Return to Kenya

Yesterday morning I went for a 12 mile run with my young training partner Lino at our favorite spot, Rocky Hill. It had been many moons since I had last frolicked these hallowed grounds of the local running and cycling community and I was thrilled to be able to get back to the birthplace of the nickname that was bestowed upon me when I ran in junior college.

During my time running for College of Sequoias, my coach had given me a video to watch called the Super Milers. I remember once particular scene where the great Kenyan runner Kip Keino is running down a hillside in Eldoret, grinning the whole way, and I am thinking, "this looks just like the backside of Rocky Hill!" So the next week when we were at Rocky Hill doing a hard run I remarked to my coach, "I feel like a Kenyan today!" When asked why, I explained how the backside of Rocky Hill looked like the scene with Keino and since we are training in a place like Kenya, well, then, I need to think and run like a Kenyan. At which point, a teammate blurted out, an "Albino Kenyan!"

Over twenty years later Coach Bronzan is still telling that story to his runners and I am still trying to run like a Kenyan. I know I will never set a world record or win an Olympic medal, but what most people don't know about Kenyan runners is that the reason they are so good is because they love what they are doing. I still love dragging my butt out of bed on a cold Saturday morning to drive 20-30 minutes to my favorite local running spot and trying to put one foot in front of the other faster than I did the day before. So today as I head out the door, I feel like a Kenyan! Maybe an Albino one, but a Kenyan none the less. In Swahili, there is a saying, "Mambu Baddu," which means, the best is yet to come. Time and Mother Nature may have slowed down the ol leg turnover, but I firmly believe that each morning when I lace up, the best is yet to come and that if I keep on running, the Albino Kenyan will be one with his "Kenyan Brethren" all over the world.

As always, stay healthy, keep running, and Mambu Baddu!