We have become friends with a young Kenyan runner named Benjamin whose struggles show the difficulties faced by Kenyans in general and Kenyan athletes in particular. We met Benjamin because he was pacing Sophie Duarte, the French Olympian steeplechaser. Sophie was staying at the same hotel as us. Benjamin offered to help us find a house, walking around several rental properties with us. He is friendly and generous with his time.
Benjamin’s father died three years ago from pneumonia at age 50. His mother is not financially secure. Benjamin would like to race in Europe and the United States to earn money for his family. Getting to race abroad is what all Kenyan runners are aiming for. It’s a bit like the lottery; earning a few thousand dollars prize money is hitting the jackpot in a country where many people live on a dollar a day. The competition is fierce, but Kenyans have a great belief in themselves. Carey met a woman with three children who is trying to make it as a professional. Carey ran with her and reported that she was “not fast,” so probably won’t make it to race abroad yet she was training hard.
Benjamin is a talented runner, and would be likely to earn money abroad. One day after pacing Sophie during a workout he ran a 1500m time trial on Chepkoleil track (at altitude) and ran 3:36, close to the Olympic A standard. He has run 29 minutes for 10k and 1:06 for half marathon. These are prize money winning times, and Benjamin is a young athlete.
In order to get a passport, Benjamin needed a birth certificate. One hadn’t been issued when he was born. He did have immunization records. There can be a very long wait for a birth certificate. As Benjamin described it, he submitted the paperwork, but if he didn’t have money for a bribe so he was told it could take a month to get the paperwork done. When he came back, they looked around and said “we can’t find your paperwork, why don’t you submit it again?” The next time he had the bribe, and so walked away with a birth certificate.
Birth certificate in hand, it was time to apply for a passport. The standard cost is 4000 shillings, about $50. Like the birth certificate, the wait is inversely related to the “extra cost.” Benjamin paid an extra 1000 shillings to get the passport in one week. He came over for dinner last night, passport in hand. He was very happy to have cleared this hurdle.
Benjamin’s friendship with Sophie was a huge help with the next hurdle: getting an invitation to a meet. There are several agents who arrange meets for athletes, but there are far more runners than the agents can handle. I have been asked many times if I know any agents. Benjamin doesn’t have an agent, but he has an invitation to a meet. Sophie knows many meet directors and can vouch for his talent.
Next Benjamin has to get clearance from Athletics Kenya (AK). AK can be very strict. For example, for the world cross country championships, neither the male nor female defending world champions made the team. Last year’s male champion dropped out of the trials race with stomach troubles. AK has a couple “wild card” spots, but used them for other athletes. If AK doesn’t give Benjamin clearance to race he won’t be able to get a visa.
Benjamin should to be able to walk into the French embassy with his passport, invitation, and clearance from AK and get a visa. Finally, the meet manager has to arrange for airline tickets. It is all very complicated. When I ran Boston in 2006 I remember the woman’s winner, Rita Jeptoo, almost didn’t make the race due to visa and airline issues. She finally flew in the night before the race and blew away the field.
The final hurdle, of course, is to race. But after all the red tape, racing could be the easy part. Benjamin continues to train hard (he ran three times today, which is very typical.) His quality workout was 10x400 in 61 seconds with 100m recovery jogs. He plans to do a hill workout tomorrow as his quality workout and will probably train three times again.
So, if Benjamin manages to make it to Europe and bring back prize money, he will have achieved the dream that every one of the hundreds of runners here are aiming for. It would make all the difference for him and his family.
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