A Masai at the Treviso Marathon: this is the story of Tatiyia Karbolo, from the heart of Africa to the Marca

The Kenyan born and raised in the Masai Mara, the most famous reserve in Africa, will also compete on Sunday 27 March at the Treviso Marathon number 17

TREVISO. The great heart of Africa, the poorest one, to ride the dream of the marathon. On Sunday 27 March at the Treviso Marathon number 17 there will also be a Masai. He is the Kenyan Tatiyia Karbolo, born and lived in the Masai Mara reserve. the thirty-year-old aims to succeed, in the roll of honor, his friend and training partner, Gilbert Chumba, the former plumber, twice victorious in Treviso.

The athlete of the Purosangue team in Treviso dreams of a future as a protagonist. Karbolo, a thirty-year-old Kenyan born and raised in the Masai Mara National Reserve, in the southwestern part of the African country, will be one of the athletes to beat in the Treviso marathon which this year, thanks to a modified track, with fewer curves and less dirt, will offer the possibility of “running” strong, if there are the right “legs”. Karbolo is part of the Purosangue Athletics Club team born from the idea of ​​Max Monteforte and Nico Pannevis and trains in the Iten camp in Kenya. Monteforte and Pannevis met Karbolo thanks to their assistant David Oloisa, also a Masai who later became a marathon runner.

It was just when Oloisa was in business that Karbolo started running. Then, the turning point for this young man who was involved in the “Purosangue Project and Foundation” and moved precisely to the Iten training camp. For years he has been a pacemaker for a good group of middle distance runners, which also includes Chumba, the former plumber winner of the Treviso Marathon 2018 and that of 2019, and Moses Kemei, fifth at the Roma Ostia Half Marathon on Sunday 6 March in 59’46 ”. And it is precisely by observing, listening, admiring his training companions that Karbolo’s desire to attempt his marathon debut was born. He has a lot of experience, from 2017 to 2018 he acted as a “hare” for his teammates in several marathons and has already competed in Italy in some half marathons.

In Kenya he won several local competitions. On an international level, in September 2019, he competed in Tanzania, winning a 10-kilometer race, the International Dasani in Tanzania in 28’49 “and finishing third in the Tanzania Half Marathon. The one from Kenya to Italy, from the Masai Mara reserve in Treviso, it will be a trip that could represent a turning point for this thirty-year-old, who comes from a large family, who still lives in the village in one of the most beautiful reserves of the African country, often also the location of the spectacular images of documentaries on crossing the river by the wildebeest.

A real Masai, who when he returns to his parents and brothers dresses in traditional clothes and continues to live according to the customs of this people-tribe, mainly of shepherds, who see their greatest wealth in cattle. Karbolo is a shy and reserved boy, but always smiling, who appreciates the little things and always has a positive and proactive gaze. He dreams of a future in athletics, to help his family and build a better future.

Perhaps following the exploits of his friend Chumba, who with the two victories at the Treviso Marathon bought two dairy cows and called them, Treviso 1 and Treviso 2.