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Edward Limo’s journey from a large family in Kenya to record-setting athlete at University of Central Arkansas has a new destination: Limo has said he will enlist in the United States Army this spring.
Limo has spent his time in the U.S. setting records. He transferred to UCA after two seasons in Kansas and set new times in the schools cross country and track records. He is also the first member of his family to attend college, and serving in the U.S. military is another natural first for the 25-year-old track star.
Limo has admitted that his story has been an incredible one. After training for years in a village near Eldoret, Kenya, he tried contacting U.S. schools from 8,000 miles away, hoping for an offer of an athletic student visa.
“I didn’t get in school for like a year, trying this way,” Limo said. “Then one day, this coach came to Kenya to see my friend that was there. I told him about myself and my (running) times. He told me he really wished he could help, but he was coaching at a school in New Mexico and they only had a girls team.”
That could have been the end of the story. But a few months later, Limo received an email from the coach he met explaining that he had contacted former co-workers at Colby Community College in Kansas. The coaches there were wondering if Limo would be interested in attending their school.
Even with the offer, getting the visa was a difficult process. “I went to the embassy and there were 13 of us there that day. Only three of us got a visa,” Limo said.
