This guy has been in the news.
After a short stint in an Gonder prison, Ethiopian-born Israeli Seteng Ayele(akaHaile Satayin) is in Beijing. At 53 or 46 years, whatever his real age is, he has no chance to medal but you have to appreciate what he did in Osaka where he finished 19th, ahead of 4 Ethiopian runners.
Here are bits from a nice write up
Yes indeed he has given it his all. That is all you can ask.
“After a race, after a difficult practice, I go home in suffering. That’s why I hate the marathon. Everyone suffers, but not everyone hates it.”
Why, then, does he persist? “I have no choice. What can I do? It’s a job, it’s work.”
Is it also fun? “No, it’s just work.”
A train hurtles by as he explains, “Running for three hours isn’t easy.”
His grin becomes a grimace. “That’s why I hate it. It’s not good for the body, I keep getting injured.”
When the topic of the 2012 Olympics is broached, he begins to answer, then stops. Suddenly his voice trails off, “It’s too bad, I don’t know why I began to run. I saw the world, I did everything…but I lost badly, in terms of standard of living. It’s not easy, you know, running the marathon. I gave it my all, my body is breaking down, don’t ask about the fatigue.”
Update: Seteng Ayele finished 69th in 2:30:07!
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