by Justin Lagat
Geoffrey Kamworor, photo by Getty Images / World Athletics
Justin Lagat wrote this piece today about the motorcycle accident that put Geoffrey Kamworor in the hospital. Thing was, Geoffrey Kamworor, was not on the motorcycle, he was running alongside a road, when hit by the motorcycle. We wish him a fast recovery.
Geoffrey Kamworor recovers in hospital as motorcycle accidents involving runners become rampant:
The world record holder for the half marathon, two times world cross country and three times world half marathon champion, Geoffrey Kamworor is recovering at a hospital in Eldoret after getting involved in a motorcycle accident.
Kamworor is reported to have been hit from behind by a speeding motorcycle on Thursday while he was on a morning run. He sustained injuries on his head and ankle.
Getting hit by a motorcycle has become common among Kenyan runners while in their training in recent years. It often happens in the most unexpected way that could aptly be equated with lightning. It appears that the only way for runners to avoid these accidents is to assume that every motorcycle out there is on a mission to hit them and to run in a manner of defending themselves rather than expecting the motorcyclists to be responsible for their safety.
It has happened to me, to my wife, and to a number of friends I know.
On Thursday the 18th of October 2018, ten days to our planned marathon races at the Nairobi marathon; a motorcycle flew out of the highway and landed on me and my wife as we jogged beside the road. I quickly recovered from the shock to see my wife struggling to free herself under the motorcycle that laid heavily on her some meters away.
Everything that followed happened very fast as a crowd rushed to the scene to see what had happened. A driver of a public service vehicle left his passengers and rushed us to the hospital. I remember stopping my watch once we reached the hospital. The time was 12:37:00 for the 5km we had covered from the house to the scene of the accident and to the hospital without pausing!
A few months later, after I had recovered, I passed by a small group of runners during my usual morning run who were running in the opposite direction. A motorcyclist ferrying milk passed by and a few moments later I hear a crash and turned to see one of the runners and my friend on the ground together with the motorcycle and milk spilling across the road. I ran back to them. The motorcyclist was working for a prominent runner who used the motorcyclist’s phone to call the injured runner there and helped calm the situation. My friend had to cancel his race.
While something clearly needs to be done to save more runners and the other general public from being hit by motorbikes, runners also need to be more cautious and choose the best routes to use for their runs.
Quick recovery to Geoffrey Kamworor.
