Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Super runner's wrong turn an amazing feat
Under the sweltering Sunday heat, 11-year-old Abdissa Bari had only one goal in mind -- keep running and find my way back.The Grade 5 student was supposed to run a two-and-a-half mile circuit in the Super Run around University Crescent during the Manitoba Marathon, but a wrong turn led him straight to Pembina Highway, and onto the regular marathon path. Bari then split onto the half marathon route at Jubilee Avenue.
He would run for 10 miles before he was stopped at Parkville Drive and River Road. He was chagrined that he was stopped. "I could have gone for another hour," Bari insisted on Monday night.
Bari didn't get lost alone -- by his side was his friend, Habtom. Habtom got tired around the seven-mile mark, and decided to stop, Bari said.
But Bari kept on going.
Bari knew he was lost but figured he'd find his way back if he followed the other marathon runners.
Besides, "I thought I could win," said Bari, showing the bravado of fellow Kenyan Hillary Cheruiyot, who eventually won the full marathon.
Bari's coach and gym teacher, Roger Lourenzo, said he noticed the two boys were missing when they didn't cross the finish line at University Stadium.
"When they didn't come I started wondering where they were," Lourenzo said.
But he wasn't worried.
"It's impossible to get lost," he said. "It was just a question of time before someone noticed he had a Super Run number on him."
No one was pointing the blame for the mistake, but Manitoba Marathon executive director Shirley Lumb said that all participants should have taken the time to make sure they knew the route they were running.
It's easy for someone to run astray, Lumb said. "There's no way we can catch all those on the wrong course, but we do our best."
Lourenzo was impressed that his student was just three miles away from completing the half-marathon.
"He was tired but proud," Lourenzo said. "I jokingly told him the next time it happens he has to finish the race."
matt.preprost@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 23, 2009 B2
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