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Runner's World Daily
February 17, 2005
Feature Story
Kenyan Running Safari
People List Trip's Highlights
by Amby Burfoot
Below, some of the runners who just returned from the first Kenyan Running Safari talk about their overall impressions and favorite moments.
Mark, 39, Fort Lauderdale FL
Impression: "It was a dream come true to run side by side with the beautiful, talented runners from Kenya, and then to be invited into their lives to talk, to have a meal, and to see how they live."
Moment: "My biggest thrill came the day after the North Rift Valley Race when my picture was in the Daily Nation. That never happens when I race in Fort Lauderdale, never mind in Kenya, where I finished last."
Steve, 34, St. Louis MO
Impression: "I was stunned to discover how friendly and personable the great Kenyan runners are when compared to most American sports superstars. The Kenyans were all so giving and down to Earth."
Moment: "After a run in Eldoret, Daniel Komen came back to my room to hang out and chat for a while. When he saw my Haile Gebrselassie biography, he started paging through it, and he got very excited when he found his name in it."
Mary, 30, Nashville TN
Impression: "I was overwhelmed by how friendly and hospitable the Kenyan athletes were. They welcomed us into their homes and lives, fed us meals, and invited us to return again."
Moment: "One afternoon, I ran for 30 minutes with Richard Limo, the 5000-meter gold medalist in the 2001 World Championships. He slowed down to stay beside me, and we spent the whole time talking about growing up, our lives, our running-everything you could think of-and then finished at a beautiful overlook of the Rift Valley."
Bill, 50, Bartow FL
Impression: "It was amazing how we were able to see, run with, and talk with the Kenyan runners. It brought to life all the stories about them and their culture"
Moment: "One evening I was talking with a Kenyan professor, and he asked me where I live. I told him, and he said, 'I know someone who lives there, Wesley..' Before he could finish, I filled in the last name. Talk about a small-world experience."
Ami, 32, Pacific Palisades CA
Impression: "I was amazed by how much we were able to talk to the Kenyan runners, and listen to them, and sense their humbleness and spirituality."
Moment: "At Wilfrid Bungei's house, when his new wife Priscah stood up to tell us how happy and blessed they felt to have us as visitors in their house, I had tears in my eyes, because we were the ones feeling lucky and blessed to be there."
Ben, 56, Pleasantville NY
Impression: "The trip exceeded my expectations by a factor of ten. The terrific thing was that, unlike on most tourist trips, we actually got invited into Kenyan homes to talk with them and eat with them. Kip Keino served me tea!"
Moment: "When we were at Lornah Kiplagat's house, she treated us like honored guests and at the same time talked very frankly about her running. I remember especially that she said it made no sense to get nervous before races because that just wasted energy."
Bob, 34, Fort Walton Beach FL
Impression: "I learned that the Kenyans don't have just one running secret, but that all the facets of their life-from poverty to high altitude to circumcision rites to diet to training-combine to make them great."
Moment: "One afternoon we visited Kenya's first great track star, a hurdler from the 1950s named Naftali Mutwa. He must have been in his 70s, but he proudly showed us all around his farm, with its bananas and pineapples and avocadoes, and then invited us to tea. It was a particularly warm and intimate experience."
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