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 Kenya must surely be the only country that welcomed its DEAFlympics team with SINGING, but I stand to be corrected. Kenyan athletes do not run- mmmh mmmh. They flee. I know because I have lived in Eldoret, quite near their training camps. I have watched in bewilderment as they sped past a walking me in the name of jogging. I have watched the intensity in their faces as they speak of winning gold medals and setting world records.
And here I am in campus, trying to run a cross country race in a neighbouring country. I am not the only Kenyan, and I am not from the Rift Valley. I am not even an athlete, and I am terribly out of shape. I am in this race only to please my girlfriend, who is a local.
Her name is Alfayo, but do not mind the name- her beauty makes up for it. But that does not matter to her compatriots and my competitors. To them, I am still a threat. I inwardly laugh at them and mourn because of the embarrassment I am about to cause myself. But a man will do anything for a woman- which is why I think I will die a bachelor.
The clappers go and I set off. The sun is blazing, and that gives me a reason should I fail to make it to the finish. The first few minutes are always enjoyable. The people cheer, the energy is flowing, and the hopeless like me get a chance to lead the pack for a while. Alfayo smiles and cheers when I lead. I pity her. She does not know what is coming.
Barely ten minutes into the race and my breath starts becoming short. I rapidly lose my place, and I it will not be too long before I quit. The problem is not losing the race- that is an eventuality I cannot escape. The problem, as I see it, is how to dupe Alfayo, whose smiling face shows she has all her hopes pegged on me. Maybe she even dreams of having a famous, foreign husband with lots of gold medals hung on the living room wall.
Back to present problems. I have to get my solution before I make my grand exit.
We round a bend, and I can see the worried look on Alfayo’s face as she realizes I am nowhere near where I was the last time she saw me. I push myself and try to look calm, as if it is all part of strategy. I wink as I run past her. She shouts an encouragement, but nothing in the tone of her voice is encouraging. I know I am in deep trouble, and that gives me the impetus I need to come up with a reasonable, believable solution. And, judging by my breath rate, I do not have much time. Then it hits me.
We have not reached the halfway point yet, so I had better be convincing. I decide that this is my last lap, and I will make it as dramatic as possible. I run fast and secure my place near the front. It is all part of the plan. As we near my vigilant lady’s position, I put on a pained expression and run with a limp. My competitors look at me suspiciously, but I do not mind. This show is not theirs; it is Alfayo’s. And it works!
She screams at me to get off the track lest I break my leg. I pretend not to hear and run some more. I use my last burst of energy to move up to second position. Then, with great display, I stumble and fall. Alfayo screams as the first aid team rushes up to me with a stretcher. I make a show of pointing at my ankle and making noises of disappointment.
Alfayo reaches me just as I force myself out of the stretcher after my ankle had been twisted. I take a few steps and tell her I am okay.“You could have won that race,” she says, and I smile knowingly. “If you had bothered to practice.”
Lesson learnt: Never take a woman for a fool.
I also learned that we are in a race, and the prize is inheriting God’s kingdom. At times, it gets tiresome, at times we run just to show others that we are capable, but the truth is that we cannot lie to ourselves. We must run to win. No matter how hot the weather is, we must cross the finishing line. That is what we are called to do.About The Author: Meshack Yobby knows first hand what it’s like for the average Kenyan in college. In College Life, he shares with us with his real-life and sometimes unbelievably comical experiences. » Post Comment
» 2 Comments
1"Nice"
at Tuesday, 03 November 2009 20:11
I enjoy reading your articles. Hilarious with a Bible teaching! You should write more often, God bless.
2Comment
at Friday, 29 January 2010 21:56
Goodstuff you guy! Keep the features coming, and I love the allegory, so true we run to finish.
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