She conquered herself

[Gikonyo Caroline]

It is the gruelling 43km race on an extremely dusty untarmacked road ,under searing 38 degrees celsius heat with little and no water in the chalbi desert located in Marsabit county, Kenya. I think second only to the Lewa marathon this must be one of the toughest races in the world.
This is the final challenge on a local Kenyan show Ktn Ultimate challenge the #KtnNomadsEdition that has been airing every saturday from 8pm on KTN . The six competitors are putting everything on the line for a million Kenya shillings.

One Aminiel Mcharo leads the pack from the start. He leads throughout the race. Looking at him tackle this unforgiving terrain seems like a walk in the park. The first runners up and the second runners up were runing siďe by side for almost half of the race when the first runners up ,Wacu, broke away ,increased her speed and tried to catch up with Mcharo. It seemed an insurmountable challenge since Aminiel had ensured a great distance lay between him and the rest of the competitors. Throughout the competition the guy would bring his 'A 'game , whether or not it was an elimination challenge. It was thus not surprising to see the demeanor of an ordinary athlete, an indefatigable attitude and stellar performance that Aminiel showcased in this final race .
With about seven kilometers to the finishing line , Mcharo being content that nobody could keep up with him slowed down and began walking. Wacu raced and finally caught up with Aminiel. The two then walked side by side as they approched the finishing line.
I was now rooting for Wacu. I silently wished she would take off, show Aminiel a clean pair of heels , a pillar of dust as she raced to the finishing line and bag the money. But she briskly walked alongside her worthy opponent. Little did we know that Mcharo had overexerted himself resulting in a knee cap injury that caused him to slow down.
Wacu could have easily won this and bagged the one million. But this girl did the unfathomable. She tagged along her competitor and dragged the injured Mcharo to the finishing line. So this final race to crown the winner of the #KtnNomadsEdition had two worthy competitors cross the finish line simultaneously hand in hand.
What? This struçk my crystal ball like a thunderbolt.
If you were Wacu ,after spending thirteen weeks in the harsh arid conditions in Marsabit, void of all basic necessities such as clean bathing water, and sanitary amenities ,then running a 43km race in the Chalbi desert would you have taken such a self sacrificial decision?

Would you have the heart of gold, to forego one million shillings so you help your opponent finish his race?

Would you overlook tribal and gender inclinations that more often than not divide us and instead see the human being behind these societal labels?

Would your love for money, your desire to win no matter what , ovepower your love and compassion for another human being ?

This decision by Wacu threw the judges back to the drawing board as they had nòw to choose a winner between the two.
Wacu took this decision even if she was not sure whether or not the judges would rule in her favour or not.
Finally the decision was made to award the two as the Winners with each of thèm bagging half the price money.
Who won?
Humanity did, compassion did, generosity did , love did !

[Mfaro025]

Good content

[Gikonyo Caroline]

Thank you