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Opinion
If the stories coming out of Liberia could change from child soldiers to child athletes,
from blood diamonds to gold medals, then this was worth every inch of effort.
Nothing says ambition, perseverance, resilience and achievement like a marathon
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count for so much more in Liberia. Aside from
health and exercise, athletics in Liberia barely
registers a pulse. Liberia sent 11 athletes to the
Beijing Olympics, but has never qualified a distance
runner. A successful race could promote running,
inspire youngsters and bring in resources.
Marathons also stoke business, and over a longer
time can drive tourism – much needed visitors for
Liberia’s pristine rainforest and immaculate
beaches.
Above all I know that over time, hosting a credible
international event would change the way people
think about Liberia, both abroad and at home. If
the stories coming out of Liberia could change from
child soldiers to child athletes, from blood
diamonds to gold medals, then this was worth
every inch of effort. Nothing says ambition,
perseverance, resilience and achievement like a
marathon. These are qualities Liberia has in spades,
and it’s time the world knew.
The idea had force. And so to the challenge of
taking the idea to fruition, and to the practical
challenges everyone had been so quick to point
Race winner Gebre Beraki
receiving his trophy from
President Sirleaf
28 Distance Running | 2011 Edition 4
out. I had run in a few marathons and
shorter races, but had never organised
one before. I needed advice from
people who had. I started my
homework, and the best resource was
AIMS: full of helpful advice.
Early on I worked out that there are
three things you have to get right:
first, find a group of capable and
willing co-conspirators (neither they
nor I would be paid); second, get the
right authorisation and permissions
from the powers-that-be (and there are
a lot of them in Liberia); third, raise
the money. Looking back, if you can do these three
things then no matter how hard the environment
the rest comes down to disciplined organisation. I
made that last bit sound easy – it isn’t, but it is
more or less within your control as a race director.
By early 2011 a team had coalesced around the
project, and I approached the most important
stakeholders, who could make or break us: the
Athletics Federation, the Ministry of Sports and City
Hall. In Liberia you have to go in at the top - unless
the person in charge agrees, nothing will happen. I
Women's marathon
winner - 18 year old
Liberian Lucy Massaquoi
The Mayor of Monrovia after running the entire 10K
had good contacts in the government, but we were
blessed from the start (and to the finish) by the
enthusiastic support of the Sports Minister and the
Mayor. Along with this great official support, the
biggest stroke of luck was finding a title sponsor
who believed the marathon was possible. Unless
BHP Billiton had bought in, and stayed with the
project, it would never have got off the ground.
A marathon in Liberia posed steep challenges.
There was a decrepit and widely corrupt official
system where everyone along the chain demands
what the Liberians call ‘cool water’ for doing their
job. We faced a private sector that was still young
and not accustomed to the ‘sponsorship paradigm’
– ie you give us money and we give you value. We
faced a culture inimical to planning – people can’t
compute an event until it is a couple of weeks
away - impossible for realising a marathon. We
faced disorganised partners who also had no
resources. The Liberian National Police have about
10 cars and 15 traffic cones… for the whole
country.
For any aspiring race directors in a similar
environment I have three words for you:
relationships, relationships, relationships. If you
think about things in terms of relationships you will
nurture your Federation; you will cultivate
relationships with the authorities, Mayor, Minister,
police; you will remember to make your sponsors
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