Mary Keitany's Garden Party
Ismaël Bouchafra-Hennequin
It’s been almost an hour and I’m sweating big blobs between the hands of Jacob, my masseur
Almost an hour that the table’s squeaking and shaking all over the place
When I ask him if he knows what is that noise outside
Music gets blasted by a sound system
Jacob tells me that Mary Keitany, the fresh winner of the New York marathon1
Lives one block away and that a comeback party is being held tonight in her honour
I suggest we’d take a look
It’s a quarter past seven, night has already fallen
So we take2 out our mobile phones, switch on the torchlight, walk up the road
And find the gate open when we arrive in front of her house
The garden is already filled with people
We are hovering on the doorstep but Jacob motions us to follow him
It’s hard to go unnoticed among the crowd with our "Muzungu"3 faces
Suddenly, in a formal beige jacket, a headband in her hair, Mary Keitany appears
Comes forward, greets us with a smile on her face, says hello
She welcomes us, asking where we came from
“Oh, I know France a little! I did a few competitions there at the beginning of my career…
… One near Paris, in particular, the Vitry-sur-Seine half marathon”
Our friend Denis can’t believe his ears
Then Mary invites us to take a seat and enjoy a tea with milk
After a brief pause, without protesting, we do
And guess who is sitting right next to us?
Edna Kiplagat, the double world champion marathon runner (2011 and 2013)!
A few minutes later, the ceremony begins
Everybody stands up and claps their hands while songs lift in the air
I run into Martin4, an 8 year old, his mate Lawrence and other kids
I gave them candies in the street a few days before
Music doesn’t leave me indifferent, and those kids got that
I play the madman and they laugh
Iten, Thursday, November 8th, 2018. Mary Keitany feeds her husband, Charles Koech, small meals, before an array of guests, during a party which took place in her own garden, in order to celebrate her victory, a few days earlier, at the New York marathon.
Mary Keitany takes care of the cake distribution herself
Sponge cake with butter cream covered with freshly picked strawberries
And an icing inscription reading : “Congratulations Mary”
She now walks towards us with a plate full of sweets
I pick a “stück” for her sake
But she frowns, inviting me to take the whole slice of cake
After neverending speeches from Kenyan dignitaries
Part-English, part-Swahili, who claimed their faith in Mary5
A woman turns into a griot, performing a theatrical appreciation of the champion
At the end of her show, Mary invites us to take the microphone and say a word
And Denis bravely devotes himself
It all seems crazy to us, completely surreal
When I think that, just last Sunday, we watched her win in New York on live television
And here we are today, at her own garden party!
The ceremony goes on… with some dancing
After a traditional choreography, a prayer6 and a game with a white blanket7
The champion urges me to take part in a dance battle
“Come on!,” she summons with a hand gesture
Well, this time, there’s no shrugging off, I must go!
Eleven o’clock. Before we leave, Mary intercepts us
And with a calm voice, asks us to follow her inside
We find ourselves in her trophy room
She insists that we sign the guestbook
“So this memorable evening, for you and for me, will last forever…”
Poem by Ismaël Bouchafra-Hennequin, from Olivier Cabrera's French-language book Running en poésie (tome 3) : 25 poètes, une passion, available on Amazon. All sales profits will be donated to Les P'tits Potos and Association pour Quentin, two associations that support assistance for people with disabilities through sport.
(Translation and adaptation : Valentin Maniglia, Le Quotidien & Score It Magazine)
1 On November 4th, 2018, Mary Keitany (36 years old, 5,2ft, 93lbs) won the New York marathon in 2:22:48, with a massive negative split: 1:15:50 (averaging 3:35 per kilometre) for the first half and 1:06:58 (3:10 per kilometre) for the second. Her unstoppable speeding on the 26th kilometre left all of her opponents behind. It was the fourth time Keitany won the New York marathon, after 2014, 2015 and 2016.
2 Denis Contin, Benjamin Adolphe (my fellow runners from the Tahri Athletic Center) and I.
3 “Muzungu” means “white man” in Swahili.
4 Martin’s father, Robert Kipkorir Kwambai, won the Linz marathon (Austria) in 2013. He is also the cousin of Vivian Cheruiyot, second at the 2018 New York marathon.
5 “We are very proud of you, Mary!” We must have heard that at least a hundred times through the evening.
6 The Kenyan society is deeply religious. Sunday is a day of rest: Kenyans never run and, on the morning, they go to church, dressed in their finest clothing.
7 In this game, the bride and the groom (Mary Keitany and her husband and coach, Charles Koech) are both covered under a white blanket. The ceremony takes place in presence of their two children (Jared, 8, and Samantha, 5).
For more information :
- « Running en poésie, tome 3. 25 poètes, une passion » : buy the book in French on Amazon
- « Running en poésie, tome 3. 25 poètes, une passion » : Japhet (English version)
- In the footsteps of Julien Wanders, the « White Kenyan » (article)
- Courir en mots et en poésie (Facebook page)
