Kipchoge’s race, my race,

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#Reflections 

Eliud Kipchoge’s Olympic marathon win had me reflecting about the race of life. First things first. A marathon is not a sprint. Equally the race of life is not a sprint, it is an accumulation of days and years with failures, flows, experiences and successes achieved. A marathon requires adequate preparation, but above all a winning state of mind that keeps saying I can do it. Like Kipchoge, the determination of a winner is written on his face, he has no time for distraction and even if the next athlete were to stumble, the race would not stop. Equally, the race of life for the individual should not be distracted by the numerous challenges.
The race of life like that of Kipchoge has many competitors who come in different shapes, sizes, colours and ethnicities. There are external "Ethiopian" competitors who more than everything wants to take the race away from you. There are "Kenyan" family competitors who are also determined to finish the race in case you stumble and do not have the energy to complete it. There are also internal factors like feelings of personal inadequacies and self esteem issues that keep reminding you that you are not equal to the task neither do you have the energy to complete the race. And of course, the terrain is not all flat so that all you can do is accelerate without having to worry about anything. The course is made up in such a way that it time and time again it keeps challenging you to give out your best. The other factor is that the clock keeps reminding you that you do not have eternity and you must the race within the timelines that God has given unto you. There are spectators who will edge you on but whose motivations are as diverse as they come. Some just want to see if you can complete the race, others are only there for the sunny day while others are there because the rest of the crowd came out to watch a race. Fundamentally, the race belongs to you and a few of your team members who toil, moil and sacrifice so that you can succeed. The biggest competitor in the race was not the other athletes but Kipchoge himself and as Laila Gifty Akita remarks do not compete with anyone in the race of life, compete with yourself.

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