By Albert Nyakundi Amenya aka Banana Peddler
When I saw Kenyans celebrate Eliud Kipchoge’s fake record of running 42KM in less than two hours, I was discombobulated. Questions engrossed my mind as to why there were razzamatazz yet there was nothing to celebrate. I have cogent reasons why I refuse to join these choristers in showering the man with fake water of accolades.
I am sure many of you will attack me with guns loaded with oral bullets but I shall speak my mind nevertheless. But before you shoot those oral bullets at my person, allow me to buttress and defend my position that truly, there is nothing to celebrate.
I wish to confess that I hold in esteem for the enthusiasm and passion exuded by Kenyans throughout the entire race. Their solidarity is indeed proof positive that they can gather to celebrate fakeness.
In light of the record set at the INEOS1:59 challenge, I want to thank billionaire Jim Ratcliffe for proving to the world that indeed money can buy anything. What happened in Vienna was purely business.
Before you argue with me, you must first agree with me that Kipchoge had no competitor. The fact that he was competing against himself deconstructs beyond surface indications that there was no marathon run.
Ernest Hemmingway warned against ‘confusing movement with action’. Consequently, there cannot be a competition without an opponent.
Eliud Kipchoge is like Uhuru Kenyatta who competed against himself in the 2017B Presidential elections and emerged ‘victor’ with record 8.7million votes. As Adolf Hitler said “The victor will not be asked if he said the truth” Therefore nobody would dare question him how he garnered the close to 9 million votes but deep down, he knew he was celebrating a lie.
Take a football match for instance (real football/soccer, not the fake American football). Each side needs 11 men to face each other. During the match, it is incumbent upon the opponent to ensure they frustrate you at all costs and ensure the stop you from scoring. Otherwise without opponents, you can score a million goals onto an empty net and pretend to celebrate.
Same applies in a marathon race. During the race, there are so many events involved because everyone is a competitor. Every marathoner will be competing to win. When a runner takes a lead and opens a big gap, others will despair and slow down. The morale in them will die gradually. As a result, the leading runner will be comforted by the gap opened between him/her and their closest follower and will eventually cool down the pace as well. As a result, the pace of the game will diminish. The leader will not give a damn about the record as long as he wins. Also, there are several instances where leading athletes espy or glance at the runners behind them to try and see the distance between them. Those glances themselves may cost an athlete a few seconds that would otherwise have helped them break a record.
Now let’s go back to the case of INEOS 1:59 challenge where Eliud Kipchoge run against himself and set the unofficial record. In his case, there were no competitors. With the conditions Kipchoge running under, any marathoner would good marathoner would break the record. In fact, if Samuel Wanjiru ran under the same conditions, he would pull a 1:56.00. By any strict characterization, that was not a competition. It was just Kipchoge competing against himself with the aid of fresh athlete pacesetters that joined him after every six kilometres to try and push him to the limit.
Kipchoge had no competitor. He knew he was all alone. Had they put competitors, he wouldn’t have broken the so called record. At some point someone would overtake him and bring his morale down. Or still, even if he led, may be he would be comfortable with the gap opened he has opened and slow down. He was running knowing very well that the men in front of him were not rivals that were there to win. As a result, he followed them with confident knowing well that even the ones behind were there to push him and not to compete with him.
On the other hand, the British billionaire was there to make a kill for his chemical company INEOS that has now gone international. The so called record that Kipchoge set is unofficial thus unrecognized by International governing body for the sports of Athletics commonly known as World Athletics. Uhuru Kenyatta and Eliud Kipchoge should spare us the hypocrisy and stop celebrating a lie.
Source: kenyagist.COM