Catch Me If You Can, by Filbert Bayi

Catch me if you can is the story of 1970’s running legend, Filbert Bayi’s, life. The book is divided into 3 parts: 

1. In the shadow of Kilimanjaro – Which talks about Filbert’s upbringing and childhood
2. Setting the pace – Which talks about Filbert’s introduction to the sport and the hurdles he had to overcome during his long and successful running career.
3. Chasing a legacy – Which talks about Filbert’s life after retiring his spikes, and all the other contributions he has made, and continues to make, to Tanzania and the sport he loves.

The book contains many black and white pictures of Filbert along with some other well known runners from the 70’s, as well as pictures of his family.

Filbert Bayi is a legendary Mile and 1500m runner from the 1970’s, and an Olympic Silver medalist in the Steeplechase at the 1980 Moscow games. He has run multiple world records throughout his career while serving in the Tanzanian military, but is most well-known for his front-running race tactic, which was not common at the time and considered risky if you wanted to win. The common run-to-win style at the time was to “sit and kick”. Although known worldwide for his running, Filbert has continued to serve his country and help the Tanzanian people in many ways after he hung up his spikes. Filbert and his wife Anna started a school in their home with the goal of offering quality education while also transmitting their values of being kind and contributing positively to the community. Prior to this, Tanzanian Parents would send their kids to Kenya or Uganda if they wanted a good education for them, and opening this school meant that parents were able to have them nearby and watch them grow. Today there are separate building for primary and secondary schools under the Filbert Bayi school banner, and they have a scholarship program called “2020 and Beyond” that helps send students to the US for higher education and a chance to continue their sporting journey. Filbert learned aircraft mechanics while in the army, and later studied education at UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso), graduating in 1988. It was our pleasure to have Filbert Bayi on this episode!

If you would like to follow Filbert, he is available on Whatsapp or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/filbertbayi_schools/. You can also search for Filbert Bayi on YouTube and watch all the videos of his gutsy front running tactic.

If you would like to get your own copy of Catch Me If You Can, it is available through all the following outlets:
Soulstice Publishing website: https://soulsticepublishing.com/product/bayi-book/
Amazon: https://a.co/d/ijDY8mL  
*The Book Depository website has since been closed.