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Future
Olympian?
Success
of cross country runner traces back to her home in Kenya
Cross
country takes on a whole new meaning for the women’s
only foreign cross country runner.
By
Marco Lopez
Every
morning Mary Kinyanjui would walk seven miles to and from
school as a child in Kiambu, Kenya.
Little did she know how much this sacrifice, which allowed
her to stay at home, would pay off.
“I didn’t want to stay away from my parents,”
the junior cross country runner said. “That’s
why I decided to start walking to class every morning.”
Her walking turned into running, and her running has brought
her across the world from Kenya to Fort Worth.
Her journey to America didn’t start in Fort Worth,
however.
Kinyanjui’s first stop in America came in 2001 when
she arrived in Wichita, Kan. She said she came to America
to develop her running and pursue a speech communications
degree.
The running aspect of her life began many years ago.
Growing up in Kenya, the closest high school from Kinyanjui’s
home was a boarding school seven miles away. Even though
there were buses and other forms of transportation available,
Kinyanjui said she decided to walk every day.
“I just decided that I wanted to walk to class to
see if I could make it,” she said.
While most other students stayed on campus, Kinyanjui
didn’t want to stay away from her parents. She said
she decided to walk two hours and 40 minutes of rough
terrain. After the seven mile walk became a routine, Kinyanjui
decided to start running the route.
She has been running ever since.
Kinyanjui kept track of her improvements as she brought
down her total running time. She said she ran the seven
miles in 45 minutes by the time she graduated high school.
That is approximately a mile every 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
After running to and from high school everyday for approximately
four years, Kinyanjui’s future was promising.
“Ogolla,” her high school coach, convinced her
parents to let her run in competitions, and after winning
several important meets in Kenya, she realized her future
was in running.
With all those years of self-motivated training behind
her, Kinyanjui was ready to accelerate her pace. She trained
with coach Nganga Ngata, who is the sports director at
Jomo Kenyatta University in Kenya. She said coach Ngata
trained her and recommended she seek an opportunity in
America.
The Butler County Community College cross country team
in Wichita, Kan., recruited Kinyanjui in 2001.
Her training in Kenya and Kansas paid off.
In 2001, Kinyanjui finished third in the 5,000-meter run
and sixth in the 3,000-meter run at the NJCAA Indoor Championship.
But in 2002, she dominated the same event and was a triple
winner taking the national title in the mile run, the
3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter run.
Many four-year schools became interested in recruiting
Kinyanjui after she excelled both academically and athletically
in 2002. She was recruited by Auburn, Kansas State, Georgia,
Nebraska, Wichita State and Texas Christian University.
Kinyanjui chose TCU because she was impressed by the training
program and believed it would help her achieve her goals.
Cross country head coach Derek Koonts couldn’t be
happier with Kinyanjui’s decision.
“Mary works extremely hard and is very realistic
of what she can accomplish on a given day,” Koonts
said. “She has also given us a national caliber runner.”
Koonts said Kinyanjui has led the team by example.
In 2003, she won different competitions and was honored
as Conference USA women’s cross country Athlete of
the Week in September 2003.
Ami Butler, a senior cross country runner, said Kinyanjui
has influenced her in many ways.
“Mary is not only a great runner, she is a great
leader,” Butler said. “She is an inspiration
to everyone she encounters.”
Butler said Kinyanjui has proven physical talent and the
drive and determination to work hard for every competition.
Two months after winning the athlete of the week award,
Kinyanjui won the C-USA Individual Cross Country 2003
title, becoming the second woman in TCU’s history
to win such a trial.
Kinyanjui said last year’s summer training prepared
her for what she has had to face.
“It was hard, I had to run at 6 a.m. for almost an
hour every day while attending classes and working part
time,” she said. “But it prepared me for what
I have accomplished so far.”
There are other things Kinyanjui has coming her way. She
said her ultimate goal is to run for Kenya in the Beijing
Olympics of 2008.
Koonts said Kinyanjui could definitely go to the Olympics
some day.
“She has progressed each year of her running career,
and as long as she stays dedicated to running and to pursuing
her dream the sky is the limit for her,” he said.
Kinyanjui said she will continue pursuing that dream.
“As long as I work hard I know I will make it to
the Olympics,” she said. |
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Sarah
Chacko/Photo Editor
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Mary Kinyanjui poses on the track in a way that
most don’t see her: standing still. The cross
country runner broke her own school record in the
5,000-meter run Thursday in Austin. |
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