AUBURN — It might be a particularly long run, but it is a run — not a race.
Professional runner Moninda Marube said he just has to keep reminding himself of that.
“The trick is, I’m not racing anybody,” Marube said. “However slow I go does not matter, as long I keep going.”
Marube stepped off on a 3,700-mile journey Wednesday morning, surrounded by well-wishers and a few runners.
He plans to run at least 30 miles per day for the next several months, taking him to Portland and Boston, on to New York state and across the midsection of the country.
“It is something that you not only need to be physically prepared, but you must be spiritually and emotionally aware of what you are doing,” he said. “I feel that spiritually, I am ready for this. And emotionally, I am as well.”
His destination is Santa Barbara, Calif. He plans to reach it by Nov. 7, in time for the city’s marathon. He set the course record there for the 26.2-mile race in his 2011 effort and won the city’s half marathon last year.
But on a soggy Wednesday morning at Auburn’s Cedar Street Police Activities League Center, his thoughts were only on the beginning. Wednesday’s destination was the Portland Boys & Girls Club on Cumberland Avenue, about 37 miles away. On Thursday, he turns toward Boston.
“This is not about racing,” Marube said. “It’s all about the cause.”
Human trafficking is the cause, and it’s something he has experience with.
When he arrived in the U.S. in 2010 from Kenya, Marube and other runners were tricked into signing documents that forced them to live, eat and train in a Texas home provided by an unscrupulous agent. That agent claimed the purses from his wins at long-distance races, giving him only a tiny portion of his winnings.
He struck out on his own by 2011, training and racing all across the country before he became friends with veteran runner and coach Dan Campbell of Auburn.
The trek is designed to benefit his charity, Escape From Freedom, which has the multiple goals of promoting exercise, helping to reduce childhood obesity and bringing attention to human trafficking.
He settled on doing the run in November and has spent the past eight months planning. He originally wanted to start off in April, but has had a tough time getting sponsorships.
“Things were not falling in place,” he said. “We had promises of sponsorship, but they were taking their sweet time. I did not want to lose this year. I think this is the right time.”
Once out of Maine, he’ll be shadowed by a friend, pulling a trailer. Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell said local volunteers are working with PAL clubs across the country to promote Marube’s trek.
“We’ve reached out to them and they will be waiting for him,” Crowell said. “We’ll try and stay a couple stops ahead of him, letting them know he’s coming. That way, we hope he’ll gain a little local support he makes with each stop.”
For Marube, it’s a matter of just putting one foot in front of the other. He’s only worried about one region — the Plains states.
“It’s flat, dry and cornfields and that’s where emotionally it’s going to kick in,” Marube said. “I need support in those areas especially. That’s where I’ll need people to come out and run with me and support me.”
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