Traditionally, the last competitive event of the summer Olympics is the men’s marathon. At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, the marathon had been over for more than two hours. The journalists were finishing their stories and the TV people were breaking down their equipment.
All of a sudden someone yelled out, “Look, look, look!”
Into the stadium hobbled a lone runner.
He ran around the track, crossed the finished line, and got down on his hands and knees and kissed the ground.
The journalists, sensing a great story, surrounded him.
“Who are you?”
“My name is John Stephen Akhwari.”
“Where are you from?”
“I am from the country of Tanzania.”
“The race has been over for more than two hours. Why are you still running?”
“My country sent me 10,000 miles to run in the Olympic marathon. They did not send me 10,000 miles to start the race - they sent me 10,000 miles TO FINISH THE RACE.”
