Benefitting Kenyans

Today I ran the Mountain Home Half-Marathon for Kenya. It is an annual marathon, half-marathon, 5K event that benefits a village in Kenya called Katito. The race raises both funds for and awareness about the town's people. Some of the Mountain Home people who organize the race visit and volunteer each year in Katito as part of the nonprofit organization known as World Vision. This year the money will go toward digging wells for clean drinking water.

Pre-race the runners had the typical competitive air of deprecating their training runs and previous race times. Most wore expensive and colorful moisture wicking running tights and jackets. The average running shoe probably cost over $100. Many had flown to the area to run in this marathon in Arkansas as one of their "Marathon in all 50 states." There was an abundance of pre and post race food. There were free massages for all runners and prizes for the first three finishers in each category. I was struck by all the work, money and materials that were required to make this an event that American runners would enjoy and want to return to annually.

Yet on the other side of the world all the busyness and expense of this American culture event will result in fresh water for hundreds of people and perhaps prolonged life for some who would suffer from dysentery if they did not have it. We take our fresh food and water for granted here; there it is a precious commodity. It is exciting to think of how much help this event that we running Americans so enjoy will provide for people living vastly different lives.

“Isn’t it wonderful that no one need wait a moment to improve the world.” Anne Frank