Runners

Shane and I had the opportunity to eat at Johana's house the other night and meet his family--12 kids in all! but not all live at home anymore. (Johana is our high school friend who is a great runner; I've written about him before).

Here I am with Johana and his parents... it's common to receive gifts when you are visitors in someone's home. I received the necklace and earrings I'm wearing. The mama made them herself and even bit the wire off on the earrings after asking how long I wanted them! After I cringed they laughed and explained she had very strong teeth from drinking so much milk =)

We ate ugali (cornmeal) and sikumawiki (kale), which is common Kenyan cuisine, but during the meal Johana commented, "When we have visitors we normally kill a goat, but because of the drought they are all so skinny!" 

Here is Shane with Johana, his mom and some of the siblings.

Johana is becoming like a little brother to me. The other day I went to the track and found him and some of his high school friends. We jogged together and talked about their hopes for going to college--one boy was dreaming of going to Michigan State! 

Johana's running coach and friend Elias (on the left) came over the other night while Elias was visiting from Iten, Kenya, where he lives and trains for international marathon running. I was happy to finally meet Elias because Johana has told me so much about him and I had seen an article in a Kenyan magazine about him and his twin brother regarding their running success. Elias was in town trying to meet with the town government leaders to promote a running camp for the youth in the Narok area. So far, the town leaders haven't been available but Elias and Johana will continue to visit the government offices in hopes of some support.

During his school break Johana is training in Iten. I was in Iten a few weeks ago (it's about 5 hours from Nairobi) and met Nathan Lagat--the brother of Kenyan/American runner Benard Lagat and some other world record holder. People from all over the world come to train in Iten because of it's high altitude.  

Johana called a few days ago to tell me that there was a BBC reporter following them around while they were training. In about 2 weeks there should be some publication--I'll let you know when I find out!