What do you think of when you think of resilience?
I’ve always known Kenyans to be one of the most resilient people in the world. I’m currently sitting in a workshop session where we’re talking about the state of the country, especially financially & stories about the way despite everything looks like it’s going horribly wrong, we still wake up everyday and continue fighting.
It’s both amazing and inspiring to see how we keep rising up & one of the most beautiful things I’ve gotten to witness in this lifetime is the greatness of Eliud Kipchoge.
If you don’t already know, the greatest marathoner this planet has seen is embarking on a magical path this weekend. Eliud Kipchoge’s historic attempt is to make history and become the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours will take place on Saturday 12th October in Vienna, Austria.
Breaking barriers
In this article by the New York Times, he said: “To be precise. I am just going to run my personal best. If it comes as a world record, I would appreciate it. But I would treat it as a personal best.”
This is coming from a man who has been victorious in 11 of the 12 marathons he has contested.
Let that sink in.
Last year, he smashed the World Record in Berlin with 2hrs 1min 39 seconds. This weekend, he wants to go for 1hr 59min, thus dubbed the #Eliud159.
We are immensely honoured and priviledged to have the opportunity to dedicate our iconic M-PESA brand in honour of a befitting icon @EliudKipchoge.
In commitment to our icon, the M-PESA logo changed to #Eliud159 for the next 7 days. pic.twitter.com/QDeHw7DaS5— Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) October 9, 2019
There’s more.
If he does do it and finish on time, it won’t be a World Record. His is an attempt to break barriers. Again, let that sink in.
The legend is not only pushing himself (just a little bit more) physically but mentally. Since the announcement of the race, there has been a lot of support & the support is still trickling in; and there has also been a dash of criticism with people saying it cannot be done, questions as to why he’s even doing it, how will he handle it if he doesn’t do it & will he still be the greatest marathoner if he doesn’t?
I can’t even pretend to know that I’m an expert on the race and the effects after but after seeing this, I went back to the many Kenyans who wake up and fight to survive – and sometimes live. I look at the hundreds of young people who walk to Industrial Area to look for casual work not knowing if they will go home with money in their pockets. I look at the entrepreneurs who keep running their businesses despite the harsh economic climate in the country.
I then look at Kipchoge, a man who is celebrated all over the world and say yes, he’ll actually be better than the man he is because he’s pushing past his previous win. I’ll say yes because he knows it’s not easy, but he decided to go for it and as he attempts to shave off those 26 or more seconds to make history, the least we can do is rally behind this great man.
On the day of the race, join us in celebrating this man by cheering him on – no matter where you are. Courtesy of Safaricom, stream the race at NO COST by dialing *159# to access the free bundle.
Safaricom will enable all its customers to send free messages voicing their support for the athlete during the race by sending a text to 159. The messages will be displayed live on broadcast TV feeds during the race.
