Track and Field Blogs - Francis Coral - Mellon

Well, I have decided to write a small blog post on how Beijing went for kibet and I in case anyone who voted for us in the Beijing Video Contest wanted to know.

To be honest with you it was one of the most unforgettable experience of my life so far. Arriving home and having time to think over the two weeks I was there really hit me hard.

After winning the contest everything seemed like a dream, I somehow in the back of my mind couldn't believe that I was actually going and for that reason didn't get too excited. Well the dream was short lived as I woke up when the plane landed on the tarmac in a foreign Chinese airport.

Arriving at a beautiful hotel called the "Shang Yuan", I had the pleasure of meeting and seeing some families and friends of athletes who had booked their trips through Ludus tours. Notables included Brian Sell's wife Sarah and his parents Ed and Lois (Who instantly took a liking to Kibet, and he became their "Favourite Kenyan"). We also met the Brooks Hanson's Coaches Keith, Kevin and Don and a Marketing PR Manager from brooks, Jesse and his friend Gary, a pilot. Also some family of Dathan Ritzenhein were there with the tour.

Anyway we had a fantastic time, the seats at the Bird's nest were great, I will always remember sitting close to the track when Usain Bolt broke the 200m world record or another night sitting in a suite with some great food and plush comfortable seats. That suite made Kibet and I feel truly special and just shows what great people Adam and Jess from Ludus tours are for giving us those seats.

My favourite events were either the Marathon or the Mens 5k finals. I have rooted for Sammy Wanjiru for a long time and am just in awe every time I think about the things he has accomplished on the road racing circuit at such a young age.

Kibet and I managed to get out a couple of times to run in Beijing, not the greatest city to train in, but the Hansons found a nice park close by our hotel, which was filled with traditional Chinese decor and beautiful ornate pathways. A great spot for the few runs we managed to fit in.

Another Highlight of the trip was actually meeting Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenheim at a dinner that Ludus put on after they had finished their marathon. I was too awestruck to say much during dinner but, that is life. I wonder if anyone will ever be too awestuck to say anything to me one day, when I am a Marathon Stud.

I ended up buying a lot of Beijing merchandise and even haggled my way through some of it. I remember buying a dragon figurine and the seller telling me 280 Yuan for the starting price. I came in at 5 Yuan and he looked at me shocked, and every time he lowered his price I only brought my offer up one , from 5 to 6 to 7 and so on. Until I managed to get it for about 10 , which is about $1.50 , not bad haggling from someone with no experience.

The plan for Kibet from here is for me to bring him to Canada next summer. With some good training in Kenya over the winter he will be ready for the road racing circuit. We will probably do a road trip though some big races in the U.S. also for about a month which will be fun. I will have to start contacting race organizers already for Elite hosting, the Ottawa 10k will be a big goal because there is a possibility of winning $12000. He is limited to high paying 10k's though because he doesn't want to run the Marathon yet. Either way from what I’ve seen in his training I am sure he will take anything he races by storm.

So I want to say one last thanks to everyone who supported me for this trip and for Flotrack and Ludus for setting it up. I also wanted to tell Mark that we did try to meet him at the Heineken house on the last night at 10.30 but it was closed, twas too bad because I was looking forward to it. Anyway thanks for reading and peace.

From Francis

p.s here is a link to my full public facebook album with pics http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2194905&l=66869&id=122612378