Saturday, October 26, 2019

And Then There Were Two.

For several weeks I had been looking for a race for Job. I had had zero success with Chinese race organizers. Eventually I  turned to another region of the world investing a lot of money to develop their sport image: the middle east. I searched out the races that met Job's criteria, particularly ones that had a half marathon competition.  Sending emails to them I had similar success, basically none. Then one day I unexpectedly recieved an email in my Good Race Management email account. I had received a response. The Beirut Marathon was showing interest. I read the message as soon as possible. They had filled their elite slots already but they would contact me if anyone pulled out or became injured. 

But that wasn't the only surprise for the fall.  Out of the blue another Kenyan sent me a friend request. His name was Victor. He was an elite Kenyan runner as well and was looking for a manager too. Should I take on a second runner? Could I handle 2? I wasn't even having success with 1.  I pondered and prayed for several days. I nearly said no several times but I just didn't find any peace in telling him no. It would take a miracle to make it work with one, why not seek a bigger miracle and move forward on starting a running team. I went through the same steps with Victor as I did with Job. Are you sure? I have no money. I don't have any experience. Are you sure there isn't anyone else who can manage you? The answer always ended up being the same. You are the one. And a running team is born. We will call it Swift Swag Running Team, after the running accessories and apparel brand I am in the process of organizing. 
But where would they run? With no international races working out I decided to take a step back.  Let's see what thwy can do.  With the Nairobi Marathon coming up I decided to sign them up and see what kind of results they could get.  If they ran well then we would have some results to show future races.  Will this work?  Only time will tell.