Team Geared Up

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) I’ve mentioned here before about Kenyan athletes and their links with my brother and the Dublin marathon. With the recent escalation in violence in Kenya a lot of athletes are being targeted because they earn money. We’ve learnt of attacks on athletes with close connections to Ireland. From my brother:

Lezan Kimutai won Dublin in 2004 in a time of 2.13.08. He has also won the Connemara Half Marathon and the Belfast Marathon. Lezan has stayed in my house on a number of occasions. He has three young children. He is from Eldoret and is a member of the Kalinjen tribe. His house was attacked and burned down. Wesly Ngetich ran the Dublin Marathon in 2006. He had a best marathon time of 2.11. He was in my house the day before the marathon for the traditional ugali dinner. He was shot dead with an arrow while out training. Lucas Sang (Luke) was hacked to death while out training. He was a friend of Lezan’s. He was not one of the athletes who ran in Dublin.

The Dublin Marathon has sent enough money to rebuild Lezan’s house and funds have been collected to help other athletes. RTE have covered it here and there’s a Guardian article about the choice between training and survival here.

-Aisling-

Image: Lezan in Connemara from Galway.net