have been 4000 but I wasn’t going to bother with the change). Whilst the others carried on shopping, I found some stairs up to a viewing area. I didn’t get to spend long up there, but did photograph an Epiphora rotunda moth. I didn’t get long though as someone came round saying they close at 17:00, so I felt I needed to head back downstairs.

Over an hour after we got back it was time for the briefing in the restaurant. Unfortunately two of the group wouldn’t be joining us as Dan had become ill with sepsis, and Lily was at his side in the local hospital. I used to know someone who’d had sepsis, and know how serious it is - I really did wish them all the best, and hoped he’d be okay.

The Impact team had met with the Mayor, and he’d agreed to the race starting at 12:00 tomorrow. The police chief, a keen cyclist and a potential runner for next year, was keen for it to go ahead, and seemed okay with some people setting off a little earlier if they wanted to. Umuganda finishes at 11:00 so after that would be okay. The cut off though needed to be 17:30 as if it went on after dark (sunset is 18:00), it’d move from being a police supported event, to one that needs the army after that point. That just wasn’t feasible really.

We then had a pasta party for the second night running, and we were joined by a large Lobobunaea phaedusa moth. It freaked a few people out, I guess due to the size of it, it’s understandable really. We wouldn’t see moths of this size back home.

I stayed outside in the restaurant until 21:40, after most had gone to bed. It was then time for me to finish getting my running kit ready, and to get some sleep before the big day.