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Speaker 1: Don't give up.

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Speaker 2: Your situation is never permanent as long as you keep

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Speaker 2: working and trusting on yourself.

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Speaker 3: Hey, everybody, Emily A Badi here. You are listening to

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Speaker 3: episode two hundred and forty seven of Hurdle, a wellness

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Speaker 3: focused podcast where I connect with everyone from your favorite

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Speaker 3: athletes to top experts in industry CEOs about their highest highs,

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Speaker 3: toughest moments, and everything in between. We all go through

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Speaker 3: hurdles in life, and my goal through these discussions is

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Speaker 3: to empower you to better navigate yours and move with

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Speaker 3: intention so that you can stride towards your own big

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Speaker 3: potential and of course have some fun along the way.

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Speaker 3: For today's episode, I am bringing you my conversation with

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Speaker 3: Fiola chap two, a professional runner for Adidas, who is

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Speaker 3: if you're tuning in on Marathon Monday, perhaps running the

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Speaker 3: Boston Marathon as you listen to this. She talks to

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Speaker 3: us today about the ebb and flow of her love

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Speaker 3: for sport and running, originally motivated large in part by

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Speaker 3: her brother, fellow elite Bernard Like God. She talks about

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Speaker 3: what it was like to debut in New York and

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Speaker 3: come in second place, plus her big hopes for this

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Speaker 3: year's twenty six point two in Boston. However, a large

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Speaker 3: part of our conversation focuses on sensitive topics, including body

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Speaker 3: image struggles, what it was like to navigate bullying and

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Speaker 3: abuse from a young age, both at school and within

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Speaker 3: her home, as well as the tragedy surrounding the killing

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Speaker 3: of her dear friend and fellow runner, Agnes Tearup. Viola

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Speaker 3: has made it her mission to speak out about domestic

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Speaker 3: and gender based violence. As a result of the tragedy,

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Speaker 3: and through her work with a nonprofit, Tearup's Angels, founded

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Speaker 3: in Agnes's memory, that is exactly what she is doing now.

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Speaker 3: Of course, there are links in the show notes that

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Speaker 3: lead you to information about how you can get involved

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Speaker 3: in Teurope's Angels. And also, I do want to note

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Speaker 3: that if you or someone you know is in an

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Speaker 3: unsafe situation, you are not alone. There are also links

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Speaker 3: in the show notes to resources surrounding bullying and abuse hotlines. Now,

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Speaker 3: like I said, although a lot of the topics in

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Speaker 3: today's episode are difficult, Viola's outlook is truly one of

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Speaker 3: optimism and hope.

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Speaker 4: I cannot stress that enough.

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Speaker 3: I am so so happy that we were able to

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Speaker 3: connect here in Boston, leaning up to such a big

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Speaker 3: moment for her, I would share so much luck out

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Speaker 3: there on the course. And I also do want to

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Speaker 3: make a point to thank her sponsor at Adidas for

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Speaker 3: connecting us and plug as a thank you. They're ATDI

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Speaker 3: Club membership. It's got a ton of benefits, including free

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Speaker 3: shipping and a fifteen percent of foucher. To learn more,

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Speaker 3: visit Adidas dot com slash Addie Club. Make sure you're

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Speaker 3: following along with Hurdle over on social It's at Hurdle Podcast.

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Speaker 3: I am over at Emily a body and with that,

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Speaker 3: let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.

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Speaker 4: Today.

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Speaker 3: I'm sitting down with Viola Cheptu. She is a professional

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Speaker 3: runner for Adidas. How are you doing today?

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Speaker 1: I'm doing good. How are you?

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Speaker 4: I'm so good. I'm doing good.

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Speaker 3: But you are just days away from the Boston Marathon.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: How do we feel?

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Speaker 2: I feel good, excited and nervous at the same time. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: because this year we have a really strong feel. So

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Speaker 2: I'm just thinking about how the race is gonna go.

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Speaker 2: But I'm trying to save a lot of energy by

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Speaker 2: not thinking too much about it.

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Speaker 4: Well, isn't that funny?

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Speaker 3: Though we don't talk about that often about how much

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Speaker 3: the mental stress can really also weigh on your body.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it does.

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Speaker 2: It takes away all the energy that I need to

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Speaker 2: prepare myself for the day of the race. So I'm

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Speaker 2: just trying to chill forget about the race for a

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Speaker 2: minute until Sunday, probably even when we start the what

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Speaker 2: do we call the technical meeting and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: Then I can start focusing fully on the following day.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, the following day. And so what marathon number

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Speaker 3: is this for you?

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Speaker 1: This is going to be number four?

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Speaker 4: Number four? Yes? Do you?

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Speaker 3: And I mean to kind of sum it up for

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Speaker 3: those that might not be familiar with you. You had, you

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Speaker 3: really came on and had like an explosive marathon debut.

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Speaker 3: Talk to me about what your expectations are when it

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Speaker 3: comes to Marathon Monday.

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Speaker 2: For Marathon Monday, I am hoping to be back on

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Speaker 2: the podium, God willing winning. That would be really a

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Speaker 2: dream come true because I started my debut with second

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Speaker 2: place in New York and after that, I had COVID

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Speaker 2: last year before this event, so I wasn't ready. My

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Speaker 2: body wasn't picking the way I liked. But this year

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Speaker 2: I'm in good shape. But I'm hoping that you know,

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Speaker 2: race day is just going to be a good day.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, just hoping race day is going to be good day.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, another quick little marathon to add to the mixt

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Speaker 3: which is it's so funny thinking about in retrospect because

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Speaker 3: you didn't grow up and were thinking to yourself, you

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Speaker 3: know what, I want to be a marathon runner.

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Speaker 1: No.

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Speaker 2: I didn't even think that running was a thing for

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Speaker 2: me until my brother started running and we would watch

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Speaker 2: him on TV running the World Championships and the Olympics,

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Speaker 2: and to me, I just wanted to be seen on

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Speaker 2: the TV and probably some day represent Kenya.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And once I did that, I didn't think I would

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Speaker 2: run marathon. I just thought maybe I would retire as

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Speaker 2: a professional athlete in track and field.

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Speaker 1: And then marathon happened.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the marathon, It just happened for me. So you're

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Speaker 3: one of ten, right, yes, one of ten? Your brother

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Speaker 3: Bernard a big name in the running world. Was it

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Speaker 3: weird for you to make the decision to go all

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Speaker 3: in knowing just how much of a name he had

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Speaker 3: made for himself.

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Speaker 2: It was not breaking I had I had had the

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Speaker 2: precious sece college because my brother had a big name

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Speaker 2: already by the time I was running in college, and

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Speaker 2: every time I was introduced as Bernard Lagat's sister. And

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Speaker 2: when I transitioned to marathon, I just decided, Okay, my

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Speaker 2: brother was notn in track and that's where a lot

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Speaker 2: of pressure was coming from, and I want to run marathon.

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Speaker 2: For me, I just want to run as viola And

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Speaker 2: that's why we just went with viola chipto and people

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Speaker 2: were like, who is that?

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Speaker 1: And it's still me.

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Speaker 2: I'm still the stuff to Bernat and it was really

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Speaker 2: really nice, especially having the support of my brother, knowing

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Speaker 2: that you know what he has done in track and field.

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Speaker 1: If I would do half of what.

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Speaker 2: He has done, it would be a great career for me.

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Speaker 2: But that turned out to be really a surprise and

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Speaker 2: a good surprise when I ran the marathon.

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Speaker 3: And when you got started in sport, you didn't necessarily

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Speaker 3: get started with running.

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Speaker 2: Oh No, running was just a thing that we do

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Speaker 2: during games in school. Around four pm. We would be

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Speaker 2: done with classes and teachers are like, okay, we're just

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Speaker 2: gonna go for a run and then start just different

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Speaker 2: other games that we could do, and then I started

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Speaker 2: getting bullied. In high school. I would just runt truck

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Speaker 2: because I wanted to get out of campus because I

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Speaker 2: was in a boarding school and I wanted to just

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Speaker 2: get out of school. So I durined cross country. I

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Speaker 2: would join basketball, hockey, anything to get me out of campus.

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Speaker 2: And then I just got I went to track and

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Speaker 2: field and people are like, ah, you are so skinny,

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Speaker 2: and it's a track and field and cross country is

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Speaker 2: the event for not the cool kids, probably somebody who

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Speaker 2: don't really want to associate with. And then I tried

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Speaker 2: basketball and I wore the basketball shoots and I would

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Speaker 2: look funny. They would say, oh, your legs looks like

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Speaker 2: flamingo legs, like those kind of jokes. And then I

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Speaker 2: was like, okay, I'll try field hockey. And then they

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Speaker 2: would say, oh, your legs look like the hoky sticks.

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Speaker 2: And I was like, this is not okay. And I

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Speaker 2: transferred schools from that bullet and I went to another

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Speaker 2: school where I was embraced as a basketball player, because

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Speaker 2: I just thought, I don't want to continue getting skinny

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Speaker 2: from running, so I want to do something different. So

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Speaker 2: I did basketball, surprisingly, and I was really good at it,

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Speaker 2: and then I graduated from high school and my brother said,

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Speaker 2: I really want you to come to us to continue

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Speaker 2: with your studies in college, and you will get full scholarship.

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Speaker 2: If you want, you can start training and then you

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Speaker 2: can come to America. And of course I would not

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Speaker 2: say no to my brother. I respect him so much,

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Speaker 2: and I told him, yes, I'll train. I trained, second

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Speaker 2: guessing myself if I really wanted to do that. And

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Speaker 2: I remember around that time, I decided to take a

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Speaker 2: test the aisles to go to Australia because I had

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Speaker 2: a cousin there. I didn't want anything to do with running.

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Speaker 2: And then I went to embassy and I was praying,

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Speaker 2: I don't want to get a visa. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to go to America to run. I want to go

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Speaker 2: to Australia. And I got the visa. I was one

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Speaker 2: of the probably few people that day that was given

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Speaker 2: the visa.

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Speaker 1: And here I am running.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, it's such a you know, like, let's

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Speaker 3: just upbout a career, a life in like three minutes.

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Speaker 3: It's interesting to me when you say that you transferred

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Speaker 3: schools because of bullying. How old were you when you

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Speaker 3: did that?

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Speaker 2: Probably fourteen fifteen.

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Speaker 4: Wow, yeah, okay, And what was that like for you?

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Speaker 2: It was difficult because I felt like I didn't have friends,

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Speaker 2: and everywhere I went I was conscious of how I looked.

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Speaker 2: I would want to wear long skirts in school because

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Speaker 2: we were skirts in Kenya, and long socks. I didn't

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Speaker 2: want to wear short socks because it exporsed my legs.

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Speaker 2: And then that was something that I was always conscious

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Speaker 2: about until I came to America when I ran in

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Speaker 2: cross country and everybody's like, I really want to have.

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Speaker 1: Legs like yours.

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Speaker 2: You're so skinny and you ran fast, and everybody admired

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Speaker 2: the way I looked, and I was like, for the

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Speaker 2: first time, people really admire who I am and I

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Speaker 2: embraced that and it was really really nice because also

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Speaker 2: from running, I got a community. I got friends who

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Speaker 2: became like my family, and that changed the way I

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Speaker 2: looked at my self. And now I'm like, Okay, if

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Speaker 2: this skinny less can get me where I am, second

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Speaker 2: place or a podium finish in marathon, I'll take it.

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Speaker 3: These days, there's so many different opinions and thoughts about

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Speaker 3: you know, body size, what's right, quote, what's wrong, how

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Speaker 3: you should feel, how you should look, like and so

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Speaker 3: to hear you say, like, I so desperately wanted to

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Speaker 3: be bigger.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's really eye.

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Speaker 3: Opening, right because I don't think that often we have

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Speaker 3: that conversation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's the funny thing. In Africa, the bigger

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Speaker 2: the better, even even with dating life, like men like

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Speaker 2: bigger women. And when I came to America, guys are

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Speaker 2: like hmmm, and I'm like, I never get that back

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Speaker 2: home because I'm the skinniest.

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Speaker 1: It was really funny.

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Speaker 2: Probably the culture because big is associated with wealth and

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Speaker 2: you can.

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Speaker 1: Take care of yourself. You get food, and.

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Speaker 2: For the skinner people, you probably don't have enough food

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Speaker 2: to eat. That's what is associated with But that has

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Speaker 2: changed because now a lot of people are into fitness.

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Speaker 2: They realized that getting big is not healthy, especially when

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Speaker 2: you get to your thirties and forties where you're not

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Speaker 2: going to.

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Speaker 1: Lose the weight.

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Speaker 2: Then you start having hype attension and stuff like that diabetes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So when you were consciously trying to build muscle and

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Speaker 3: put on weight, what was that like for you?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 2: It was constant pain because I don't even eat much myself.

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Speaker 2: I'm not a good eater, and that's what I've had

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Speaker 2: to work on, especially during marathon training, and it was

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Speaker 2: constant reminded that I have to eat, I have to

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Speaker 2: eat funny stuff like fried food, and I wasn't gaining

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Speaker 2: any weight, so I just realized it was my jeenes.

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Speaker 2: Also because my grandmother was just as skinny as I

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Speaker 2: am for the rest of her life until she lived

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Speaker 2: to one hundred and ten. And I'm like, Okay, if

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Speaker 2: I look like my grandma and I leave one hundred

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Speaker 2: and ten, why not. So I'm embracing that. But before that,

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Speaker 2: it was difficult forcing myself to eat all the time

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Speaker 2: and just being conscious of what I wear, how I looked.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, And I mean it's funny, You're like, I

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Speaker 3: needed to eat fried foods. Obviously that's not healthy. So

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Speaker 3: these days, and not to jump around too much, but

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Speaker 3: you obviously need to do a fair amount of strength

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Speaker 3: training and also be really cognizant of what you're putting

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Speaker 3: into your body to perform at the level that you perform.

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Speaker 4: Can you talk a little bit about that.

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Speaker 2: When I was running track, I did a lot of

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Speaker 2: gym and that included a lot of weightlifting, But when

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Speaker 2: I moved to marathon, it's more of just strength and

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Speaker 2: mobility for us to make sure that we are moving right.

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Speaker 2: Muscles are intact and they are strong and not a.

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Speaker 1: Lot of weight.

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Speaker 2: So I do a lot of core exercises, just mobility stuff,

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Speaker 2: and that has really helped. And then also with the food,

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Speaker 2: people say, I don't know if it's I think. When

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Speaker 2: I came to America, I realized a lot of people questions,

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Speaker 2: especially with food. In Africa, we don't have enough food,

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Speaker 2: so you eat as much as you can whenever you

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Speaker 2: get food. And here running marathon, I have to eat clean,

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Speaker 2: a lot of proteins to help with muscle build and

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Speaker 2: then also a lot of carbohydrates to produce the sugar

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Speaker 2: that I need when I run and the energy. And

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Speaker 2: then I have to remember about hydration and also stretching

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Speaker 2: and make sure that I am getting enough sleep. So

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Speaker 2: all those things combined has really helped me to become

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Speaker 2: the athlete that I am. And I didn't think of

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Speaker 2: that before that because I was just eating anything.

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Speaker 1: I was eating.

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Speaker 2: Fries and then I'll go to grilled cheese and then

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Speaker 2: other things that were not good for me. But now

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Speaker 2: I can eat couple hydrates like bread ord meal, and

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Speaker 2: I also choose the healthy corbohydrates that I know will

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Speaker 2: produce the energy that I need, Drinking enough water, hydrating electrolytes.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, all the stuff.

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Speaker 3: And when you talk about it like that, it's like,

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Speaker 3: no wonder that this is your full time job, right,

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Speaker 3: because there are so many aspects that go into you

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Speaker 3: taking care of your body and giving it what it

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Speaker 3: needs so that I can perform at this high level.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Sometimes I think when someone who may be listening to

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Speaker 3: this is that it's easy to be like, well, why

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Speaker 3: am I not performing to this level or getting to

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Speaker 3: where I want to be? And it's like, well, sometimes

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Speaker 3: the people that you're looking at and admiring, that's literally

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Speaker 3: their full time job, like you know, every day and

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Speaker 3: every day runner like me, isn't you know, it doesn't

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Speaker 3: have the capacity with everything else that I'm doing to

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Speaker 3: often prioritize some of the things that you prioritize, but that's,

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Speaker 3: you know, what you do for a living.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot goes really into it. I didn't think

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Speaker 2: about sleeping as a major contributor to my success. And

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Speaker 2: every time I'm done with running, I would go straight home, hydrate, shower,

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Speaker 2: and eat right away. The lat the first forty minutes

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Speaker 2: is very crucial with reconstructing muscle that has been toned

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Speaker 2: from training. So I have to eat good food and

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Speaker 2: then sleep. So I take at least an hour or

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Speaker 2: two nap and then I would wake up and then

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Speaker 2: hydrate the whole day and stretch. So that's why it's

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Speaker 2: a full time job totally. Yeah, and I can't. And

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Speaker 2: then with running also, it's a mental game, so you

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Speaker 2: don't have time to stress about a lot of things.

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Speaker 2: So I take myself out of the stressful situations so

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Speaker 2: that I would just be resting in my house and

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Speaker 2: doing things that I enjoy instead of being in a

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Speaker 2: place that could contribute to stress.

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Speaker 3: When you say that you've started to rethink the way

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Speaker 3: that you sleep, So what's different now than maybe what

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Speaker 3: used to.

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Speaker 4: Be for you?

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Speaker 2: Well, I used to sleep around one or two am,

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Speaker 2: watching movies and just sitting there eating chips on my bed.

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Speaker 2: That that had to stop. I sleep nine latest ten

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Speaker 2: on weekends when I don't have training, and that's only Sundays,

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Speaker 2: and I would slip late only on Saturdays because Sunday

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Speaker 2: is my day off. But then on Sunday I have

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Speaker 2: to sleep by nine nine thirty latest ten because the

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Speaker 2: next morning, I wake up early, and then also on Sunday,

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Speaker 2: I have to think about the rest of the week, hydrating,

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Speaker 2: eating enough again, back to routine. So I really don't

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Speaker 2: have a lot of time. And back home, I have

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Speaker 2: a lot of friends, and my friends complain about not

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Speaker 2: going out and you know, spending a lot of time

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Speaker 2: for them because it's a full time job and I

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Speaker 2: have to be cautious of that all the time. I

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Speaker 2: also think about not catching a cold, especially during serious

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Speaker 2: training the last one month to marathons, I think about

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Speaker 2: catching a cold or anything because I don't want to

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Speaker 2: be in medication that would put my body back to

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Speaker 2: square one and start over again.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of opportunity cost, you know, there's a

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00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,320
Speaker 3: lot of sacrifices that you make to go after these goals.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's something that a lot of people also

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Speaker 3: don't think about, you saying like, I need to be

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Speaker 3: careful about the situations that I'm putting myself in. Knowing

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Speaker 3: how it felt for you to run after having COVID

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Speaker 3: and like hating that and not wanting to do that again.

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Speaker 2: Oh no, it was terrible when I had COVID. I

347
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,160
Speaker 2: couldn't go out and whenever I had the opportunity to

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Speaker 2: go for a run, my body did not feel the same,

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Speaker 2: and I feel I questioned myself if I wanted to

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Speaker 2: run that season, to run the marathon last year, but

351
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Speaker 2: I just had to force myself to do to go

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Speaker 2: out there and run, because I wasn't just going to

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Speaker 2: sit and wait for the body to respond as long

354
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Speaker 2: as I was on that clear to start training, I

355
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,600
Speaker 2: had to go all out and I don't want to

356
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Speaker 2: get to that point again where I am forcing myself

357
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Speaker 2: to start training instead of enjoying it.

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Speaker 3: If you're not enjoying the journey, then what's the point

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Speaker 3: of the destination. And you know, it's so clear that

360
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Speaker 3: you have so much passion for what you do that

361
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Speaker 3: the whole thing seems to be worth it for you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I really enjoy running. All my siblings were runners,

363
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:28,440
Speaker 2: including my parents, And looking back to the days when

364
00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,239
Speaker 2: I was being bullied and giving up on running, I

365
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,199
Speaker 2: really regretted. I wish I had somebody to speak to

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Speaker 2: about because in Africa, nobody talks about bullying. We really don't,

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00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,560
Speaker 2: and that is something that more younger parents now. A

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00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,960
Speaker 2: study that conversation with their kids about bullying and how

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Speaker 2: to overcome or how to defend yourself. But back then

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00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:51,800
Speaker 2: I didn't have I couldn't go home and tell my

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00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,640
Speaker 2: mom or I'm bullied for running because I'm a skinner girl.

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Speaker 2: Mom wouldn't even understand what that is, and so it

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00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:03,080
Speaker 2: was different. But now now it's a different thing, and

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00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,680
Speaker 2: it's really really nice to be where I am. Yeah,

375
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,600
Speaker 2: and I'm enjoying what I'm doing now.

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Speaker 3: How does it feel for you to be someone at

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Speaker 3: the forefront of the conversation and starting to be a

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00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,400
Speaker 3: voice for those who maybe don't feel like they had

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Speaker 3: one themselves.

380
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Speaker 2: It's been really great, and I think I started developing

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00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,879
Speaker 2: the courage to speak, especially when I started talking about

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00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,600
Speaker 2: gender based violence, and that is when Agnes passed. To me,

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Speaker 2: it wasn't natural for me to just get up and

384
00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,080
Speaker 2: speak about this because that's something that nobody talks about

385
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:44,199
Speaker 2: in my country. Nobody acknowledges that it's happening. Yet it

386
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,600
Speaker 2: has taken so many lives. Until Agnes died, and I

387
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,200
Speaker 2: was speaking out of anger and a lot of frustration,

388
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,080
Speaker 2: not knowing how can a twenty five year old die

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Speaker 2: from gender based violence, from domestic violence?

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Speaker 1: How did all of us not see what was happening

391
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:02,200
Speaker 1: in her life.

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Speaker 2: How did we just ignore the science if there were any.

393
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,879
Speaker 2: And from that day on, I said, I'm just going

394
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,320
Speaker 2: to speak about everything that affects us, especially women and girls,

395
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:15,399
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to shy away from it. If

396
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,000
Speaker 2: it's bullying, if it is menstrual periods, if it is

397
00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:22,639
Speaker 2: gender based violence, domestic violence, all that I'm in and

398
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,680
Speaker 2: now I run running for all those women who can

399
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,119
Speaker 2: do it for themselves. I know they are women that

400
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 2: have been bullied about the way they look and how

401
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:36,200
Speaker 2: they you know, especially the skinner girls or the bigger girls.

402
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,280
Speaker 2: People talk about body image all the time and that

403
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,360
Speaker 2: plays a lot, especially with mental health, and a lot

404
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,160
Speaker 2: of women suffer, and I'm one of them. I never

405
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,919
Speaker 2: talked about me being bullied until when Agnes passed. I

406
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,080
Speaker 2: was like, I'm not going to keep anything from my life.

407
00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,119
Speaker 2: I'm going to talk about bullying so that if somebody

408
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 2: can relate to it, they can speak out too and

409
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,119
Speaker 2: seek help. If it's the best violence. I'm going to

410
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:03,960
Speaker 2: speak about my own experience from my home, my sisters,

411
00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 2: my mom, and also my friends, and that way they

412
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:08,800
Speaker 2: can come out and speak about it.

413
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:09,520
Speaker 1: And get help.

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00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's so beautiful that you are using

415
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,000
Speaker 3: your voice. Often we hear this phrase, and it's commonly

416
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,399
Speaker 3: spoken about on the show, and sometimes in order to

417
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,200
Speaker 3: be her, you need to see her. And now women,

418
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,360
Speaker 3: especially in your country where this dialogue isn't as open,

419
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,840
Speaker 3: are seeing you and then women that you surround yourself

420
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 3: with speaking about these issues, and they themselves can then

421
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,439
Speaker 3: get to a place where they can say, you know what,

422
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,320
Speaker 3: I've been affected by this as well. Now, for those

423
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,920
Speaker 3: who may not be familiar with Agnes's story, I'd love

424
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,000
Speaker 3: it if you could shed some light on it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So, Agnes was a world cross country champion, She

426
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,080
Speaker 2: was an Olympian. She was a world record holder in

427
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,360
Speaker 2: the tententy twenty twenty one before she was murdered by

428
00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 2: her husband. She was a twenty five year old. She

429
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,840
Speaker 2: was a lovely woman. She smiled, she loved her friends

430
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,480
Speaker 2: and family, and her life came to a tragic end

431
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,399
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one October. We went to Adidas for

432
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,040
Speaker 2: the A D zero event in September together and she

433
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 2: ran the ten thousand, and I ran the half marathon

434
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Speaker 2: and on that day she came in at night I

435
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 2: think two days before the race, she was coming from

436
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,520
Speaker 2: another race. She arrived at night, and Agnes was always quiet.

437
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,880
Speaker 2: She just smiled. She didn't say much, but something had

438
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 2: changed in her, and everybody keeps saying the same thing.

439
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 2: I had not seen her because I was in the

440
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,560
Speaker 2: US for quite some time. And then when I went

441
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,800
Speaker 2: back home, we met together and she came in having

442
00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,359
Speaker 2: her earphone headphones, and she was happy. She was just

443
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 2: singing to her music. And then she saw me and

444
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:46,679
Speaker 2: she said, hey, have yallah, how are you.

445
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:47,800
Speaker 1: She came and hugged me.

446
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,440
Speaker 2: Like Agnes was more quiet, you'd be the one approaching

447
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 2: her and then she would open up, smile, talk to

448
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 2: you about just running.

449
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 1: And she was really happy that day.

450
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,120
Speaker 2: And the day of that event, I was really excited

451
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,439
Speaker 2: because I was one of many people who just sat

452
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480
Speaker 2: and were expecting something great, but we didn't think about.

453
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 1: A world record.

454
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:07,360
Speaker 2: And when she realized that she was going to break

455
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 2: the world record, the whole stadium was going crazy. I

456
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:11,919
Speaker 2: was one of the people who were running down the

457
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,160
Speaker 2: stairs heading to the finish, just wanting to hug her.

458
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:16,879
Speaker 2: And by the time I got there, there were just

459
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,600
Speaker 2: so many people and we were just jumping and being

460
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,040
Speaker 2: happy for her, and then we went back home. We

461
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,479
Speaker 2: flew back home together and when we got to the airport,

462
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,000
Speaker 2: my husband came to pick me up and he was late,

463
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,480
Speaker 2: and then my husband said, hey, Agnes, do you need

464
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 2: a ride? And she said, no, somebody's coming for me.

465
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,680
Speaker 2: And that was the last time. If I knew Agnes

466
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,480
Speaker 2: had been abused from the time she was at the Olympics,

467
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 2: sent threatening messages about her life being taken away. When

468
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 2: she got home, I might have said something. I don't

469
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 2: know if it would have changed the situation, but I

470
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 2: think I would feel better knowing that I'll probably say something.

471
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: That could have changed her life.

472
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 2: But we went back home and a few weeks later

473
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: I got the news. I was somewhere back in the

474
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,040
Speaker 2: village and I got a text message from a friend saying, Viola,

475
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:06,159
Speaker 2: what is happening in the ten?

476
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,679
Speaker 1: And I was like, I don't know, what do you mean.

477
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,919
Speaker 2: What's happening in the ten? And she's like, really, something

478
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 2: bad is happening. Can you check your phone? And he

479
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 2: sent me a message on what'sapp with the picture of

480
00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,640
Speaker 2: Agnes holding the flag, so I was like, of course

481
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,280
Speaker 2: that's Agnes. She broke the wild record and he's like, no,

482
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 2: did you read what is there? And I said no.

483
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 2: I went back and read and I was like, no,

484
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 2: there's no way. This is not the Agness. I know

485
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,159
Speaker 2: she's healthy and on the picture he didn't say what

486
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 2: had happened to her. It just said she was found diseased.

487
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 2: And I called him back and I said, I don't

488
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:40,719
Speaker 2: think this is the right Agnes. This has to be

489
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 2: like some crazy stuff, somebody's writing something stupid.

490
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: I came with her. She was healthy.

491
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,480
Speaker 2: There's no way she fell on her rund and just

492
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,720
Speaker 2: died like that or had a heart attack like.

493
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 1: She's she's young.

494
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,760
Speaker 2: And I called my cousins and friends in a ten

495
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 2: and they said, yes, the police are here. And it

496
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,480
Speaker 2: was the worst time of my life. I was in

497
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,720
Speaker 2: denial for quite some time until I went to the

498
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,879
Speaker 2: more the day of her awake and I viewed her

499
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,879
Speaker 2: body and it changed my life forever. I can't believe

500
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,120
Speaker 2: a twenty five you being killed by someone you trusted,

501
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 2: who portrayed you, who used you. And that's what I realized.

502
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,639
Speaker 2: He used her for quite some time. He took advantage

503
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,480
Speaker 2: of her innocence when she was young, separated her from

504
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 2: her family and friends, took advantage of her finances and

505
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 2: her career for his own benefits, and eventually took her life.

506
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 4: Just terrible, Yeah, awful. Thank you for sharing that.

507
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,720
Speaker 3: It's my hurt when you say, like, if I had known,

508
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 3: I would have done something right, And that goes back

509
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 3: to you now wanting to speak up and wanting to

510
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:53,119
Speaker 3: cultivate conversation so that there can be more awareness and

511
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:58,240
Speaker 3: in other situations maybe someone would step up and say

512
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 3: this is happening to me, But know that you did

513
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 3: the best you could with what you had, right, Like

514
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:04,160
Speaker 3: you didn't know.

515
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, you didn't know.

516
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 2: Now for me, I didn't even know what violent gender

517
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 2: based violence was or domestic violence until I came to

518
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 2: America to school and I would hear people saying, oh,

519
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 2: they called police on him. He had been taken away,

520
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,320
Speaker 2: And I was like, what do you mean, Oh, he

521
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,160
Speaker 2: wanted to beat her up Back home, somebody would beat you.

522
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 2: You called police and they're like, we don't.

523
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: Have a gas.

524
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:27,880
Speaker 2: Can you send us some money for us to come there.

525
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,199
Speaker 2: When are you calling police to and sending money at

526
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,199
Speaker 2: the same time to seek help? And that's what discourages

527
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 2: a lot of women because also when the perpetrators are

528
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 2: taken to police stations, they don't even get arrested.

529
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,320
Speaker 1: They don't even stay there for a night.

530
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,920
Speaker 2: They're being sent home and asked to go to the

531
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 2: local counselors or people that could talk to them about

532
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 2: their domestic issues. And that always leads to reconciliation instead

533
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 2: of separating people and creating an opportunity for them to

534
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 2: refresh their minds and think is this the right thing

535
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,360
Speaker 2: that I want to do or should I just move on?

536
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 2: And women often don't get that opportunity because they go

537
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,880
Speaker 2: back to their families and they're told to go back

538
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 2: for their kids, go.

539
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,919
Speaker 1: Fix yourself, cook early, clean.

540
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 2: Don't create opportunities for him to be upset, that is

541
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:15,439
Speaker 2: what it is.

542
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,160
Speaker 3: Don't create opportunities for him to be upset. I roll, yeah,

543
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 3: And it's you know, it really does, at least for myself,

544
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 3: and I'm sure for some people listening right now reminds

545
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,160
Speaker 3: us about some of the privilege that we have here

546
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 3: in the States, knowing that you could call nine on

547
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,719
Speaker 3: one and like that wouldn't be an issue.

548
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 4: Right.

549
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,640
Speaker 3: It's so eye opening to hear and heartbreaking to hear

550
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 3: about how that happens.

551
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 4: Yeah, in Kenya.

552
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's terrible.

553
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,840
Speaker 2: I wish we had the same situation here that we

554
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,400
Speaker 2: have here in America, where one call would mean that

555
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 2: police is coming and you're sure you're going to get

556
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 2: the help you need. It doesn't quite often what happened

557
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 2: back home. We've had several times that we have taken

558
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 2: victims of gender based violence to police stations and the

559
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,159
Speaker 2: same thing happens the following day, or go talk about

560
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 2: it with your husband and probably family members and a

561
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:12,200
Speaker 2: local church leader or somebody, and it often leads back

562
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 2: to reconscoliation instead of walking away from a violent situation.

563
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, dangerous situation. So in Agnes's memory, you have come

564
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 3: together with other women to create tear Ups Angels. Can

565
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 3: you talk to us a little bit about what that is?

566
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 1: Okay?

567
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 2: So, after Agnes passed, we promised that we were going

568
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 2: to continue to remember her and to also help other

569
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,719
Speaker 2: victims of gender based violence, and that's why we started

570
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 2: a foundation or an organization called Tei Rops Angels. So

571
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 2: we basically go around to school's, churches and around the

572
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 2: community to speak about what gender based violence is. Because

573
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,520
Speaker 2: first of all, we have to introduce everybody to what

574
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 2: it is. Nobody knows that they're in it until we

575
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,479
Speaker 2: talk about what it looks like, what that is, and

576
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 2: so we do that, and then we also offer any

577
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,439
Speaker 2: kind of support let's say legal. We have a lawyer,

578
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,920
Speaker 2: we have counseling for victims, We have a counselor a

579
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 2: psychologist that we call whenever we need them to help somebody.

580
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 2: And then we we've spoken to some police officers who

581
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 2: are willing to work with us whenever we have a

582
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,119
Speaker 2: victim and we need them to speak with That still

583
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 2: needs a lot of work to happen because more most

584
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 2: of the time we go there and we deal with

585
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 2: a lot of men at the police station, and when

586
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 2: it comes to women, they are still naive to the idea,

587
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 2: to the fact that it is a dangerous situation, and

588
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:36,600
Speaker 2: most of the time they're like, why can't you go

589
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 2: talk about this back home? Are you sure you want

590
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 2: to do this? So that's how it always goes, but

591
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 2: we do our best at Trops Angels. You want to

592
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 2: make sure that gender based violence is being eradicated in Kenya,

593
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 2: and we're really happy because when we started, we got

594
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 2: a lot of challenges, especially from men and people who

595
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 2: thought that we were there to separate people from If

596
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 2: you're unhappy with your husband, you just wake up and

597
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 2: pack yourself and leave because Srops Angels is going to

598
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 2: be there to support you. That was not the fact,

599
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 2: and everybody thought we were just they had to break families,

600
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 2: which was terrible for us to realize that. Okay, instead

601
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,440
Speaker 2: of all of us coming together because we realized this

602
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 2: is a pandemic, it has gone down to a twenty

603
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 2: five year old Agnes, a world champion.

604
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 1: She had her life.

605
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 2: It's not like somebody who was just out there and

606
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 2: not taking care of herself. She was doing everything right.

607
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 2: And so it's been great that we now have the

608
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 2: support of the community. Whenever we have these seminars that

609
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 2: we go around to camps and schools and churches, we've

610
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 2: received really, we've had good reception.

611
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 1: From even men.

612
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 2: Men are asking women to walk away from situations like that.

613
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 2: But it didn't happen overnight. We have had to do

614
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 2: a lot of convincing and telling them come sit in

615
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 2: our sessions, come here what we talk about. It's not

616
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,959
Speaker 2: just about men women, it's also about men because everybody

617
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 2: can be a victim of gender past violence, and that

618
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 2: is where we got this sup knowing that it wasn't

619
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 2: just a one sided thing, but as we are advocating

620
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 2: for a lot of women because they got affected to early,

621
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 2: especially from the sexual assault from my younger age to

622
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 2: an older age where it's physical and then leading to

623
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 2: death for a lot of them.

624
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love

625
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Speaker 3: It's truly remarkable the work that you're doing. And I

643
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 3: think what you're talking about here with men getting involved

644
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 3: is just the importance of allyship right. And earlier this

645
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 3: year I led a couple of different conversations on runner

646
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 3: safety and allyship is just so critical for us to

647
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,800
Speaker 3: feel safe, regardless of gender, right, for there to be

648
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:03,080
Speaker 3: a mutual understanding of what an experience can be like

649
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,840
Speaker 3: for one individual versus another individual. And then knowing that

650
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,760
Speaker 3: you can then move forward having that education, because I'm

651
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 3: sure there are so many men who maybe don't understand

652
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 3: just how bad it is for the women that you're

653
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 3: working with, So to hear their stories it helps them

654
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,479
Speaker 3: and then they can maybe do something with that education.

655
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 3: Hopefully do something with that education.

656
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, So it's been good because also when we

657
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 2: speak about that, we tell them, imagine if this was

658
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 2: your daughter, this is happening to them, somebody is maybe

659
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 2: sexually assaulting them at a younger age when she's going

660
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 2: to school, she comes back, you have no idea, and

661
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,479
Speaker 2: then you find out when they have mental problems at

662
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,120
Speaker 2: their older age and they are now able to express themselves,

663
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:51,800
Speaker 2: or they go to a council and you find out,

664
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 2: what would you do? You want that to happen? And

665
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 2: then it became an eye open up for them. And

666
00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 2: then also we put them in situations where we tell them.

667
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 2: We've also had men who complain about this that we

668
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,920
Speaker 2: know friends who are men that have been killed by

669
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,160
Speaker 2: their spouses. Don't you think this is happening to all

670
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 2: of us. It's not just men, And that's why we

671
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,120
Speaker 2: want you to come on board with us to work

672
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 2: this journey to make sure that it doesn't happened to anybody.

673
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter if it's a woman or men.

674
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: We will have to work together.

675
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 2: The reason why we have so many women joining us

676
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 2: is because they are affected and they're willing to speak.

677
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,080
Speaker 2: But men they're still closing in issues for themselves. They're

678
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 2: not speaking out, and so we told them, once you

679
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,960
Speaker 2: speak out about these issues and come on board with us,

680
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,680
Speaker 2: I think we are going to end this. And it's

681
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 2: been really nice and for us. The first event that

682
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:40,960
Speaker 2: we had for all mothers We went to a school

683
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 2: called Camrige in it In and we invited women just

684
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,960
Speaker 2: from a local school and we didn't know how many

685
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 2: people are going to show up. We were thinking if

686
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 2: we get fifty two hundred would be so happy, because

687
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 2: that was the turnout for most of our events, around

688
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:55,360
Speaker 2: fifty sixty.

689
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:56,200
Speaker 1: And we had.

690
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 2: Around five hundred women show up. Yes, we were just shocked.

691
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:01,840
Speaker 2: We showed up and we thought, oh, we were going

692
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 2: to provide lunch for all these women and around that

693
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 2: time we didn't have enough money. We were just calling

694
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,759
Speaker 2: women to speak and we were like, oh, no, we

695
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,279
Speaker 2: now have five hundred women around lunchtime, what are we

696
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 2: going to do? But it was super nice that at

697
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 2: the end of the event, everybody was happy. Women were

698
00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 2: talking about how they feel relieved because we invited somebody

699
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,040
Speaker 2: from a local hospital that deals with gender based violence,

700
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,400
Speaker 2: especially sexual assault with the young kids, especially girls, and

701
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,760
Speaker 2: she spoke with the moms about the importance of taking

702
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 2: being careful about who you leave your children with because predators.

703
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,840
Speaker 1: Can be anybody. It can be a dad, cousin. And

704
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:39,240
Speaker 1: when they.

705
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 2: Left, women are like, oh, we feel like a weight

706
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 2: had been lifted over our shoulders. And I feel happy,

707
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 2: and they were asking for phone numbers so they could

708
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 2: call us. That was the moment when we just all

709
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,760
Speaker 2: of us were just like, is this really happening? These

710
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:57,840
Speaker 2: women are trusting us, somebody is trusting us with their stories,

711
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 2: They're willing to speak with us about this, And after

712
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 2: that it just became course coming in. We've had victims

713
00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:10,319
Speaker 2: as young as seventeen sixteen, and it's been depressing some

714
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 2: of the days for us. But I think since we

715
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 2: have each other and we decided that this journey is

716
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,840
Speaker 2: going to be difficult and we embrace it as we go,

717
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:21,120
Speaker 2: it has been really really nice to just know that

718
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 2: people are willing to join us and work with us,

719
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,080
Speaker 2: and also have victims come.

720
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 1: To speak with us.

721
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 4: Yeah.

722
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been really nice.

723
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 3: When you started speaking about your personal experiences, despite knowing

724
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,239
Speaker 3: that it was something that you wanted to do, was

725
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:39,400
Speaker 3: it challenging?

726
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 2: It was difficult because, especially from my family, no one

727
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,279
Speaker 2: has talked about it. No one has asked our dad

728
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 2: why he treated us the way he did from a

729
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:54,919
Speaker 2: younger age when you were kids to my adults. When

730
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 2: I was in high school and abuse was still continuing,

731
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:01,920
Speaker 2: especially with my mom, we had never approached that topic

732
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 2: with him, and nobody has ever done that for me.

733
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,279
Speaker 2: I decided when I started dating my husband, he's a

734
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 2: good man. He's really really nice. So I decided, I'm

735
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,680
Speaker 2: not going to continue with the anger that I have

736
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 2: from my experience from my mom's situation taking it to

737
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,680
Speaker 2: my own relationship. I think the reason why some of

738
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 2: my sisters hasn't stayed in their relationship is also from

739
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 2: the anger from what happened to my mom at home

740
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,320
Speaker 2: and then having their own experiences in their own relationships.

741
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,040
Speaker 2: It just leads to damaged relationships. So I said, I

742
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 2: have found a good man and I want to be

743
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 2: there forever with him, and I have to forgive my

744
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 2: dad in order for me to love this man, because

745
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,000
Speaker 2: I didn't love men at that point.

746
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 1: I really didn't.

747
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 2: I thought the man, yeah, the only man I loved

748
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 2: of my brothers, that's it.

749
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:53,440
Speaker 1: Yeah. And that changed.

750
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 2: And from my forgiveness for my dad, I really didn't

751
00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 2: even seek any explanation from him. I decided to let

752
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 2: him go and move on, and that helped me to

753
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 2: be able to speak about it without any shame, knowing

754
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:08,799
Speaker 2: that I forgive him. If you ever have to ask

755
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 2: me why I speak about this, I'll be able to

756
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 2: stand up and tell him this is what happened. And

757
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,000
Speaker 2: since I didn't get any explanation from you, I decided

758
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,080
Speaker 2: for it to be a lesson for other people and

759
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:20,280
Speaker 2: also for my own self.

760
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,279
Speaker 3: Moving forward, So you're saying that your father abused your

761
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 3: mother when you were growing.

762
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,200
Speaker 2: Up, Yeah, yeah, even ask the kids.

763
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah. And so you were witnessed to that as well.

764
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: I did. Growing up.

765
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,680
Speaker 2: That was the everyday thing. Yeah, violence was drinking, beating

766
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,200
Speaker 2: my mom and all my siblings, including myself. There were

767
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,320
Speaker 2: days that you would go sleep at my sister's house

768
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:42,399
Speaker 2: we ran away from home.

769
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 1: Mom would go.

770
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 2: To her family, and then a few days later she's

771
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 2: back after being bidden to a point where she can't

772
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,280
Speaker 2: get up the following day. And it was terrible because

773
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:55,640
Speaker 2: that still continues. Women go back to their families and

774
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 2: they're told to go back for the kids or go

775
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 2: fix yourself, like I told you, And that continued to

776
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 2: a point where my dad stopped the abuse. And honestly,

777
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:08,799
Speaker 2: if you were to ask me if he's the same

778
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,440
Speaker 2: guy from growing up and now it's like two different.

779
00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 4: People, what do you think that is?

780
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,040
Speaker 2: I don't know if at some point he regretted what

781
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 2: he did to all of us because regardless, we loved him.

782
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 2: When we were going through all that back home, Mom

783
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,560
Speaker 2: would always tell us, do not touch your dad. If

784
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,759
Speaker 2: he's beating me, don't hit him, don't push him. If

785
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,120
Speaker 2: you can stand in between us just to protect me,

786
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,359
Speaker 2: that's fine, but don't hit, don't do anything. And we

787
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 2: were so angry because at some point you want to

788
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 2: do something. You know as a child, you just want

789
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 2: to protect your mom, and by protecting your mom, you're

790
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:47,280
Speaker 2: probably hitting your dad or pushing him. And Mom insisted

791
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 2: on loving and forgiving. She's a religious mother. She has

792
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,919
Speaker 2: prayed for all of us since when we were young.

793
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,920
Speaker 2: She prayed about her situations. I know it wasn't easy

794
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,239
Speaker 2: for her, and that's how I think I got my

795
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 2: forgiveness from because my mom insisted on forgiving and moving on.

796
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 2: And I think that changed my dad because regardless of

797
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 2: everything that we went through, we never neglected him, We

798
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 2: supported him. My siblings have always helped my dad and

799
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 2: they've never known. None of my siblings, the ten of us,

800
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,879
Speaker 2: I've never disrespected him, regardless of anything that happened to us.

801
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:25,920
Speaker 2: So I think he just realized that you made a

802
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:26,880
Speaker 2: mistake and.

803
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:34,920
Speaker 3: He wanted to turn It's challenging, right, it's heartbreaking to

804
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 3: hear that you went through that. It's really beautiful that

805
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 3: you have this level of awareness of what works for you.

806
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:47,839
Speaker 3: You know what your boundaries need to be, having been

807
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,719
Speaker 3: able to reflect on that situation, and.

808
00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:53,480
Speaker 4: You know what you want going forward.

809
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:58,279
Speaker 3: And to hear you speak about the forgiveness that you

810
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 3: needed to find to build your own happiness with your husband.

811
00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 3: You deserve that, you know like you deserve that happiness

812
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 3: with him, and so to not only find that forgiveness,

813
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,120
Speaker 3: which I'm sure is a forever work in the progress,

814
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 3: but then be able to turn that pain into passion

815
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:22,360
Speaker 3: with what you're doing with tear Ups Angels, it's really special.

816
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:27,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, it hasn't been easy to get where I am.

817
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 4: I can't even imagine.

818
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,360
Speaker 2: And I know some of my siblings probably still have

819
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,880
Speaker 2: a hard time with what happened to us when you

820
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,560
Speaker 2: are young. We speak about that sometimes, and for them,

821
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,880
Speaker 2: I don't know. Sometimes they tell me you're just crazy,

822
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:46,399
Speaker 2: You're someone who just wants reconsciliation and happiness and it's

823
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,320
Speaker 2: not easy, And I tell them I had to find

824
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:53,439
Speaker 2: that deep within me, and for some reason, even when

825
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,520
Speaker 2: I was a young girl, I was always optimistic. I

826
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,560
Speaker 2: always looked at a bright future.

827
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:00,879
Speaker 1: Even when they were no science. Yeah, we were very poor.

828
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 2: We went to neighbors for food, for clothes. When you

829
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,879
Speaker 2: were going somewhere to a wedding or something, you would

830
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:13,160
Speaker 2: borrow shoes from neighbors. And it wasn't easy with not

831
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:17,200
Speaker 2: having any no sign of success. But I think for

832
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,399
Speaker 2: us we got a glimpse of what the future could

833
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:24,720
Speaker 2: be when my brother started running and starting supporting our family,

834
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 2: and I think for all of us running. For my

835
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 2: older siblings, probably running was a way out of poverty

836
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,520
Speaker 2: and a way to support the younger siblings. And then

837
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,680
Speaker 2: for me it was just I want to give back.

838
00:41:35,719 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 2: I want to change something in my community. I don't

839
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,520
Speaker 2: know why I had these things in my head. Even

840
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,080
Speaker 2: growing up, I just saw myself having money and helping

841
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,320
Speaker 2: poor people. And then now it has done to something else.

842
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:50,360
Speaker 2: Talking about genderbest violence, something that I didn't know about

843
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 2: growing up because it was so normal and it's still

844
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:54,359
Speaker 2: normalized now and.

845
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:56,400
Speaker 1: That's why it's tough.

846
00:41:57,239 --> 00:42:00,359
Speaker 2: But we are also embracing the journey that we in

847
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 2: and just yeah.

848
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,319
Speaker 3: It's so special also to hear you talk about your

849
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,279
Speaker 3: excitement to be able to do some good with your platform.

850
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 3: It's not just running for your personal accomplishment, it's running

851
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:16,440
Speaker 3: for what you can do with that accomplishment. That makes

852
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:21,439
Speaker 3: what you're doing just so awesome now as you are

853
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:26,920
Speaker 3: able to build on your success. How does it feel

854
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:31,839
Speaker 3: now thinking about that younger version of yourself and executing

855
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,040
Speaker 3: on some of the things that you had so badly

856
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:35,480
Speaker 3: wanted for such a long time.

857
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 2: It's so real, it's like a dream. Sometimes I just

858
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,040
Speaker 2: have to pinch myself. If this is the life that

859
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,359
Speaker 2: an I envision as a young girl with nothing, and

860
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,560
Speaker 2: now I'm here, I just feel so blessed, and really

861
00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,399
Speaker 2: it's good to be able to witness this while I'm

862
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 2: still alive, and to see that my dreams came true

863
00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:00,200
Speaker 2: and I'm able to give back to my community. I'm

864
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:04,280
Speaker 2: able to touch lives through my career. I'm able to inspire

865
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,640
Speaker 2: younger girls, even from really vulnerable backgrounds, to know that

866
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,880
Speaker 2: there's light at the end. You just have to focus.

867
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:15,200
Speaker 2: You just have to trust yourself and just pick up

868
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:18,120
Speaker 2: when you have issues. That way, there's always somebody ready

869
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 2: to help, even if it's not deerps and just if

870
00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:24,000
Speaker 2: you're unable to speak with us, there's always somebody out there.

871
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,799
Speaker 2: But I would love for girls and women to be

872
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,280
Speaker 2: able to speak with us, because we're really passionate about

873
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,480
Speaker 2: helping and making sure that we create an environment where

874
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,880
Speaker 2: our girls are thriving and not surviving.

875
00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 3: For anyone who may be struggling with bullying similar to

876
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:44,840
Speaker 3: what you had experienced, what would you tell that to

877
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 3: navigate that.

878
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 2: Oh, whatever you're getting bullied for, there's a blessing out

879
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,520
Speaker 2: of it. Don't let anybody put you down. For me,

880
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:55,600
Speaker 2: I didn't see the blessing in my body the way

881
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 2: I'm built until when I started making money from running,

882
00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:01,480
Speaker 2: when I ran the World Championship, when I ran the

883
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,720
Speaker 2: Olympics and now major marathons. This has been a blessing

884
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:07,720
Speaker 2: in disguise, and this was something that somebody was trying

885
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,240
Speaker 2: to take away from me so much. Don't let somebody

886
00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:12,520
Speaker 2: take away something that you know it's going to be

887
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,239
Speaker 2: good for you in the future. It doesn't matter what

888
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:16,160
Speaker 2: it is. It could be just the way you look.

889
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 2: Somebody don't like you, but there's something deep within you

890
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,320
Speaker 2: that is being subsided by the bullying.

891
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:21,560
Speaker 1: Don't let that happen.

892
00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:26,080
Speaker 2: Just let your light shine, don't let somebody dim your light. Yeah,

893
00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 2: focus on the positive. I know it's hard, especially as

894
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:32,040
Speaker 2: a teenager, to see the sign of anything changing in

895
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:34,520
Speaker 2: the future, but I promise you things change.

896
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:35,000
Speaker 4: Yeah.

897
00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:37,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, speaking of things changing, I do you want to

898
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,640
Speaker 3: go back to your running story, and you mentioned getting

899
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:43,800
Speaker 3: that visa. I know now you're in a DIDA sponsored athlete,

900
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 3: So give us some insight into that journey.

901
00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:48,360
Speaker 2: Oh. So when I got the visa to come to

902
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,920
Speaker 2: study in the US, it was a four year scholarship

903
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 2: and I went to a small college in Arizona, Central

904
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:58,840
Speaker 2: Arizona College, and then I transferred to Florida State. And

905
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,680
Speaker 2: then when I graduated from Florida State, I had no

906
00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,040
Speaker 2: idea at that point. Also, though I told you earlier,

907
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:08,640
Speaker 2: the pressure from me being my brother, Bernard Lagad's sister.

908
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:11,200
Speaker 2: There was so much pressure for me to perform. And

909
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:15,279
Speaker 2: that pressure also led me to dislike running because it

910
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:18,600
Speaker 2: became almost like a full time job and I wasn't

911
00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 2: ready as a college athlete. I had to start learning

912
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:25,279
Speaker 2: how to balance college and running and just you know,

913
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:29,400
Speaker 2: being a teenager, just enjoying my life, and that was

914
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:34,279
Speaker 2: really hard. And when I went to Florida State. First

915
00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:35,840
Speaker 2: of all, when I was at the junior college in

916
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,239
Speaker 2: Central Arizona College, that's where I got embraced by my

917
00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:42,200
Speaker 2: teammates about how skinny I am, how fast I am,

918
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 2: and I started loving running, and my grades were really high.

919
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:47,240
Speaker 1: In college. I was scoring.

920
00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,520
Speaker 2: I was an honer student from the beginning, and I

921
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,280
Speaker 2: was doing really good. And then I went to Florida

922
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:54,680
Speaker 2: State and the pressure started because it was a four

923
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 2: year college. It's not the same as a junior college.

924
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:01,040
Speaker 2: And there I did not like running that much until

925
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:05,520
Speaker 2: my senior year. Why because my coach was too I

926
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:07,440
Speaker 2: would say, I don't know if I said too strict.

927
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,920
Speaker 2: By the time I graduated, I told myself, I don't

928
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:13,160
Speaker 2: want to run. And then the last day before I left,

929
00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:16,000
Speaker 2: I went and said thank you to her for bringing

930
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:18,920
Speaker 2: me to Florida State and for giving me the education

931
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,200
Speaker 2: that I needed for me to continue, let's say, going

932
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,160
Speaker 2: into masters if I needed to, and for the scholarship.

933
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 2: And she told me, Okay, yeah, I would love for

934
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:30,799
Speaker 2: you to continue running, but I don't want to coach

935
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:34,600
Speaker 2: professional athletes. College is already stressful for me. But I'll

936
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:37,120
Speaker 2: refer you to a coach who's really really good. She's

937
00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:39,880
Speaker 2: a female, and I was like another female coach, So

938
00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:42,640
Speaker 2: I was like okay, So I went to So she

939
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:44,879
Speaker 2: sent me to Colorado Springs and I was like that

940
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:48,799
Speaker 2: works because I have a brother in Colorado Springs. And

941
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:51,839
Speaker 2: I went there and I started volunteering at the Air

942
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,920
Speaker 2: Force Academy as a volunteer coach, and that lady she

943
00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,799
Speaker 2: coached me, and at that point she's like, I'm going

944
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,320
Speaker 2: to call someone who can if you just training stuff

945
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,359
Speaker 2: and just get your schedule for the summer, if you're

946
00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:06,359
Speaker 2: able to make it to go to Europe, just go

947
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:08,840
Speaker 2: have fun run this year and then we'll see what happens.

948
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:10,319
Speaker 1: That was twenty thirteen.

949
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:15,040
Speaker 2: And I went there, I trained, and then I remember

950
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,800
Speaker 2: running my first professional event here in Boston New Balance

951
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 2: Indoor Games. So I came for the New Balance Indoor

952
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:26,080
Speaker 2: Games and I was seconds out of college and I

953
00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 2: was like, wow, I think I can actually continue running.

954
00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:30,720
Speaker 1: Now this is the thing that I might enjoy.

955
00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 2: Now I don't have to.

956
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:35,560
Speaker 1: Deal with school. I can travel. It also includes traveling.

957
00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:36,480
Speaker 1: This is awesome.

958
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:39,960
Speaker 2: So I came to Boston and after being second The

959
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:43,200
Speaker 2: guy that she had called was actually an agent and

960
00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:45,080
Speaker 2: he was based in Boston and he's the one that

961
00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:48,000
Speaker 2: got me into a race here. And before coming to Boston,

962
00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,120
Speaker 2: he had sent me a lot of nice Adidas clothes

963
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 2: from the previous season's full suitcase of clothes and shoes.

964
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:55,800
Speaker 2: And I was like, oh, wow, these are nice people.

965
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,360
Speaker 2: I think I like running. And I came here and

966
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:00,880
Speaker 2: I ran and I was like, okay, let's go. Now

967
00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:03,560
Speaker 2: what do we do next season? I want to you

968
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:05,640
Speaker 2: to go to Europe in the summer. I'll get your

969
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:09,400
Speaker 2: race in Ostrava. You'll run that race, no pressure. I

970
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:11,399
Speaker 2: went there and I think I was second or third

971
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:15,880
Speaker 2: for my first professional race from running for twelve in

972
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,279
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred in college running four zero five. Wow, And

973
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:21,960
Speaker 2: I got a qualifying standard for World Championship in that event.

974
00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:25,399
Speaker 2: I signed my first contract in twenty thirteen with Adidas

975
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:29,320
Speaker 2: and it was just super fun. I was so happy

976
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:31,759
Speaker 2: I was back in running. And I didn't think I

977
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:35,200
Speaker 2: would enjoy it after college, but I really started enjoying

978
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,320
Speaker 2: running in twenty thirteen.

979
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the years later, ten years later.

980
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,600
Speaker 2: And then I went and then I went to I

981
00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:47,200
Speaker 2: remember also running in twenty fifteen, and I got the

982
00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:49,480
Speaker 2: qualifying standard for World Championship. And then I went to

983
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:52,840
Speaker 2: Kenya and I was coming from Arizona sea level and

984
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,640
Speaker 2: I'm going to high altitude seven thousand feet plus in Kenya.

985
00:48:56,680 --> 00:48:59,279
Speaker 2: And I remember just going for the trials and just

986
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 2: thinking it's no way I'm lining up against all these

987
00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 2: good women and expecting to do anything good.

988
00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:06,160
Speaker 1: So I'll just go have fun.

989
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 2: And I remember that day I was fourth, and we

990
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,839
Speaker 2: had a girl that was third or second, and she

991
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:14,720
Speaker 2: had a wildcard in the five thousand, so she decided

992
00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:16,560
Speaker 2: to run the five thousand. So I was selected into

993
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:19,239
Speaker 2: the team because I was number four. So that's how

994
00:49:19,239 --> 00:49:22,120
Speaker 2: I made my first World Championship team in twenty fifteen.

995
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:22,759
Speaker 1: Yeah.

996
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:25,399
Speaker 3: Man, And so what you're saying here, First of all,

997
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:28,520
Speaker 3: we just need to like, I love the I don't

998
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:30,600
Speaker 3: know how it's going to do. My expectations are low,

999
00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:32,320
Speaker 3: so I'm going to plan to have fun.

1000
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:35,600
Speaker 4: Like what amazing attitude. Yeah, that's so good.

1001
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:39,320
Speaker 3: And then I love also hearing this journey because you started,

1002
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:42,480
Speaker 3: you know, five thousand, three thousand, and now again we're

1003
00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:44,720
Speaker 3: sitting here in Boston, Boston Marathon again.

1004
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:46,480
Speaker 4: Marathon is very different.

1005
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:50,640
Speaker 3: So ultimately, what made you decide that you wanted to

1006
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:53,000
Speaker 3: transition into the longer distances.

1007
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:57,840
Speaker 2: So after twenty sixteen Olympics, yeah, I decided I just

1008
00:49:57,920 --> 00:50:00,280
Speaker 2: wanted to move up to five thousand because I I didn't

1009
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:03,160
Speaker 2: make the finals and I was really really disappointed. I

1010
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:05,640
Speaker 2: had trained so hard and I felt, maybe I don't

1011
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:08,080
Speaker 2: have the speed for fifteen hundred. Maybe if I can

1012
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:10,960
Speaker 2: move up to five thousand, I can hold the same

1013
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:13,080
Speaker 2: pace for quite some time. And just you know, end

1014
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:16,839
Speaker 2: up meddling in that event, and I started building up

1015
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:19,480
Speaker 2: the mileage and my body did not respond well. I

1016
00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:22,839
Speaker 2: started having injuries and that put me out the whole

1017
00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:25,759
Speaker 2: of twenty seventeen. I didn't make the World Championship and

1018
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:28,440
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen. So towards the end of twenty eighteen is

1019
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:31,280
Speaker 2: when I recovered from a back and a whole hamstring.

1020
00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:33,160
Speaker 1: The whole right side was just messed up.

1021
00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:36,120
Speaker 2: And I got back and that's when I was in

1022
00:50:36,200 --> 00:50:38,440
Speaker 2: Kenya and I decided I wanted to train to start

1023
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:40,960
Speaker 2: my training in Kenya, being close to my parents, because

1024
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:44,920
Speaker 2: I was always like feeling down and people don't realize

1025
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,919
Speaker 2: athletes we take our running as everything in our lives.

1026
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:51,960
Speaker 2: We put everything on hold and put it first. And

1027
00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 2: at that point when I was running, I was feeling

1028
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:57,279
Speaker 2: really depressed. I was eating and I had gained so

1029
00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:01,279
Speaker 2: much weight. Finally, yeah, finally, for the first time.

1030
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:05,440
Speaker 1: It didn't come that the right time. It came at

1031
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:07,279
Speaker 1: the wrong time because I really wanted to run.

1032
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:10,720
Speaker 2: But I think also the weight gain wasn't helping because

1033
00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 2: I wasn't even exercising. I wasn't doing any uh yeah,

1034
00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:17,920
Speaker 2: exercises to help me build up the muscles that I

1035
00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:19,880
Speaker 2: needed to build for me to get back to running.

1036
00:51:19,960 --> 00:51:23,560
Speaker 3: That's understandable, though you're saying you prioritized it above all else.

1037
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:26,120
Speaker 3: Running was how you identified and then to go through

1038
00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:28,839
Speaker 3: this injury where you can't do the thing that makes

1039
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,560
Speaker 3: you feel like you it's so understandable, Like you went

1040
00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:31,920
Speaker 3: through that.

1041
00:51:32,200 --> 00:51:35,279
Speaker 2: I was eating chips now every night, I was just

1042
00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,319
Speaker 2: fries and all this stuff to make me feel good.

1043
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,440
Speaker 4: And isn't it funny. It's never like I was depressed.

1044
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,440
Speaker 4: So we need some bananas right now.

1045
00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:44,600
Speaker 1: And it's funny.

1046
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:47,360
Speaker 2: And it wasn't really funny because so I have my

1047
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:49,840
Speaker 2: nieces and they are still young, and we went to

1048
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:54,239
Speaker 2: vacation in Mexico and I wore my bikini and she's like, Auntie, Lola,

1049
00:51:54,600 --> 00:51:58,400
Speaker 2: are you pregnant? And I was like, oh, okay.

1050
00:51:58,239 --> 00:51:59,600
Speaker 4: I mean I start calling you Lola.

1051
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:01,520
Speaker 1: Oh they call me Antilola.

1052
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:02,480
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1053
00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:04,920
Speaker 2: So at that point I was like, I might need

1054
00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:07,719
Speaker 2: to start running and just doing something to lose the

1055
00:52:07,719 --> 00:52:10,960
Speaker 2: weight because it's not healthy. Yeah, and then I was

1056
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:14,120
Speaker 2: able to get back on. When I started running in Kenya,

1057
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:16,640
Speaker 2: i was close to home. I would see my parents

1058
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,280
Speaker 2: every weekend, and I think that helped to the stress

1059
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,719
Speaker 2: because my mum is a really positive energy person, so

1060
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:25,120
Speaker 2: whenever I'm with her, I feel calm and relaxed, and

1061
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:27,319
Speaker 2: whenever I also see how I want to do good

1062
00:52:27,880 --> 00:52:30,080
Speaker 2: because she has gone through all this, So what excuse

1063
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:32,759
Speaker 2: do I have for not succeeding with the opportunities that

1064
00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:35,440
Speaker 2: I have. So I'd go back running, and eventually just

1065
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:38,040
Speaker 2: running came back to me, and I think I was

1066
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:42,279
Speaker 2: planning on running a five thousand and then I was like,

1067
00:52:43,239 --> 00:52:45,239
Speaker 2: we'll see, and my coel said, you go round the

1068
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:48,480
Speaker 2: ten thousand in Berlin ten k and we'll see what happens.

1069
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:52,000
Speaker 2: I won there and I won the ballin tenk from

1070
00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:54,880
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred and he's like, see, I've always told you

1071
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:56,960
Speaker 2: you're not a Middle Eastern runner, you are a long

1072
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,160
Speaker 2: distant runner. And I said okay, yeah, yeah maybe. And

1073
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:01,839
Speaker 2: then I came back to the US and I ran

1074
00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:05,000
Speaker 2: the ten thousand in Phoenix and I also want that

1075
00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:08,200
Speaker 2: and I ran fast. I ran thirty I think fifty something,

1076
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:10,440
Speaker 2: and it was a surprise. I was like, how can

1077
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:14,120
Speaker 2: I run thirty minutes in ten thousand and then after that,

1078
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:19,680
Speaker 2: I went to Napoli right before COVID started in twenty twenty,

1079
00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:22,960
Speaker 2: and I ran my first half marathon debut in sixty

1080
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:26,480
Speaker 2: six and I just kept surprising myself with a long

1081
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:29,359
Speaker 2: distance and I thought, okay, probably this is what I

1082
00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:29,799
Speaker 2: have to do.

1083
00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:31,320
Speaker 1: Run the ten thousand and a half.

1084
00:53:32,480 --> 00:53:35,760
Speaker 2: And then in twenty twenty one, right after Agnes passed,

1085
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:39,560
Speaker 2: I was just preparing to pace London Marathon. So my

1086
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:41,960
Speaker 2: agent he told me, oh, you go paye London Marathon

1087
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:43,160
Speaker 2: and I said, okay, no problem.

1088
00:53:43,239 --> 00:53:45,280
Speaker 1: I've ran one half marathon.

1089
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:46,840
Speaker 2: So I should be able to hold it to halfway,

1090
00:53:46,960 --> 00:53:49,839
Speaker 2: so I'm fine. And then all of a sudden he said, well,

1091
00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:52,319
Speaker 2: they're not getting back to me on time, and I

1092
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:54,600
Speaker 2: think New York would want you to debut instead of

1093
00:53:54,640 --> 00:53:56,560
Speaker 2: next year, because we had planned to debut in twenty

1094
00:53:56,600 --> 00:54:00,000
Speaker 2: twenty two. So he said, instead of debuting the following year,

1095
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:02,959
Speaker 2: why can't you go to New York. It's a slow race,

1096
00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:05,600
Speaker 2: nobody will go fast, it's hilly. You can do it

1097
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:07,480
Speaker 2: like a long run. Just go have fun because the

1098
00:54:07,560 --> 00:54:10,000
Speaker 2: race organizer would really want to have you there. And

1099
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:13,080
Speaker 2: I said okay, So I went and into New York.

1100
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:15,319
Speaker 2: No pressure, the way I went to Europe for my

1101
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:16,640
Speaker 2: first season in twenty thirteen.

1102
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:18,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, no pressure, just running.

1103
00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:20,400
Speaker 2: I was hoping, Oh if I could be in the

1104
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:22,040
Speaker 2: top ten, that would be a dream come true for

1105
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:23,560
Speaker 2: my first major marathon.

1106
00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:26,080
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you game in Socond.

1107
00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:26,920
Speaker 1: I came in second.

1108
00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:29,560
Speaker 3: You know, do you remember where you were when you

1109
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:31,360
Speaker 3: made the decision that you were going to run a

1110
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:33,920
Speaker 3: full marathon? Because I think that the funny thing here is,

1111
00:54:33,960 --> 00:54:35,960
Speaker 3: I'm sure you're going to tell this story right now,

1112
00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:39,160
Speaker 3: and it's going to be very relatable for anyone who's

1113
00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:40,320
Speaker 3: ever been like, you know what I'm gonna do?

1114
00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:41,560
Speaker 4: Think I'm gonna run a marathon?

1115
00:54:41,719 --> 00:54:41,919
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1116
00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:44,600
Speaker 1: God, yeah, yeah, I think it came.

1117
00:54:44,800 --> 00:54:47,480
Speaker 2: It came to my mind, especially the last week before

1118
00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:50,239
Speaker 2: going to New York, and I'm like, okay, I can't

1119
00:54:50,280 --> 00:54:53,239
Speaker 2: even think about not finishing in case of anything, I

1120
00:54:53,280 --> 00:54:55,959
Speaker 2: can't think of not running this. My agent has said

1121
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,759
Speaker 2: I have to run, and I have a little bit

1122
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:00,759
Speaker 2: of price many so this is a good thing for

1123
00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:03,000
Speaker 2: me to focus on. At least I can get something

1124
00:55:03,040 --> 00:55:05,359
Speaker 2: out of it, not come back after training for it

1125
00:55:05,600 --> 00:55:06,600
Speaker 2: and not getting anything.

1126
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:08,319
Speaker 4: Els they're just like us.

1127
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:10,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it was just so funny because now I

1128
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:13,440
Speaker 2: went I went there and I'm like, Okay, if I

1129
00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:16,120
Speaker 2: can be in the top ten, this is great. And

1130
00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:18,840
Speaker 2: after that, I just kept thinking, I don't want to

1131
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:21,960
Speaker 2: run anything else. Yeah, marathon is fun. So I was

1132
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:24,120
Speaker 2: sold after New York. I think it was at Christmas

1133
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:28,000
Speaker 2: event because everything just aligned on that day and I

1134
00:55:28,120 --> 00:55:31,640
Speaker 2: was second, and since then I've never expected anything.

1135
00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:34,000
Speaker 1: Yeah that is below that.

1136
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:37,839
Speaker 2: And unfortunately marathon you cannot get the resource you want

1137
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:38,399
Speaker 2: all the time.

1138
00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:40,600
Speaker 1: No, yeah, you hardly do.

1139
00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:42,799
Speaker 4: So, Yeah, you know it's funny too.

1140
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:45,279
Speaker 3: I remember, I forget how many years ago this was,

1141
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:47,760
Speaker 3: but I was in like a circle of people chatting

1142
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:50,280
Speaker 3: and the question came up, like what's your favorite distance,

1143
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,840
Speaker 3: And the woman next to me said, my favorite distance

1144
00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:54,640
Speaker 3: is to the marathon, and I forget if I had

1145
00:55:54,680 --> 00:55:57,240
Speaker 3: run one at that time or not, but I remember

1146
00:55:57,280 --> 00:55:59,719
Speaker 3: being like, you are crazy, like your favorite distance is

1147
00:55:59,719 --> 00:56:02,439
Speaker 3: the Maria Marathon, and now, like a handful of years later,

1148
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:04,920
Speaker 3: I would say, also, my favorite distance is the marathon.

1149
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:06,320
Speaker 4: So hearing you say this, I'm.

1150
00:56:06,160 --> 00:56:08,600
Speaker 3: Like, yep, yep, I'm there with you, and you know

1151
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,239
Speaker 3: it's crazy until you do it, and then you're like,

1152
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:11,800
Speaker 3: I guess I'm just a crazy kind of person.

1153
00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:12,120
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1154
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:14,120
Speaker 2: I used to think my friends running the ten thousand

1155
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:16,200
Speaker 2: on the truck will crazy. I would be like, how

1156
00:56:16,239 --> 00:56:18,600
Speaker 2: how do you go around twenty four laps on the truck?

1157
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:19,880
Speaker 1: Don't you go crazy? Running?

1158
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:20,280
Speaker 4: Yeah?

1159
00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:21,719
Speaker 1: And now here I am. It's the same thing.

1160
00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:24,520
Speaker 2: People are like, how how for the two kilometers you

1161
00:56:24,640 --> 00:56:28,120
Speaker 2: must be crazy, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, this event

1162
00:56:28,239 --> 00:56:30,360
Speaker 2: can make you crazy, Like you wake up and you

1163
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,080
Speaker 2: think about it every day and you don't want to

1164
00:56:32,080 --> 00:56:32,759
Speaker 2: do anything else.

1165
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:33,879
Speaker 4: I love it. I love it.

1166
00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:35,800
Speaker 3: We're starting to wind down here, but I'd be remiss

1167
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:38,799
Speaker 3: if we didn't talk just briefly about the mental side

1168
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:41,760
Speaker 3: of things. You mentioned that being a really big component

1169
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:45,840
Speaker 3: of your training, eliminating the stresses that don't serve you,

1170
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:48,640
Speaker 3: leading into difficult moments. Whether it's a training run or

1171
00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:52,000
Speaker 3: obviously a marathon, how do you get your mind right?

1172
00:56:52,080 --> 00:56:52,719
Speaker 4: What do you do?

1173
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:53,680
Speaker 1: Oh?

1174
00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:58,320
Speaker 2: Positive self talk For me, especially before coming to this event,

1175
00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:00,959
Speaker 2: I think of the good long runs that I've had,

1176
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:04,239
Speaker 2: the challenging and the good ones. For example, I would

1177
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:07,279
Speaker 2: do a thirty eight kilometer run and then I go

1178
00:57:07,320 --> 00:57:10,680
Speaker 2: there and I killed it despite how difficulty is this,

1179
00:57:11,120 --> 00:57:13,480
Speaker 2: and I'm proud of myself for running the pace that

1180
00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:16,560
Speaker 2: coach wanted me or even faster. I think about those.

1181
00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:19,280
Speaker 2: I think about the workouts that I've had on the track.

1182
00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:22,040
Speaker 2: Those I think about the hard things that I've gone

1183
00:57:22,040 --> 00:57:25,320
Speaker 2: through before the race that turned out positive at the end,

1184
00:57:25,640 --> 00:57:28,080
Speaker 2: and I focus on those. I don't think about the

1185
00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:30,680
Speaker 2: day that I had my periods on the track and

1186
00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:33,320
Speaker 2: my back was stiff and I couldn't move. I don't

1187
00:57:33,360 --> 00:57:35,760
Speaker 2: think about those. So I tried to think about all

1188
00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:40,240
Speaker 2: the positive things positive self talk. I also think about

1189
00:57:40,920 --> 00:57:44,520
Speaker 2: something like New York, where I made the right moves

1190
00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:47,560
Speaker 2: my first day in that marathon. I replayed that in

1191
00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:50,120
Speaker 2: my head all the time because it was a positive event.

1192
00:57:50,520 --> 00:57:54,640
Speaker 2: So everything positive, nothing negative towards the event and just

1193
00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:57,000
Speaker 2: being mindful of.

1194
00:57:57,160 --> 00:57:57,880
Speaker 1: What I do.

1195
00:57:58,080 --> 00:58:00,840
Speaker 2: Let's say, how I eat, how I slip.

1196
00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:02,960
Speaker 3: I love how you say. I reflect on all of

1197
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:05,080
Speaker 3: the positives and I don't focus on the negatives. But

1198
00:58:05,120 --> 00:58:07,320
Speaker 3: you know that the hard days are what got you

1199
00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:11,560
Speaker 3: to where you are now, and obviously that's relevant to

1200
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:14,720
Speaker 3: not just your hard days within running, but also all

1201
00:58:14,760 --> 00:58:16,880
Speaker 3: of the hardships that we talked about leading up to

1202
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:20,120
Speaker 3: this point. Yeah, the tough moments have made you who

1203
00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:22,840
Speaker 3: you are today, and that's certainly something to be proud of.

1204
00:58:23,080 --> 00:58:26,120
Speaker 2: Yes, when I get to a race like today, I

1205
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:29,760
Speaker 2: just embrace everything, of course, like the challenges and the positives.

1206
00:58:30,560 --> 00:58:32,600
Speaker 2: I know where I've come from, and that's why I

1207
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:34,960
Speaker 2: go into a race not wanting to give up at

1208
00:58:35,040 --> 00:58:38,400
Speaker 2: any point whenever when it gets difficult. I know I've

1209
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,560
Speaker 2: faced difficult moments. I've had days where maybe I'm not

1210
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:45,480
Speaker 2: well and I'm pushing myself in training. So I'm just

1211
00:58:45,560 --> 00:58:46,720
Speaker 2: taking that into a race.

1212
00:58:47,120 --> 00:58:48,400
Speaker 1: Let's say, if.

1213
00:58:48,280 --> 00:58:50,440
Speaker 2: I get to a spot where it's not feeling okay,

1214
00:58:50,880 --> 00:58:52,960
Speaker 2: I just have to push through that because I know

1215
00:58:53,040 --> 00:58:55,600
Speaker 2: there will be a breakthrough after so I go. I

1216
00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:58,320
Speaker 2: replay that in my head a lot, and it has

1217
00:58:58,400 --> 00:59:01,400
Speaker 2: really helped me in this marathon, especially last year in Boston.

1218
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:03,720
Speaker 2: I got to a point where I think I felt

1219
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:06,920
Speaker 2: maybe I wanted to stop because coming back from COVID,

1220
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:09,400
Speaker 2: I didn't think about all the effects that it had

1221
00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:11,880
Speaker 2: in my body. That lasted for quite a while, and

1222
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:13,960
Speaker 2: I came here and I felt like I was forcing

1223
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,080
Speaker 2: myself from the first kilometer to the last one, and

1224
00:59:17,120 --> 00:59:19,360
Speaker 2: I wanted to give up. But I thought of Okay,

1225
00:59:19,360 --> 00:59:21,640
Speaker 2: I've had these things happen, I've had this that I'm

1226
00:59:21,640 --> 00:59:24,600
Speaker 2: not okay, and I've pushed myself. So just one kilometer

1227
00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:28,400
Speaker 2: at a time and then every five, every three, every two,

1228
00:59:28,920 --> 00:59:29,880
Speaker 2: just like that to the end.

1229
00:59:31,600 --> 00:59:32,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

1230
00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:37,200
Speaker 3: What aside from the marathon excites you right now?

1231
00:59:38,920 --> 00:59:46,560
Speaker 2: M marathon, I think working with Tiers Angels, that's quite

1232
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:49,480
Speaker 2: exciting for me, especially to be able to give back

1233
00:59:49,520 --> 00:59:51,800
Speaker 2: to my community and to help other women.

1234
00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:55,840
Speaker 1: And what really makes me happy.

1235
00:59:55,600 --> 00:59:57,480
Speaker 2: Is the fact that we've had a lot of support,

1236
00:59:57,560 --> 01:00:00,880
Speaker 2: especially from a datas and I did a runners. They've

1237
01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:03,880
Speaker 2: been a big community that has supported us. So those

1238
01:00:03,920 --> 01:00:06,400
Speaker 2: are the things that I look forward to other than running,

1239
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:09,480
Speaker 2: just going out there knowing that I have people have

1240
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:12,480
Speaker 2: my back whenever I need them, and it's been really,

1241
01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:13,320
Speaker 2: really amazing.

1242
01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:16,040
Speaker 3: Right now, if someone was to go maybe to your

1243
01:00:16,040 --> 01:00:19,440
Speaker 3: social media, they see this woman that is an elite runner.

1244
01:00:19,720 --> 01:00:22,080
Speaker 3: You've come so far, You're doing this great work in

1245
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:26,440
Speaker 3: your community. But when you viola look in the mirror,

1246
01:00:26,440 --> 01:00:28,720
Speaker 3: what is it that you see looking back at you.

1247
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:34,720
Speaker 2: I see a very proud woman that has come a

1248
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:40,360
Speaker 2: long way from very humble background to being a successful

1249
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:43,440
Speaker 2: athlete and to being able to stand in front of

1250
01:00:43,520 --> 01:00:47,240
Speaker 2: people and have somebody listen to me. It's a proud moment,

1251
01:00:47,600 --> 01:00:50,480
Speaker 2: and at the same time, I feel really blessed. And

1252
01:00:51,840 --> 01:00:53,680
Speaker 2: I don't know if I would say I'm lucky, but

1253
01:00:54,080 --> 01:00:56,560
Speaker 2: I'm lucky to be where I am, and I'm really grateful,

1254
01:00:57,080 --> 01:00:59,680
Speaker 2: so I don't want to forget where I came from. Also,

1255
01:01:00,080 --> 01:01:02,880
Speaker 2: time I look at myself in the mirror, I think

1256
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:05,800
Speaker 2: about how it could have been if I wasn't here,

1257
01:01:06,280 --> 01:01:08,360
Speaker 2: and what it is for somebody who is still ware

1258
01:01:09,840 --> 01:01:10,560
Speaker 2: I could have been.

1259
01:01:10,720 --> 01:01:11,600
Speaker 4: It's really special.

1260
01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:14,720
Speaker 3: And again I want to thank you for sharing your

1261
01:01:14,760 --> 01:01:18,280
Speaker 3: story and you standing up for what you believe in

1262
01:01:18,480 --> 01:01:20,960
Speaker 3: and for the good that you're doing. It really is

1263
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:24,120
Speaker 3: helping so many and even just sharing your voice today,

1264
01:01:24,880 --> 01:01:28,280
Speaker 3: it's it's really special for us to hear other perspectives

1265
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:31,160
Speaker 3: and also like come back with it and again, as

1266
01:01:31,160 --> 01:01:33,960
Speaker 3: you said, realize how fortunate and lucky and blessed we

1267
01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:36,320
Speaker 3: are for what we have and the opportunity to do

1268
01:01:36,400 --> 01:01:37,120
Speaker 3: good for others.

1269
01:01:37,160 --> 01:01:38,120
Speaker 4: So thank you for that.

1270
01:01:38,440 --> 01:01:40,760
Speaker 2: Thank you, And I just wanted to let everybody know

1271
01:01:40,880 --> 01:01:44,160
Speaker 2: if you want to follow USS Angels, we are on

1272
01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:49,600
Speaker 2: Instagram or angels and also you can follow us on

1273
01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:53,120
Speaker 2: our website is linked on the bio there. Also, if

1274
01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:55,800
Speaker 2: you want to support Teirops Angels, you want to send

1275
01:01:55,840 --> 01:01:58,919
Speaker 2: us a comment with kind of support, even if it's

1276
01:01:58,960 --> 01:02:02,360
Speaker 2: like somebody who to with let's say, counseling. We also

1277
01:02:02,440 --> 01:02:05,280
Speaker 2: need training ourselves on how to handle victims of gender

1278
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:09,240
Speaker 2: based violence. We need to know how to approach the situations.

1279
01:02:09,320 --> 01:02:12,320
Speaker 2: We take those as part of the contributions from the

1280
01:02:12,320 --> 01:02:16,000
Speaker 2: community to us and we welcome them. So we would

1281
01:02:16,040 --> 01:02:18,640
Speaker 2: be really really grateful if you visit our page and

1282
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:22,040
Speaker 2: just say something positive. It always encourages someone.

1283
01:02:22,320 --> 01:02:24,120
Speaker 4: You're already you're doing my job for me.

1284
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:27,840
Speaker 3: We're getting to the part right now where I ask

1285
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:29,919
Speaker 3: you for all of the ways that we can follow

1286
01:02:29,960 --> 01:02:34,280
Speaker 3: along with you. But before I do that, right now, Neola,

1287
01:02:34,440 --> 01:02:37,360
Speaker 3: you have an opportunity to offer yourself a piece of

1288
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:42,840
Speaker 3: advice looking back on those hurdle moments of abuse and

1289
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:46,800
Speaker 3: frustration and difficulty knowing what you know now?

1290
01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:49,440
Speaker 4: What would you tell your younger self.

1291
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:53,720
Speaker 2: Oh, that I'm proud of myself for not giving up

1292
01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:57,520
Speaker 2: when I didn't see the light or any sign that

1293
01:02:57,720 --> 01:03:00,320
Speaker 2: there would be anything positive coming out of my life.

1294
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:03,439
Speaker 2: A lot of my friends gave up, and they were

1295
01:03:03,480 --> 01:03:06,760
Speaker 2: married young, they had kids at sixth grade, seventh grade,

1296
01:03:07,360 --> 01:03:11,439
Speaker 2: and I just didn't give in to all the temptations

1297
01:03:11,480 --> 01:03:13,800
Speaker 2: and allow the challenges that I was going through to

1298
01:03:13,800 --> 01:03:18,000
Speaker 2: put me down. So I'll say you, I'm proud of myself,

1299
01:03:18,760 --> 01:03:22,000
Speaker 2: and yeah, I would run the younger girls to also

1300
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:23,720
Speaker 2: not give up.

1301
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:24,760
Speaker 1: Don't give up.

1302
01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:27,320
Speaker 2: Your situation is never permanent as long as you keep

1303
01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:28,480
Speaker 2: working and trusting.

1304
01:03:28,160 --> 01:03:31,440
Speaker 3: On yourself, trusting on yourself. All right, How do they

1305
01:03:31,480 --> 01:03:33,800
Speaker 3: follow along with you? How do they keep up with you?

1306
01:03:33,880 --> 01:03:36,720
Speaker 3: They know about t reps angels. Give us the lowdown.

1307
01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:41,400
Speaker 2: V under school legit one for Instagram and Twitter is

1308
01:03:41,480 --> 01:03:46,960
Speaker 2: v underschool legit, Facebook, viola lagat or viola Chipto Lagat.

1309
01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:49,600
Speaker 2: I try to post as much as I can. I

1310
01:03:49,640 --> 01:03:53,320
Speaker 2: love it and I appreciate everyone for supporting myself in

1311
01:03:53,360 --> 01:03:56,600
Speaker 2: my running career. I've had a lot of following and

1312
01:03:56,680 --> 01:03:59,600
Speaker 2: people who support me and cheer for me along the way.

1313
01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:02,320
Speaker 2: Don't forget the cheer for us and pray for us.

1314
01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:07,600
Speaker 2: On Monday, we are hoping for a good race. I

1315
01:04:07,600 --> 01:04:10,480
Speaker 2: don't want to say much about it, but a really

1316
01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:13,439
Speaker 2: really good day hopefully, So pray for us, cheer for us,

1317
01:04:13,800 --> 01:04:14,680
Speaker 2: and support us.

1318
01:04:14,800 --> 01:04:16,040
Speaker 4: You got it in your prayers.

1319
01:04:16,240 --> 01:04:19,840
Speaker 3: I am over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast.

1320
01:04:19,960 --> 01:04:22,760
Speaker 3: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.