Elderly runners defy age in Kenya’s central highlands | Story

Meru County, Kenya – Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, Wanjiru Kamau leaves his home in Mikumbune in South Imenti Constituency to run five kilometers (3.2 miles).

He is 82 years old.

The red roads of Meru County, in the central highlands of Kenya, about 314 kilometers from Nairobi, have been close to a second home since a friend connected him to a local sports club in 2017.

Wanjiru said: “At first people laughed at me and said what I was doing was stupid. “Since I started exercising and drinking water, my blood pressure is now better, and I no longer have muscle cramps.”

The chairman of the group, Stephen Michubu Linguya, personally welcomed him. From then on he never looked back, although he fought back the laughter that followed him out the door.

Wanjiru is not alone.

He is one of the 80 members of the Meru chapter of Masters Athletics Kenya, a national group that gathers athletes between the ages of 60 and 100. He trains alongside people younger than him, without complaint and without fame, in a region that is closely associated with high-level success in sports.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon, two of the greatest distance runners in history, represent the pinnacle of the country’s athletics scene and have made Kenya synonymous with the best of running. In Meru, a group of elderly men and women, none of them employed and none of them paying for travel, say that running is not just for young people.

Forming a group in Meru

The Meru chapter was founded in 2015 by Stephen Michubu Linguya, a married man with two children from Muriri in Tigania East Constituency. He was watching his neighbors grow old worse, serious diseases entered the bodies that stopped walking, and beer became a comfort for many people.

The diseases he saw were, in many cases, the obvious consequences of later life: high blood pressure, diabetes and a slow increase in the number of diseases that medicine prescribes but often cannot be treated cheaply or easily.

He started looking for older people who used to run.

“When we created this group, we looked for adults who used to run before their age became difficult, so that even their children and young people can follow in their footsteps and change their lives,” says Michubu.

The team trains three days a week. Members make their own way to training centers, which are located between 10 and 50 kilometers (6.2 and 9.3 miles) from home, and pay out of pocket. The group uses the central fields where they can and traveling to the training is the only cheap way.

No support, no institutional support and no salary.

All that exists, the members say, is each other.

Running versus height and distance

James Mworia, 73, hails from Uruku in South Imenti Constituency. He is married and has four children. In 2019, he traveled to Tunisia to compete in the African Masters Athletics Championship and came home with two silver medals.

For someone who paid his own way to study from Meru village, the trip was a success.

“During our training days, which are three times a week, we use our money to get to the training centers, which can be 10 to 50 kilometers apart, and we pay for it ourselves. In 2019, I went to Tunisia and brought a medal,” says Mworia. “I encourage older people to come and join this club for their health and well-being.”

His health, he says, has improved in noticeable ways since joining. He doesn’t go to the hospital as often as he used to, now and then, instead of going regularly as in his life.

Not all obstacles in a group have an age.

Protasio Mutuma Lichoro, 52 years old, is blind. He hails from Kiguchwa in Tigania East Constituency and trains with the help of his son, who guides him on the track.

Before finding Meru’s head, Protasio had difficulty running at all, not because of his disability, but because of the lack of weapons around him. Finding a guide was a never-ending, frustrating problem.

Protasio said: “Since I joined the team, I have gained a lot.” In the past, I could not find someone to guide me at the time I wanted.

“I cannot run alone; I always need the help of a true guide.”

Runners who keep going

A member of the executive committee for youth, sports, gender and community development in Meru district, Elias Murega, sees the contents of the group as more than health issues. He casts their efforts as natural, arguing that aging bodies can still compete, still exemplify character and still show what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

In a region that has produced world-class athletes, the debate rages on.

“In Meru region, we have seen many successful athletes who have reached the international level,” says Murega. “Sports is a way to travel, we have seen many of these diseases, which we call diseases caused by life, as well as other conditions, are related to not exercising.

He adds that the district government is ready to support the group by creating a place for them to display their work in public. For athletes who are not exposed to official sports teams, even a modest commitment registers as recognition.

In Mikumbune, Wanjiru Kamau’s morning now has a look that he did not have before 2017. The laughter of the neighbors did not stop, but they stopped long ago to measure their illegal behavior.

No matter what anyone thinks, his blood pressure is under control, his muscle twitching is gone, and he drinks more water; He runs five kilometers, three times a week, in the professional circuit, one of the 80 people who decided to run long after many runners were expected to stop.

He said: “I encourage all adults to exercise regularly to stay healthy.