In the case of world marathon champion Luke Kibet, he likes to focus on finishing first when running. But during the chaos after the elections, winning is not on Luke Kibet’s mind. What is on Kibet’s mind is one thing: survival.
On New Year’s Eve as violence swept across the nation, Kibet got hit in the head with a large rock and fell to the ground. When Kibet regained his senses with blood oozing from his skull, he saw a mob of men approaching. These men were wielding machetes.
Instead of running to win, Kibet would run for his time.
“I was thinking about my family. I was thinking I might die there,” Kibet said, who is married with two children.
While the chaos had calmed in the last few days, it had left many scars on this nation. One of the people dead was Lucas Sang, former Olympic runner. Sang was hacked to death on the same day that Kibet was attacked.
Kenya’s running world has suffered amidst the chaos. Two Kenya Federation cross-country races were scheduled for January only to be canceled. Some of Kenya’s runners could not go to competitions abroad. This includes the 13 Kenyan runners that were supposed to show up for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon along with the Half Marathon.
“Every runner has a story about seeing homes burning and people running about with bows and arrows, it’s pretty unnerving stuff,” according to Toby Tanser who is the founder of the New York based charity Shoe-4-Africa.
Running camps in Kenya sponsored by retired running stars were closed for several days.
It has been more mental than physical for the runners.
According to Tanser, over 80 percent of the top runners in Kenya are Kalenjins. The Kalenjins are an ethnic group that gave support and backing to Raila Odinga.
Kibet who is a Kalenjin said that four of the members of his running group are Kikuyus. They had left the region. Kibet said he hopes they will return.
“We’ve always trained together with many tribes, including Kikuyus,” he explains.
In terms of seeing the mob, Kibet said: “I was driven by fear.”
When not training, Kibet works as a prison guard. He said that the leaders must talk and negotiate. “While they argue, people are dying,” Kibet said.