My First PRESEC Trotting Experience

It was the second of October 1976. As freshmen, we were scared to death as the event was over-hyped and likened to running the marathon. We were advised to sleep with our running gear on and to sprint out of bed when the bell rang at dawn for the commencement of the 5-mile keep fit exercise towards Kwabenya. The threats of roll call and punishment for those who failed to turn out created an atmosphere of nervousness and anxiety as evening wore on. There were exemptions for those with medical conditions but that process saw behind the scenes transactions of Gari, Milk, Tinapa, feti and Queen of the Coast sardines that made able bodied colleagues stay behind. My belief in fairness was shattered. 

The shrill whistles and bells woke us up and the Akro House contingent was led by Seniors Cheekyway and Oko Martey aka Ayomueller. With slogans like “ Shepeshepe wongbontong”, “Revolution Unabated”, “one, two, theley four” and “Kwabenya is too far, I don’t care”, we headed on the Madina road and then to the Atomic energy road. The villages of Haatso and Papao must have heard us at dawn with our singing and we may actually have disturbed not only their sleep but the serenity of their habitat.

It was tough and I stopped several times along the route only to resume when seniors with belts passed by. Slowly, we got to the bridge passing the residences of Ɔdadeɛs George Gorden and Senior Mamattah and then the Rabbit project, which was the unofficial finish line. The roll call was taken with the aid of flashlights or what we called ‘touchlights’[torchlight] those days and we responded  ‘plesent’ with the little energy left in us. There were no Nike or Reebok running shoes those days but my UNDERGREEN canvas passed the test.

Eddie Cofie

Akro 76-83