By
Jorge Manuel Zelaya Fajardo
www.jorgemanuelzelaya.com
October
15th, 2019
Last
Saturday, October 12th, the entire world witnessed the writing of a new page in
the history of world sport. On a misty morning in the beautiful city of Vienna,
Austria, the long-distance professional runner, Eliud Kipchoge, born in
Kenya on November 5th, 1984, broke one of the "impossible" records in
long-distance sports, for many years. His spectacular performance led him to
run the distance of 42,195 k (26.22 miles) at 1:59:40, a record that
although will not be considered as a new official brand (basically due to
standards of competition rules in terms of pacers and fluids offered to the
runner), has already been recognized by the Guinness World of Records as the
first marathon distance run by a human being in history, in less than 2 hours.
This
athletic feat of epic dimensions, only brings to my mind the achievement of
Roger Bannister, who on May 6th, 1954, managed to run the mile in 3 minutes
59.4 seconds, breaking all the predictions of the time (which even stated
that it was physiologically impossible for a human being to run it in less than
4 minutes). Today, runner H. El Guerrouj holds the world record at 3:43:13.
It also reminded me of when Sir Edmund Hillary (together with the
mountaineer Sherpa T. Norgay) reached, on May 29th, 1953, the summit of
Mount Everest for the first time.
Based
on what has been said, in these brief
lines we could talk about:
The
special type of tennis shoes (The Nike Vaporfly%) used on Saturday by
Eliud; but we will not do so.
The
group of select pacers who were with Eliud during part of the race; but
we will not do so.
The
ideal topography and road platform of the city of Vienna; but we will not
do so.
The
time of day, temperature and atmospheric conditions of that morning; but
we will not do so.
The
sponsorship of this unique sporting event by the manufacturing company ENOIUS; but
we will not do so.
That
Eliud has a genetic predisposition that ideally places him to be a high-performance
runner; but we will not do so.
That
Eliud comes from a fertile country in high-level runners; but we will not
do so.
What
we will do is talk about Eliud Kipchoge, the human being. By carefully studying the person behind the runner we realize that everything mentioned above in
these lines is important but not essential, it is relevant, but not decisive.
Eliud
Kipchope has won 12 of the 13 marathons in which he has participated to date.
He reached his Olympic Champion status in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and has won
the Majors 8 times (Berlin, London and Chicago). On September 16th, 2018
in Berlin, he set the new world record with 2:01: 39.
Eliud
Kipchoge fits perfectly into a personal development study model in which I have
been working for some years now, where the elements of attitude, aptitude
and support systems greatly define the ability to reach our maximum
potential in any human activity. But when we carefully study the person of
Eliud Kipchoge we find an immensely disciplined man, with his feet on the
ground. An absolute tranquility when speaking that contrasts with its incomparable
running speed. His admirable team spirit, although he practices an individual
sport. His impressive habit of writing in his notebook what he has learned in
his workouts, to learn from them. His work ethic almost obsessive about
compliance, but careful not to overdo it. His impressive focus on the process,
more than the end result.
For
all of us amateurs’ athletes, who have run 42,195k in a competitive marathon at
some time, watching Eliud run is like watching Michelangelo sculpting; Leonardo
painting or Pavarotti singing. There is art and science together. There is
beauty and technique. There is passion and focus. There is natural flow. The
difficult is perceived as easy. Although I really have to confess that it is
somewhat overwhelming to see him run so fast in long distance races.
If
I had to interpret an X-ray of Eliud Kipchoge to be able to identify elements,
habits and attitudes that a common human being could benefit from, without fear
of being mistaken I would come up with two superlative aspects: His
formula and its flagship quote.
His
formula: "Motivation + discipline = consistency."
His
flagship quote: “Only the disciplined are free in life. If you are
undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods. You are a slave to your passions.
”
At
the end of these lines, I want to share with you a question has not stopped
spinning in my head since last Saturday: In what area of my life is my
own 1.59.40 waiting for me? And yours?
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