This was not at all what Kudzi Nyakudzi pictured his 22nd birthday looking like. Instead of party hats, blowing out candles and singing happy birthday in front of a cake, Kudzi and his friend monitored their heart rates, exhaled labored breaths and wiped the sweat off of their brows as they reached the finish line of a 22 mile run - a major milestone for Kudzi.
“It felt so empowering knowing that I did that, because it showed me how far I’ve come,” he said.
Despite being about four miles shy of running a full marathon to celebrate the anniversary of his birth, it was not long ago that Kudzi would watch other runners in bewilderment as they passed him by. “Why do you hate yourself,” he’d whisper under his breath.
Kudzi’s negative outlook on running began early on in his childhood. Growing up in South Africa, he played rugby and every time a mistake or blunder was made the team would have to do sprints. As a result, he began to associate running with punishment, rendering the idea of “running for fun” physically impossible.
In the past, Kudzi struggled with consistency and seeing his goals to completion. His spiritual journey came to several halts over the years as he began to neglect his prayer and Bible reading time when things got hard. Oftentimes, self-doubt and intimidation would settle in and get in the way of his rugby matches, physical health and speaking opportunities because he felt like he was not “ready enough.”
However, it was not until April 2020 that Kudzi decided it was time to make a change in his life.
The self-described “procrastinator” and “quitter” that “always had the perfect excuse for everything and nothing would get completed” was about to commence a year-long challenge in which he would run everyday for 365 days with no breaks, days off and certainly no excuses.
“I forced myself to start running,” he said.
Although quitting the challenge entirely would be as easy as not getting out of bed that day or simply saying “no,” Kudzi felt like he had to prove to himself that he could do something from start to finish without quitting. “The easiest thing to do is quit, especially if no one is watching me.”
The first couple of weeks proved to be difficult for the novice runner. Two mile runs felt like two-hundred mile treks through the Andes, and dusky 5:30am runs in below zero weather were the equivalent of scarfing down cold black coffee first thing in the morning.
Although Kudzi had his excuses locked and loaded, he never fired any of them. Instead, he looked back at his repertoire of unfinished commitments and admitted that he had been lying to not only himself, but others every time he decided to quit something. “I couldn’t live with that. That’s why even on the hardest of days and coldest of nights, I still had to push through.”
Eventually, his dedication to the challenge paid off and about one month in, Kudzi actually started to enjoy running. He was becoming the very thing he never imagined he could be - a runner. Once he climbed the ranks from novice to intermediate runner, he decided to up the ante in an attempt to push himself even further. The long winded two mile run he used to dread became child’s play in the face of the daily five mile sprint. “There’s a reason it’s called a challenge. I want it to be difficult.”
Five miles was, “Not too much and not too little,” in Kudzi’s eyes. It was the perfect middle ground for him. He did not want to put too much pressure on himself, rather he wanted to focus on becoming a better runner and work on his speed and technique.
Although Kudzi had begun to enjoy running and was displaying major signs of progress, a swollen ankle forced him to tread lightly for weeks in order to not aggravate it even more. He said that could have used that as a pretext to put the challenge on hold, but persisted nonetheless. “The hardest part was the battle in my mind to actually get out and run,” he said.
While Kudzi was overcoming physical hurdles, he was just about to encounter an emotional stumbling block he was not prepared for. The shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black man in Georgia, hit too close to home for Kudzi. Arbery was pursued by three white residents while on a jog in the neighborhood and was fatally shot.
“You’re thinking to yourself, I’m running too. I’m not safe either.”
Kudzi immediately saw the parallels between him and Arbery, who are both young black men in the South who run in predominately white neighborhoods.
“Being this black person running around in these neighborhoods and seeing all of these people that look like you getting murdered is scary.” Shortly after, Kudzi took to social media to advocate for justice in the Ahmaud Arbery case and to speak on racial tensions, police brutality and Black Lives Matter.
With over 1.8k followers, Kudzi uses his Instagram to document important memories and matters in his life including his friends and family, his South African culture, his mission work in Kentucky and important causes to him.
Although Kudzi is very transparent on social media, he did not post any content related to his running challenge until the 150th day. He did not want to publicize it early on, because he wanted to be sure that he would follow through with it. Lately, Kudzi has been posting photos and videos that tell his story and encourage others to join him.“It is a form of motivation and accountability because now people are expecting an update.” Even though Kudzi’s followers have bombarded him with praise and have called him “unstoppable, inspiring, a beast and golden'' in the comment section of his posts, the main reason he started posting was for him to uplift others.
Despite the abundance of support from his followers, Kudzi admits that initially he had received opposition when he was considering starting his challenge. One friend in particular feared that he would get hurt or sick running everyday and advised him to run a set amount of times each week instead. Kudzi knew his friend’s concerns were coming from a good place, but felt like he needed to do this for himself. He went on to explain that oftentimes people feel the need to have another person endorse and validate their decisions, ultimately limiting their independence and stifling their creative thinking. “If you’re living in that space of always needing a co-sign, it’s going to hold you back.”
In the face of resistance, Kudzi did garner support from his parents, loved ones and one friend in particular, Ben Okenge, who not only encouraged but also ran the 22 mile run with him for his birthday. It was that encouragement that led him to achieve a series of milestones by completing an 8 mile run, a 16 mile run and a 5k in 24 minutes. “That was insane for me. I never thought I’d be able to do that in my life.”
Even when circumstances seemed to make the challenge impossible, Kudzi never quit and found himself in unique situations. While on a layover in Zurich, Switzerland heading to South Africa from Kentucky, border patrol refused Kudzi entry due to an invalid covid test, leaving him trapped in the Zurich airport for four days. “It was a very challenging time, because I had the perfect excuse not to run.” With limited clothing and resources available, Kudzi still got up at 5:30am every morning to run laps around the empty airport and documented the entire process to show his followers that he was committed to his promise.
Although there were days Kudzi felt like sleeping in and ignoring the voices in his head telling him to run, he knew he owed it to himself to push through until the end. He grew stronger and faster on his journey, but he said, “The discipline that I’ve acquired through this challenge has been the best part.” Not only has he become more disciplined physically, but the subconscious mental training involved has branched into different areas of his daily life. He has been able to set aside time everyday for things he finds meaningful like daily devotionals, reading and podcasts.
This past year was eye opening for Kudzi and showed how much he was underestimating himself and limiting his abilities. Many people including himself doubted that he would not be able to commit to his one year challenge, but on the day of his last run he decided to make it an interactive event for his followers. He made a social media challenge to run 3.65 miles or kilometers for the 365th day run where he would run with friends in South Africa and with those around the world virtually.
One could feel the excitement and anxiousness in the air on the day of the last run. The metallic 365 balloons tied by a tree awaiting a crowd of proud runners ready to take pictures in front of it after they crossed the finish line, marking the end of their friend’s accomplishment. Those on social media flooded him with videos of themselves running in their respective countries in support of him.
Even though Kudzi’s friends were there to celebrate him, he was not running for the same reason. “Seeing other people be encouraged is really the best part,” he said.
On April 26th, 2021, exactly one year later, Kudzi had run a total of 2,220 miles or 3,572 kilometers.
After that final run, Kudzi decided he was not yet ready to end that chapter, and thus, the challenge was doubled. He would continue to run for another consecutive year and make the decision to continue or stop the challenge on the two year anniversary. “I just couldn't see myself stopping. I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’”
Although it may seem daunting to take on a challenge like Kudzi’s, his advice to others is to set your mind on a goal and just start. Don’t wait for a co-signer, don’t wait for tomorrow and don’t be intimidated by other’s accomplishments. “There is nothing special about the next guy that you don't have,” he said. Lastly, don’t be afraid. “I am an African man that ran in the snow. What’s stopping you?”
To find out more about Kudzi’s running challenge and journey, follow him on Instagram @kudzinyakudzi.
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