Agnes Trip Killing Brings Awareness to Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse in Kenya

                       AGNES TIROP 1995-2021

By MUTWIRI MUTUOTA and GERALD IMRAY

Associated Press ELDORET, Kenya (AP) -  The brutal killing of Olympic runner Agnes Tirop last year shows signs of being a turning point for Kenya in finally confronting a scourge of abuse and violence against female athletes. It hasn't been spoken about or even acknowledged until now. The 25-year-old Tirop was stabbed to death at her home last October. Her partner has been charged with murder in her killing. Her death provoked a deep reckoning in Kenya and prompted current and former athletes to finally speak out and put pressure on authorities. They say young female athletes have been abused by partners, coaches and others for years and their stories have gone untold or been ignored.

WaTanzania Wako Wapi Katika Mbio za Kukimbia Siku Hizi?

Wadau, mnakumbuka majina, Suleiman Nyambui, Juma Ikangaa, Filbert Bayi, Nzael Kyomo,  Walikuwa wanariadha walioshinda katika Marathon na  michezo Olympics.  Walifanya jina la Tanzania ijulikane na isifike! Waliinua jina la Tanzania.  Lakini kwa sasa mbona Tanzania haijawa na mwanariadha anayeweza kushinda  kwa miaka mingi?

Jumatatu kutakuwa na mashindano ya Boston Marathon. Karibu kila mwaka ni MKenya anayeshinda! Kenya ni nchi jirani na sisi, kwa nini Tanzania hatuwezi kushinda? Au tabia ya Party kila wiki na mkao wa kula/bahasha umefanya watu wasijali.

Kwa habari zaidi za KUZOROTA KWA MICHEZO TANZANIA, BOFYA HAPA:

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Suleiman Nyambui - Alishinda Tuzo ya Fedha (Silver) katika Commonwealth Games huko akiwa amefunga kwa ajili ya mwezi mtukufu wa Ramadhan!  BOFYA HAPA kwa habari zaidi

Suleiman Nyambui akifanya mazoezi Texas, USA

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Nzael Kyomo  alishiriki Olympics mwaka 1980 halafu alienda kusoma Marekani.  BOFYA HAPA:

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Juma Ikangaa alishinda Marathon nyingi ikiwemo New York Marathon.  Alipata zawadi ya Benzi ambayo serikali ya Tanzania walizuia bandarini kwa zaidi ya mwaka kwa vile Ikangaa hakuweza kuilipia ushuru! Aibu kwa serikali kumnyanyasa shujaa!  BOFYA HAPA:  

Juma Ikangaa katika Boston Marathon 1990

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Filbert Bayi alishinda mashindano ya Olympics na Commonwealth Games.   Kwa habari zaidi BOFYA HAPA:

Filbert Bayi katika mashindano ya Commonwealth 1974

Mwanariadha MKenya Ajiua Baada ya Kukutwa Ugooni!

(Sammy Wanjiru akikimbia katika New York Marathon mwaka 2009)

Jamani, kuna habari za kusikitisha kutoka Nairobi.. Mwanariadha Sammy Wanjiru (24) maarufu kwa kushinda marathon kadhaa kajiua leo. Eti alijitupa kutoka ghorofani baada ya mke wake kumkuta kitandani na mwanamke mwingine. Duh!

Mungu ailaze roho yake mahala pema mbinguni. Amen.

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Sammy Wanjiru, a record-shattering Kenyan marathon runner and reigning Olympic champion, died May 15 in Nyahururu, a town about 115 miles north of Nairobi. He was 24.
The circumstances of his death remain murky, complicated by reports that he had multiple wives.

According to police, Mr. Wanjiru died after he fell from a balcony at his home. Some Kenyan officials said the runner committed suicide, but the Associated Press reported that a local policeman gave a different account.

Mr. Wanjiru’s wife Tereza Njeri reportedly found him in bed with another woman. Following an argument, Tereza locked her husband in the bedroom and ran away.

“He then jumped from the bedroom balcony,” police chief Jasper Ombati told the Associated Press. “In our estimation, we think he wanted to stop his wife from leaving the compound.”
By many accounts, the prodigious runner’s dramatic death prematurely ended what was blossoming into a historic career.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said recently that Mr. Wanjiru was “steadily developing into our country’s running phenomenon.”

Mnaweza kusoma habri kamili HAPA:

Kwa habari zaidi soma:

http://af.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idAFJOE74F01020110516

Tanzanian Marathoners Put Kenyan Runners on the Alert!

(Pichani Josiah Kibira baada ya kukimbia katika Marathon huko Minnesota)

TANZANIAN MARATHONERS PUT KENYAN RUNNERS ON THE ALERT


By Josiah Kibira

If you follow the results of almost any marathon in the United States, you are bound to find one or more Kenyans in the top 10. In most cases, Kenyan runners place in the top three finishers, and, often times win the whole race.

It is no different in Minnesota, where both the Grandma’s Marathon of Duluth, and the Twin Cities Marathon have been dominated by Kenyan runners.

Running a marathon is not an easy proposition to undertake, in fact only 1% of all human beings do participate in this challenging sport. It is often compared to an analogy asking, “Why do you keep hitting yourself with a hammer? Because it feels good when you stop.”

But Kenyan runners have dominated this sport worldwide, a fact that Tanzanian runners find hard to swallow. When confronted by the subject, most will always bring up Filbert Bay, a Tanzanian who was not even a marathon runner, but won a gold medal in the Olympic Games many years ago.

I have been a maratho n runner for over 14 years. I try to run a marathon every year. Last year I was surprised at about mile 15 or so, wondering why can’t I see mile 16 marker on the horizon, when suddenly I heard someone say, ”Vipi, mzee! I looked up, to find a Tanzanian in the middle of the pack of runners.

We exchanged few words, and I should say, I was in worse shape than he was at that point in the race, then I urged him to proceed ahead without me. He did, but then it somehow gave me an immediate surge of energy. Seeing him was like saying, ”Wabongo na sisi tumo”, or “We, the Tanzanians,…got this!”… or so I thought.

I was proud because it was the first time in my fourteen years of running that I actually met a fellow Tanzanian in the race...running.

After the race, I made a po int of getting in touch with the Tanzanian runner so that we could tell the world and put the Kenyan runners on alert for the next marathon! Who knows? We may one day beat them! It could happen!
He surprised me, when he mentioned that there was yet another Tanzanian who was also in that same Twin Cities Marathon that day.

This is about us…the Tanzanian Marathoners and why we run.

Meet Gracious Msuya.

He started running before he ever landed in the United States. He was a student at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. You can see his dedication to the sport because Dar can be very hot and it takes a serious commitment to run.

Running is such a personal decision because you have yourself for motivation. Gracious found motivation in the promise he made to his young kids that he would run the marathon once the kids were teenagers. His kids still have years to become teenagers, but the statement itself motivated him to start training instead of waiting so long.

The other motivator for him is his health. It is a proven fact that there are many health benefits from running including reversing the aging process. That’s right, you not only reverse the aging process, and sometimes you can even delay it.

I asked Gracious if there was anyone who inspired him to run, he said when he was in primary school (Elementary School) he saw a man who was in his 30’s who used to run and practice Karate. That was it. Gracious’ actual running would come later in his adult life as a student at a University.

Gracious admits running a marathon has not been easy. To date, he has run about 5 full marathons and a few short races. “It takes time and it is simply hard,” he remarks. But he also admits that the challenges of life do not make this easy. Balancing work and family is difficult enough, and squeezing in training time as well makes life all the more interesting. All in all, the advantages of running far outweigh all the hassles one goes through.

Gracious has high hopes for Tanzanians or any one who wants to take up running. In his words, he says “If you can walk a mile, you can run a mile.” One first mile could be a start to running many miles in the future. He also offers words of encouragement stating not to be afraid to start something new because in the end you may surprise yourself.

So, to all Kenyan runners, look out! Gracious Msuya is coming!

My inspiration to run came to me by accident. After I graduated from college in Kansas, I moved to Minneapolis. It was after the Twin Cities Marathon was completed and I was reading the race results in the paper. As I read at the men’s results list, I saw that there was a 99 year old man who completed the race in 5 hours and 20 minutes. This was enough for me. I thought, if a 99 year old man can complete a full marathon, I should be able to complete one. I have never looked back and I have logged 14 marathons ever since.

I use running as meditation. Most of the movies I have written were conceived as I ran. Right now I have a few movie plots in my head, and as I run, the plots get polished.
I agree with brother Msuya, “If you can walk a mile, you can run a mile.” It is a discipline that has taught me to be in control of my many aspects of life, especially the fact that I don’t quit easily and I don’t sweat the small stuff. I always tell myself that it is only mile 5, with 21 more to go. With this perspective, there are few things that surprise me.

And this is why we run. A sense of accomplishment. A sense of setting a goal and achieving it. A sense of an overwhelming individual success. This can be transferred to any aspect of life, finances, school, career, family. Because really at the end of the day, we are first answerable to ourselves…

And yes, even beating Kenyan runners…it can happen!

So guys and gals – “TWENDE KUKIMBIA….”

Know any Tanzanian runners? Share the story with us!! - Josiah

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Naomba huyo Gracious Msuya aje mwakani akimbie Boston Marathon! Kweli waKenya wame-dominate!

WaKenya Wana Mapafu Makubwa

MKenya Robert Cheruiyot aliyeshinda Boston Marathon mara tatu

Wikiendi iliyopita walifanya Block Party kwenye mtaa wetu. Ni mkusanyiko wa majirani na hasa nafasi ya kujuana zaidi.

Basi, kuna Bibi kizee wa kizungu alinishangaza sana. Aliposikia kuwa natoka Africa alisema, waKenya wanashinda Marathon kwa sababu wana mapafu makubwa (big lungs)! Nikamwuliza alikuwa na maana gani. Bi Kizee yule alisema na nanukuu " Wana mapfu makubwa kuliko watu wote kwa vile wanakimbia kwenye milima ya Serengeti"

Duh! Mbona niliblow! Nikamwambia kwanza waKenya na waafrika kwa ujumla wana mapafu sawa na bindamu wa rangi nyingine. Pili, Serengeti iko Tanzania na siyo Kenya. Tatu, ni mbuga ya wanyama watu hawakai huko. Ila watalii wanaenda na kukaa kwenye mhoteli ya fahari huko. Lakini yule bibi alinibishia. Alisema waKenya wanakimbia kwenye milima ya Serengeti tokea wadogo na ndo maana mapafu yao yanakuwa makubwa.

Na mimi nikwamwuliza kwa nini wazungu wakienda kwenye mbuga ya wanyama na wanaambiwa wasiguse hawasikii. Nikamwambia mzungu ataona nyoka, anasema, yule nyoka mzuri kweli, halafu atajaribu kumkamata na kucheza naye. Nexti unsikia mzungu kaumwa na huyo 'nyoka mzuri' na kafa. Au anaambiwa asimshike Tembo yule japo anaonekana mpole. Wanaenda kumshika na Tembo anamwua mzungu na mapembe yake.

Hapo yule mzungu alisema, kweli nakubali kuwa kuwa wazungu ambao ni wajinga na hawasikii. Halafu aliamua kuondoka na kjuongea na watu wengine. Na mimi nilishukuru maana hasiri zilikuwa zinaanza kunipanda.

Na mjue zamani kabla wafrika hawajaanza kushinda Marathon mara kwa mara wazungu walikuwa wanasema kuwa waafrika hawawezi kushinda hata siku moja. Walisema eti waafrika wameumbwa kukimbia mbio fupi, lakini mbio ndefu hawawezi!

Sasa mtoto akisikia hizo habari potofu anakuwa nazo. Kama hamjasikia kuna kampeni ya kupiga vita waKenya wasikimbie hiyo Boston marathon kwa vile wanashinda mara kwa mara.