Sixty-year-old Jonathan Shobande is a retired school vice principal and assistant pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He was the cynosure of all eyes at the just concluded Abeokuta 10-kilometre marathon where he was not only the oldest person to participate in the race old also ran it with his 15-year-old daughter, Favour.
In this interview with our correspondent, Ifeanyi Eduzor, the sexagenarian spoke on his involvement in road races, importance of long distance races in the country and his desire not to retire soon from the race and many more.
At 60, you’re the oldest man that took part in the Abeokuta 10km marathon. What made you participate in the race at this age?
Age is all about numbers. The most important thing is for one to be physically, psychologically and mentally fit before he embarks on any journey. Many people will think that I wanted to commit suicide but the truth of the matter is that I have been a sports person right from my youth. Before I decided to be part of the race, I underwent some medical checks and my doctor certified me fit.
Even on the eve of the marathon, I still consulted my doctor, who certified me okay after which the doctors of the organisers also gave me a clean bill of health and everything is now history. Apart from this, I’ve been practising for the past two months and decided to take part for people to know that age is no barrier in sports.
Prior to this race, have you participated in any long distance race in the past?
Like, I said earlier, I’ve always been an athlete and as a young man, I participated in many marathons in the past. I first took part in marathon in 1986 at the 42km Milo International Marathon held that year in Ibadan and I took the 11th position and then came 10th at the 1988 Benin City Marathon and took 13th position at the Ogun State Marathon. So, you can see that I am not new to long distance races. Although age is slowing me down, having celebrated my 60th birthday on June 12 this year but Road race is in my blood and that’s one factor that has kept me healthy till today.
You took part in the race alongside your 15 year old daughter, what made you encourage her to take to marathon?
I have four children and all of them are involved in one sports or the other but it is my 15 year old daughter, Favour Boluwatife, an SS 2 student of Abeokuta Grammer School who indicated interest in marathon and aiming to take after me. I did not force her to be part of the race, rather she on her own decided it’s time she have a feeling of marathon. So, when I heard of the race, I registered both of us to enable her have a feel of the action. I also made sure she trained with me for two months to build up her stamina and I am happy she finished the race on time. Though she did not win, it’s all about participating and not winning but I believe the experience she garnered here will help her in future marathons.
What has been the reaction of your wife considering that age is no longer on your side?
As you can see, my lovely wife is here to encourage us. She has been my pillar and always around to give me support. She believes in what I can do and knowing that sports is my second vocation after teaching, she encourages me to go as long as my health and strength can carry me. She also sees me as a role model for upcoming youths and her support has been massive.
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You’ re a Pastor with Redeemed Christian Church of God. How did you combine your pastoral work with training for the marathon?
Actually, I am an Assistant Pastor with Redeemed Christian Church of God, Ogun State Province 2, Region 12. I am the assistant pastor in charge of Christian Social Responsibility (CSR) of the region. Our duty is to help the less privileged in the society by providing borehole, clothes and food for them. Having said this, I want to tell you that I don’t have problem combining the two. I always go for training at the right time and also do my pastoral work at the right time. I also want to tell you that as a teacher, I understand the importance of time and regimented life. And even before I retired as the Vice Principal of Asero High School, Abeokuta I was involved in a lot of sporting activities and encouraged my students to practice one sports or the other, so I can say I am in a familiar terrain.
As a Pastor, have you ever used the pulpit to preach to the congregation to take to marathon or other races?
The answer to your question is no. I say this because when you’re at the pulpit, you’re more interested in winning souls for Christ, teaching them the Bible which is the word of God and preaching against sin. But that does not mean that when the occasion warrants, I will not tell them the importance of sports because you have to make people understand that they must do one form of exercise or the other to burn out callories, reduce arthritis, burn out fat and keep fit.
It will also interest you to know that as a way of promoting sports among the youths, I organised a football tournament this year and I am planning to organise athletics and indoor sports like table tennis, ayo, ludo, chess, scrabble and football for the youths July next year.
You exhibited so much confidence before the race that you’re going to beat many people. Why couldn’t you actualise that dream?
Anybody telling you that a 60 year old man will win a race involving the youths who are forty or thirty years younger than him is just trying to make fun. I never participated in the race to win or fight for prizes but to show people that I am still healthy and can still do what I know how to do best. But I am happy that I got to the finish line before some younger athletes. From my own calculation, I defeated about 50 people which was a great achievement and my daughter also made a mark in her maiden appearance in a road race and I am sure, the whole family and all our neighbourhood will be happy with our achievement.
How would you describe the general organisation of the race?
I want to commend the sponsors of the race (JAC Motors) for the wonderful organisation of the race. Kudos must also go to the Government of Ogun State under the able leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun for hosting the race in Abeokuta. The race really opened up the state to the outside world and I’m sure that all the elite athletes and the visitors who trooped into the ancient city have good testimonies about the state. Throughout the duration of the race, there was no ugly incident recorded. Motorists obeyed instructions and there was no casually and nobody fainted or was rushed to the hospital as a result of exhaustion. It’s also important that the government embraces the race and make it an annual event because sports like this helps in keeping the youths busy, fight social vices as well as reduce crime in the society.
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Are you not concerned that East Africans are winning all the marathon races in the country and how do you think this could be corrected?
You should realise that all over the world athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Djibouti are the dorminant forces in marathon. It’s only in isolated cases that you will see an athlete from another part of the world upsetting them. The reason is not far fetched because the terrain of their country made it to be so. It has really helped them a lot because right now, they get scholarships to study in universities in Europe and are even taking citizenships of some European countries to represent them at both the Olympics and World Championships.
However, this does not mean that Nigeria cannot meet up with them. All that is needed is for the government to take proper interest in our athletes around Mambila Plateau, Plateau State who have similar climate and terrain with the East Africans and develop them and if possible sponsor them to Kenya or Ethiopia for serious training and the jinx would be broken.
But I must commend organisers of the various marathons in Nigeria for instituting cash prizes for the best Nigerian marathoners as this has helped in rekindling the interest of Nigerian elite athletes who now understand they are not just coming to run for the fun of it.
How long do you intend to run again considering that age is no longer on your side?
As you can see, I am not feeling any pain after the race which is evidence of serious training. I want to tell you that marathon runs in my blood and make me feel younger than my age and I will keep on running as long as my health and strength permits me. The most important thing is to have a clean bill of health from a doctor and if you’re not diabetic or hypertensive, you can participate at any age. I also want to inform you that by next week, I will start preparations for Remo Marathon slated to take place before the end of the year and after that begin preparations in earnest for next year’s edition of the Abeokuta race.
