You don’t have to be an Olympian to run. You just need working legs!

When he’s not racing against international champions, Mr. Lara does construction work in nearby villages. He raises crops that feed his family. This is the land where his mother—the only coach he has had—became a runner and shared her wisdom with him.

“She didn’t tell me how many kilometers to run,” Mr. Lara says. “She taught me what I would feel while running, what I would suffer.”

His mom’s advice?

You’re going to be fine. But after two or three hours, you’ll get hungry and thirsty. 

Eight or nine hours later, the cramps will hit you. You will need to ignore them. If you sit and cool down, they will hit harder.

“It’s all about enduring,” Mr. Lara says. “You have to finish the race no matter how long it takes.”

Mr. Lara usually wins local races. Before a race, Mr. Lara says he always turns to God. “I ask Him to take care of me, to allow me to get safely to the finish line even if I don’t win.”

Will Mr. Lara teach his kids to run like his mom taught him? 

Not yet. Injuries are common among long-distance runners. Children’s joints aren’t fully developed while they still have growth spurts. Mr. Lara asks his children, ages three and 11, to be patient. He wants them to grow more before becoming long-distance runners like their ancestors. 

Still, they wait near the finish line at his races. Sometimes they run the last bit of the race alongside their dad. He says, “We call them ‘The Little Horses.’”

Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. — Hebrews 12:1

For more about runners, see Sydney McLaughlin by Jimmy Zabel in our Recommended Reading.