Stars Present and Future

Yesterday Uhuru and Apollo were invited to play with our landlord’s daughter Kosi.  Our house is owned by Erastes and his wife Silvia Kibet.  Silvia is a well-established professional runner, finishing 4^th at the Olympic 5000m and running world class times.  She is coached by Italian Renato Canova, who only takes on a few athletes at a time because he believes in giving a lot of personal attention to each one.  When we got to the house Silvia and her daughter Kosi were in the yard sharing watermelon.

Silvia invited us inside.  Silvia lives in a large house by Kenyan standards.  In fact, her house might be considered mid-sized in the United States.  The kids colored while Silvia, her brother in law Stuart, and I talked.  I’ll admit to being a little star struck- I’ve only met a couple world class runners and I’ve never sat in the living room talking to one.  But Silvia was so kind and modest that she made us feel welcome.  I asked her about her racing and training plans.   We also talked about family and growing up in Kenya and the United States.  The kids went outside to play with the chickens.  After about 45 minutes, Silvia announced that she was ready to go training.  Kosi came home to play with us while Silvia went on her afternoon run.  She invited the kids to come back to the house to play and Carey and me to come to watch the spring marathons on their TV.  Although she had never met Carey, she asked me to relay her greetings.  Silvia was remarkably kind and welcoming.

Ebby is an aspiring middle distance runner.  She has run one season setting a mark of 2:06 for 800m on a dirt track at altitude.  She wants to race in Europe; she needs to run 2:03 here which they say translates into 2:00 on a European track at sea level.  Ebby eats with the runners across the hall from our house.  Today invited us to see her place.  Ebby’s place is typical of this neighborhood; about 4-6 residences each occupy a section of a long building.  There might be two buildings together to make a compound which is often gated.  Ebby’s place has two rooms and a kitchen.  One room is completely empty and is ready for another athlete to move in.  Ebby’s room contains a mattress, her suitcase, a row of 6 pairs of running shoes, and a small bedside box containing her notebooks.

Ebby invited us to sit and she talked about her life and goals.  She offered to paint Uhuru’s toenails (she declined).  She offered to help us learn Swahili.  Several children were playing soccer outside; Apollo got up the nerve to join in.  Ebby invited us to come back tomorrow.

I continue to be amazed at the hospitality and kindness of the Kenyans.  While Silvia is a running superstar, she remains friendly and welcoming.  Despite differences in competitive levels and wealth, the same kind spirit showed in both Silvia and Ebby.