Abebe Bikila was born August 7, 1932, in the small community of Jato, located 25 kilometers outside the town of Mendida, Ethiopia.

His birth coincided with the day of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Marathon. His father was a shepherd. Abebe’s family was poor so he decided to work for the Imperial Bodyguard to support his family. 

Twenty-eight years after his birth, he entered the marathon at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. His selection to the tournament was purely accidental. He was added to the Ethiopian Olympic Team as the plane was about to leave for Rome as a replacement for a very sick Wami Biratu. 

Upon arrival in Rome, Bikila went to try on shoes provided by Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, and he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably, so he couldn't use them.

He decided to run barefoot. He and his coach decided that Bikila should make his final move a little more than one kilometer from the finish line. It was at this point that the course passed the obelisk of Axum, a monument that had been plundered from Ethiopia by Italian troops and hauled away to Rome.

When Bikila reached the obelisk, he was running even with race favorite Rhadi Ben Abdesselem of Morocco. Bikila successfully pulled away and won by 200m and a second off the world record.

Although no one had ever won the marathon twice, Bikila returned to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, even though he had undergone an appendectomy 40 days before the race. This time, he ran with shoes and socks.

Bikila took a clear lead by the halfway mark and steadily pulled away to win by more than four minutes and shaved almost four seconds off his own world record.

Abebe Bikila represented drive and determination. Abebe said after the race in Rome when asked why he had run barefoot, “I wanted the whole world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism."

What spurs you on against all odds?  What values can you hold onto when life’s cobblestone road gets hard to traverse? His background, his faulty tool of an ill-fitting running shoe didn’t stop him from pushing onto a world record victory.

Abebe Bikila also represented preparation and purpose. He was prepared to run the race with or without shoes. He had been training to be fit for his work as a bodyguard but when the opportunity to get on the plane just before it departed Addis Ababa as a replacement for a sick athlete, he seized it and set his sights on making his place on the team count.

Today a high school gym, a school in his village Jato and a stadium in Addis Ababa stand are all named after him in his honor.

When you have run your race, and done your duty, what will you be remembered by? Choose drive, determination, preparation and purpose and put yourself in line for an accelerated serendipity.

The future is yours. 

Go Forward. Make Rain.

I am Nhyira Addo - THE RAINMAKER

Shalom!!!