Vicki ya Toivo to tackle New York Marathon

VICKI Erenstein ya Toivo is on the brink of accomplishing her lifelong dream – that of crossing the finishing line of the celebrated New York City Marathon, the world’s largest road race, which takes place on November 6.

Ya Toivo lived in New York for 18 years and has witnessed thousands of people streaming down the streets of the financial hub of the United States in their quest to be part of the most famous race in the world. At age 57, Vicki, wife of retired veteran politician Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, decided that this year, her dream of being part of that race should be realised and this will possibly make her the first Namibian to do it.”Nothing will stop me now.I have decided to do it and here is no point of return,” she told The Namibian Sport in an interview this week.Although it is her personal goal to achieve this epic feat, she has decided to make it a sponsored run to support the initiative of the parents and grandparents of a remote village in northern Namibia to ensure a bright future for their children.She said regional councillor Josef Mupetami of the Okatjali constituency had approached her on behalf of the village of Okaheke to become the patron of their community’s kindergarten.”I accepted and later visited Okaheke in order to better understand the community’s goals.The current kindergarten consists of a tiny, dark structure with only one desk for the teacher and no tables, chairs, pencils, crayons, toys or equipment,” she said.She added that the facility accommodates approximately 25 children, many of whom are AIDS orphans.”The community requested that I assist them to raise funds and materials to expand the kindergarten, build a more suitable structure and obtain the necessary school supplies, furniture and equipment,” she said.Ya Toivo, a lawyer by profession, has been training for the past six months and hopes that achieving her personal goal of completing this race will also help the kindergarten at Okaheke.Despite several setbacks due to injury, Ya Toivo has been running, and sometimes walking due to exhaustion, along the streets of Windhoek and feels fit enough to take on the challenge.The New York Marathon draws more than 85 000 participants each year and the prize money amounts to US$500 000.Ya Toivo is not aiming for this prize though – she is appealing to Namibians to sponsor her run to raise funds for the kindergarten.The New York City Marathon is a 42-kilometre race and Ya Toivo has never run that sort of distance before.She has, however, reached a distance of 32 kilometres in a recent training session.”I ran that distance with a support team consisting of my two daughters and my nephew.I woke up at 05h00 that day and I felt extremely proud of myself and everybody was just happy that I did it,” she said.She believes that the 42 kilometres will be achievable, as she will not only be running, but will enjoy the scenery and will be in the middle of hordes of interesting people, while the personnel at the water points will for sure cheer them on.As part of her training, Ya Toivo ran the gruelling Midgard Bush Marathon earlier this year and also finished the annual Rubbish Run at the coast.After the New York Marathon, Ya Toivo will ask competitive and recreational runners and walkers to join such efforts to support kindergartens in Namibia’s rural areas.”I am being supported and I feel I should also support,” she said.”I don’t think the race will be my last one either.”She will be accompanied to New York by her husband and will depart on Sunday evening.The race attracts many world-class professional athletes but also offers amateurs a chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and 260 million television viewers worldwide.As any one of the 635 000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime.At age 57, Vicki, wife of retired veteran politician Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, decided that this year, her dream of being part of that race should be realised and this will possibly make her the first Namibian to do it.”Nothing will stop me now.I have decided to do it and here is no point of return,” she told The Namibian Sport in an interview this week.Although it is her personal goal to achieve this epic feat, she has decided to make it a sponsored run to support the initiative of the parents and grandparents of a remote village in northern Namibia to ensure a bright future for their children.She said regional councillor Josef Mupetami of the Okatjali constituency had approached her on behalf of the village of Okaheke to become the patron of their community’s kindergarten.”I accepted and later visited Okaheke in order to better understand the community’s goals.The current kindergarten consists of a tiny, dark structure with only one desk for the teacher and no tables, chairs, pencils, crayons, toys or equipment,” she said.She added that the facility accommodates approximately 25 children, many of whom are AIDS orphans.”The community requested that I assist them to raise funds and materials to expand the kindergarten, build a more suitable structure and obtain the necessary school supplies, furniture and equipment,” she said.Ya Toivo, a lawyer by profession, has been training for the past six months and hopes that achieving her personal goal of completing this race will also help the kindergarten at Okaheke.Despite several setbacks due to injury, Ya Toivo has been running, and sometimes walking due to exhaustion, along the streets of Windhoek and feels fit enough to take on the challenge.The New York Marathon draws more than 85 000 participants each year and the prize money amounts to US$500 000.Ya Toivo is not aiming for this prize though – she is appealing to Namibians to sponsor her run to raise funds for the kindergarten.The New York City Marathon is a 42-kilometre race and Ya Toivo has never run that sort of distance before.She has, however, reached a distance of 32 kilometres in a recent training session.”I ran that distance with a support team consisting of my two daughters and my nephew.I woke up at 05h00 that day and I felt extremely proud of myself and everybody was just happy that I did it,” she said.She believes that the 42 kilometres will be achievable, as she will not only be running, but will enjoy the scenery and will be in the middle of hordes of interesting people, while the personnel at the water points will for sure cheer them on.As part of her training, Ya Toivo ran the gruelling Midgard Bush Marathon earlier this year and also finished the annual Rubbish Run at the coast.After the New York Marathon, Ya Toivo will ask competitive and recreational runners and walkers to join such efforts to support kindergartens in Namibia’s rural areas.”I am being supported and I feel I should also support,” she said.”I don’t think the race will be my last one either.”She will be accompanied to New York by her husband and will depart on Sunday evening.The race attracts many world-class professional athletes but also offers amateurs a chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and 260 million television viewers worldwide.As any one of the 635 000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime.