Ramping Up

Ok, we are a month into this project of managing an elite Kenyan runner and it has been a wild ride. First I had to deal with my own emotions and misgivings about the project. Is it real? Can I do this? Should I do this? And what would happen if it failed or if it really worked? I spent the first 2 weeks just trying to get my head around what had just happened.

In addition, I got a lot of responses after my first blog post from friends. Many were excited. Some were curious. A few were very cautious. Everything was very positive. There was also some good cautionary advice that was given too.

Once I had settled into what were are trying to do the next question became, "How are we going to do this?" I have basically no connections in the running world, which I told Job. I personally just sign up and run. This is different.  We would have to make a bunch of cold calls.

So where do we start? Well, before we start targeting races I thought it best to get to know Job. He told me about his race history. He sent picture of his family and his farm.  I heard about his last international race in Jakarta (pictured above with a local) and how that came to be.  As I look at his situation I see that he is a better half-marathoner than a marathoner. Everyone has their specialty. That is his.

For now, we are focusing on that distance. We have targeted Chinese races right out of the gate.  We haven't gotten a lot of response.  Another region that is beginning to invest high dollars in international sports is the middle east. That is where our next push will be. Stay tuned.