‘I am going to America’

Abraham Chirchir of the UTRGV Men’s Cross-Country Team faced several difficulties on his journey to America. He had to get adjusted to living away from home and a new culture, but the toughest difficulty for him was getting used to the life of a collegiate athlete.

Chirchir is a native of Iten, Kenya. He began his journey toward collegiate running after graduating from high school in 2014. For three years, Chirchir trained long hours with one goal in mind, to receive a collegiate offer.

As he trained, Chirchir faced several difficulties, including lack of financial and community support and getting his documentation together. Many times, Chirchir could not simply approach his family and ask them to pay for things.

“I just come from a very humble ground, so even just approaching my family and telling them, ‘Hey, can you please pay for my ACT?’” he said. “You know, the cost of ACT and the situation of the family, you cannot even talk about the exams.”

Since the support was not there, he said he could not tell anyone about his dream.

“I was dreaming, but I could not tell somebody,” Chirchir said. “The reason behind that is because of the background that I come from because I couldn’t tell [them] that I wanted to study in America because the support is not there.

“Somebody could say, ‘You are kidding, like you are dreaming,’ so I couldn’t tell anybody, but deep inside my heart I knew this was possible because once you believe something, you can make it happen. I believed in it, I worked for it and my prayers were answered.”

Chirchir spent years telling his family, “I am going to America” until it became reality.

In 2018, he became part of the Men’s Track & Field program, where he left his mark. Chirchir set a new program record in the men’s 5,000-meter race, earned WAC Track & Field Athlete of the Week, was crowned the WAC 5,000-meter Race Indoor Champion and finished the season by being named WAC freshman of the year.

Despite his success, Chirchir said he was having a difficult time getting adjusted to the new lifestyle and balancing his schedule.

“The toughest moment of my life is being here, like in the first semester of being here in America,” he said. “You can imagine like waking up at 5:30 a.m. and going for an 18-mile run and then by 8 a.m., you’re supposed to be in class and then it’s a full day.

“You go to class from 8 [a.m.] to 3 p.m. and then after 3 p.m., you’re supposed to go do weights for one hour. After 4 p.m., you go to training for another hour. Then after 5, you are exhausted.”

Chirchir said he also had a difficult time assimilating to the people of the Valley.

“The first thing that I never liked here is that people are not so friendly, that’s what I can say,” he said. “People that only know you are the ones that talk to you. My coach, Darren Flowers, was my only friend.”

As time progressed, Chirchir began getting accustomed to his surroundings and teammates. He transferred that energy to his running.

During his first collegiate cross-country race, Chirchir won the 6k race at the Dale Watts Cross-Country Course. Soon after, Chirchir was named WAC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week.

Three weeks later, he picked up a second-place finish at the Texas A&M University Invitational in College Station, running the second-fastest 8k in program history.

His top finishes have propelled him to being ranked ninth among the top freshmen in the nation, who were selected by Flotrack, and being selected for the second time as WAC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week.

The biggest honor for him and the team came Sept. 24 when the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) revealed the regional rankings for week three. The team was ranked 11th.

Chirchir hopes to continue his successful season at 9 a.m. Oct. 13 at Texas A&M University in College Station for the Arturo Barrios Invitational.