Hello everyone! On 12/14/2012 I had the greatest pleasure to see my best friend, sister (at heart) and mentor Violah Lagat graduate from Florida State University. What a wonderful experience it was and what an honor to be there with her on such an important day. As the whole nation knows, Violah had an outstanding career at Florida State earning two All-American Honors one in the 1500m and 6k. This cross country season she won ACC’s and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Cross Country Performer of the year and then went on to lead her team to a fourth place this year at NCAA Cross Country Nationals. One word to describe her collegiate career… AMAZING! Her accolades do not just stop at running; she graduated with an undergraduate degree in sociology and just continues to work hard in running. She is also my biggest role model and I am so thankful for all her help and advice. Congrats Violah for everything. I love you.
Hard work and dedication definitely runs in the Lagat family. I got the privilege to celebrate graduation with Violah and her brother Bernard Kip Lagat and yes, I managed to stay calm, but what an honor it was. Being able to talk to Kip and get valuable advice was amazing. It was mind blowing to hear how much hard work it really takes to get to that level. You never really realize how much it takes until you hear it from someone who is at the top. I managed to get a little something to all the runners out there who have big dreams.