William Tete arrived in the USA on Tuesday just four days before running the Utah Valley Marathon. His only wish was that he would be able to win the race to show his appreciation to Dr. Denys and his family for giving him the opportunity to come to America and run. This young man lives in Kenya where we met him last November. He has been self taught as a runner and has trained his entire life to do nothing but run. He heard about our medical mission and that we were going to be doing a 5K in the area while there. He came to run in it because he knew that he could win and take home some extra money for his family. He has 8 nephews that he takes care of along with his elderly mother. He eats Ugalie ( a corn meal type of food) for breakfast and again for dinner...that is usually all. If he has anything else it is because it is given to him by someone during his day. He will run close to 20 miles a day as he trains to be a "Kenyan" runner. That is how it is done in Kenya. These young men and women just hope that someone will see them and believe in them enough that they will sponsor them. Most of the runners that came that day to run didn't even have shoes and they left us in the dust like we were standing still. It was pathetic. The little kids could run faster than most of us! Dr. Deny's has taken an interest in William and is sponsoring him here in the U.S.A. Hopefully,William will be able to win a couple of races here and make a name for himself and perhaps get someone here to take notice of his great potential. He is such a determined and motivated young man. We all feel like he is our very own "Marathon Man"! His first race was a little disappointing for him but we were extremely happy. He took 4Th place after a 28 hour plane ride, weird food, no sleep, and strangers everywhere...Not bad I'd say! He only missed taking 3rd by a second...I can't even imagine how proud I would be to even place in the top 10 in a marathon! WAY TO GO WILLIAM!
Just a last minute note:
William will be running the S.L.C. Marathon for anyone interested in getting out there to support him... Hopefully, he will feel better for this one and be at the TOP of his racing potential. I know that he wants so badly to do well for everyone. We just want him to do well for himself. No one deserves it more!!!
Endelea William Endelea!!
(Go William Go)!
2 comments:
That's amazing!! We take so much for granted ... don't we?!! RUN WILLIAM, RUN!!!
William did a great job. He would have done even better at the Utah Valley Marathon, but he didn't drink water the whole way. I think he believes that cold water is not good for your liver or something like that. It is too bad, because I am confident he could have performed better with fluids. He still did amazing without them
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