“I started running when I went to Augustineum Secondary School in the late 1980s. To be honest, I only started boxing to join the tours to other schools around the country, and I was not good at football.“One day our school visited Okakarara Secondary School for a sport day. I was asked to join the runners, because they didn't have enough athletes for the 800m. “I enjoyed myself and thought: Why not pursue running, because here you are not beaten up?” Absai says.The former Namutoni Primary School pupil swapped his boxing gloves for running shoes and started running the 800m instead.He later entered the 1 500m race.Absai says although he was an ever-present participant at regional and national athletics meetings, he was not the best 800m runner in the country, but he was good enough to regularly qualify for the national championships.He took his sport more seriously when he was employed as an apprentice by Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) at Oranjemund, where he qualified and worked as a diesel mechanic.Known for his perseverance, Absai decided to join the cross-country field before he later started competing in more demanding half and full marathons.Absai says he enjoyed competing against the likes of Aaron Shipanga, Berthold Karumendu and Thomas Kayele in cross-country, while he also had fun running against star runners like Frank Kayele, Joseph Tjitunga and Luketz Swartbooi in marathons.“I never felt intimidated by anyone, and, although I was not always a top-two finisher, I never gave up.“I just focused on improving my time in whatever race I competed, and there was always a just reward for my hard work.“The national team selectors came knocking, and today I am honoured to have represented the pre-independence national team on three occasions at Oranjemund and in Windhoek and Cape Town in the 800m. “I still wear my South-West Africa colours with pride.“Because of apartheid, South Africa's occupation of our country and the international ban on their athletes and sport bodies, we were restricted to competing against the bantustans and the more powerful South African provinces,” he says.Absai says he gave his heart and soul on the track.He says the 5 000m was his favourite race.He decided to up his game by participating in the Two Oceans Marathon and the more gruelling Comrades Marathon in South Africa.“I've been running the Two Oceans Marathon for 27 consecutive years,” he says.This was interrupted by the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 though.“I've also made it a tradition to run the gruelling 90km Comrades Marathon. I've been doing the Comrades for 20 years straight since 2000,” he says.Absai says the 165th place out of about 9 000 participants he attained in a time of three hours, 55 minutes in 1993 was his best-ever performance at the Two Oceans Marathon.WORK, FAMILYThe former Sunshine Athletics Club runner has since retired from running competitively.He is married to Othilie Absai, and the couple has two sons.Before Covid-19, Absai would wake up early in the morning and take a 5km run before he goes to work, and would run another 10km in the evening, but this routine is not followed any more.Currently, he says, it is just work and straight home for him because of the pandemic, but he occasionally squeezes in a couple of km in the afternoon, especially during weekends, because he has to stay fit for the Comrades Marathon.“I am currently contracted in the engineering department of Puma Energy Namibia and based in Windhoek. I am the supervisor, meaning I am tasked to make sure things are done in accordance with the specifications laid out by the company.“I am the project manager of two Puma service stations being built at Opuwo and Rundu after we finished at Katima Mulilo. “I travel a lot. I went to Opuwo last week, and am getting ready for another trip to Rundu this week,” he says.Unlike some people who claim their biggest challenges at work are caused by the negative impact of Covid-19, Absai says working with fellow human beings also poses great challenges.“They pretend not to understand the requirements needed to pull off our work without any hiccups. The commitment and will are lacking most of the time, and that's when teamwork is required,” he says.Absai, who is happy with the way his life has panned out, says his athletics career was largely inspired by the late 400m champion Daniel Haitembu and former national 800m record holder Lazarus Kapolo, with whom he trained at Oranjemund.The veteran runner advises young runners to work hard and ensure that negative distractions and peer pressure do not disrupt their careers.“If you train very hard and maintain your discipline, you are most likely to enjoy yourself on competition day. “There are a lot of advantages of being top fit, because, apart from enhancing your chances of winning the race, you have limited chances of picking up injuries,” he says.
