I run. In a week, three times. I spend, at least, 35 minutes running on a relax pace. Once, I ran in a 10K race. I made it in 1 hour and 7 minutes. But there was this instance, timing myself, I ran the same distance under 1 hour. Doctors say that if a guy like me, at my age, ran 10 kilometer under 1 hour, that is good.
Which brings me to this mind boggling fact, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia ran a marathon, all 42 kilometers, in 2 hours: 03 minutes: 59 seconds. This is the world record he established in 28 Septemeber 2008 at the Berlin Marathon.
If we convert this impressive feat to how much distance Mr. Gebrselassie covers in one (1) measly second, that will be 5.65 meters/second. If we want that in English terms, that will be 18.52 feet/second. What makes this even more out of this world impressive is the fact that The Emperor, as he is known among his peers, is 5 feet and 5 inches tall.
How is that even possible?
A friend who is into marathons once told me that, The Emperor trains by having himself chased by a hungry lion. He is joking of course.
This 18.52 feet/second pace was something I couldn't comprehend until early this week when an Ethiopian brother gave an insight.
He said that the reason why his countryman, his brother, runs that fast is primarily due to his talent but also because Ethiopia has geographic quirk. An advantage :) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, the place where most of their athletes come from and train is about 2,000 meters above sea level. At that height, air is thin and the presence of oxygen is scarcer compared to places on sea level.
Because of this, people who were born there have adapted to this challenging conditions. Their heart and lungs can function normally in these oxygen-scarce conditions. That when they compete on marathons, ran on sea level, they actually, effectively, do not get tired nor winded. Because on this sea-level conditions, their heart and lungs are actually having a much easier time, running, than training in Addis Ababa because of an "overwhelming presence" of oxygen :)
With that explanation, 18.52 feet/second started to become possible. But I am not aiming for that. I am content in running 10 kilometers under one hour :)
Besides, I am called to do other things :)
Which reminded me of a truth - the environment that we live in, the one that we see, know and accept that exists, shapes us. Molds us.
Blessed is the man who lives and understand this thin air and oxygen-scarce truth - that knowing God and walking with Him is more than sufficient.
Have a personally meaningful Lent!
"... why think like mere men?"
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