We lost Henry Rono on February 15th at the age of 72.
From the Kalenjin Tribe in Kiptaragon, Kenya, Henry is most famous for a 3-month span of running greatness in 1978 where he broke 4 world records. This from a boy who couldn’t walk until the age of 6 due to a bicycle accident and who didn’t start running until the age of 19. Due to Kenya’s boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Olympics (over Apartheid) he never got a chance to shine on the biggest stage.
After living much of his life in Albuquerque, he returned
home to Kenya a few years ago. He had been struggling in New Mexico for decades,
and the hope was that he would find the support he needed in returning home.
From being greeted at the airport with a hero’s welcome, it seemed that being back
in Kenya was exactly what he needed. In fact, he was starting to get excited to
coach young runners again.
You may not know this, but there is a steep, rocky hill in
the foothills known by the running community as “Rono Hill”. Henry would bring
runners interested in being coached by him to the hill – sort of a running
initiation. Some of us met to run Rono Hill in his memory, sharing stories
about him. 4 times up the hill, one for each world record.
Mbarak Hussein, a fellow Kenyan professional runner,
remembers as a little boy how excited he was to meet Henry as came back to
Kenya after climbing to the top of the running world. I asked him about his
biggest learning from Mr. Rono and he shared this.
“Whatever he set to accomplish, he would always pursue it to
the fullest with no negative thoughts. He was also honest about his life. He would
tell us all, ‘I have gone to both worlds, from the very top to the lowest of
the low.’”
Another local professional runner, Chokri Dhaouadi,
remembers asking Henry to offer some coaching to customers of his running store.
With laughter, Chokri recounts Henry giving these newbie runners who just
wanted to meet him, workouts more suited for someone training for the Olympics.
A frustrated Henry exclaimed to the group, “I am not asking you to fly. I am
asking you to run.” Needless to say, that experiment was short-lived.
What I remember about my first meeting Mr. Rono:
He did not use many words. He didn’t need them. His presence was enough.
Henry, we will miss you.
We already are.
May you rest in peace.
Great stories thanks so much for sharing
ReplyDeleteOn occasion I would see Henry at the Albuquerque Sunport while he was doing his duties as a luggage hop. I would stop and loudly say, " We are in the presence of greatness. This guy broke 4 distance world records. His name is, Henry Rono. " Now those may not be the exact words every time, but pretty close. HENRY WOULD SMILE AND SHAKE HANDS with those that belived the story. And then turn quickly back to his job. It's was an honor to call him a friend.
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