I have always been drawn to athletics. I can sit alone for over two hours following a marathon race cheering alone like a woman possessed.
I've learnt just how resilient the human body can be, but in the same vein, appreciated just how that resilience is highly dependent on the mind. Once the mind gives up, nothing, and I mean nothing can push the body that extra 100m. On the other hand, when the mind is focused on the finish line, there is no stopping the body.
A brilliant example is the 2008 Beijing Summer, where our very own Samuel Wanjiru not only won the 42km Marathon race in the men's category but also set a new world record of 2hr, 6min, 32sec. The country was thrown into frenzied jubilation as we screamt ourselved hoarse in front of the televisions. The finish line for the race was inside the Bird's Nest stadium. Wanjiru had set a brilliant pace throughout the race but when he entered the stadium amid the cheering from the fans, a new force inside him was reawakened. If you had missed the rest of the race, you would be forgiven for thinking that he was doing a 400m sprint. He sped to the finish line with such speed, we were on our feet screaming like mad people.
It is in the same olympics that our wonder girl Pamela Jelimo made a statement. That 800m race for women was not the preserve of the Ethiopians. This girl had just won the Diamond league gold bullion, never losing a single race in the entire circuit! She brought that ooomph to the Beijing Olympics a d casually strode away with the gold medal. Watching her run was a moment of rapture. Nothing could distract me. One did not breathe for the entire race.
Our Golden Boy David Rudisha broke into the world record dormain in 2012 at the London Olympics. We all went crazy watching this tall sculpted athlete take the race like he owned the world platform. Indeed he did. He was the first man ever to run the race in under 1min 41sec. By the 200m mark, he would have pulled away from the pack, looking like he was not part of the race. His mind was so focused he never paid attention to his competition. His competition was the standing world record.
I compare our great heroes to these men and women of greatness. Today they see the finish line. Today they set foot in county number 14. Their walk across Kenya is done. Tomorrow's walk is short and ceremonial. For them today is when the walk comes to a close. The burst of energy in them as they close in on the end is amazing. They are exercising the 'finish line kick'!
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