The Greatest race ever

Amanfoo,

I call this race the greatest ever not because of partisan reasons but the drama. Because of the proximity of where I grew up to the Kumasi Sports Stadium I saw a lot of races in the late '60s and early '70s. Yes, I saw the Santo/Apraku/ Sandys Osei-Agyeman rivalry and the one-woman team of Habiba Atta of Amass. Also I was there when Micheal Johnson won the 200meters at the Olympics in Atlanta in record time. Yet the race I am about to describe stands out as the BEST I have ever seen. And I hope you will find it so too.

The year was 1977 and the Prempeh track and field crop was bad. Olele (Christopher Graham) ran on guts and not talent; Alooma was yet to hit the crescendo that will immortalize him (he was still a great soccer player ); K. Lomo's bloodline to the sprinter Lomotey did not help.

The night before the final day of the Interco Super-zonals the whole Sofoline campus walked around with our heads down. Our calculations showed that we needed five (5 )extra points to win. Note, the point system then was 7,5,4,3,2,1 for the 1st, 2nd, through 6th positions in a field of eight (8) athletes. The only race that we could pick up that many points was the 400meter run.

We had two guys in the finals of that event. But that was not much to go on. Our best hope whom I choose to call Mr. Simpson had the 5th best qualifying time. His two (2) points were already factored into our calculations. The other was Osei Kwadwo (Osco) of Butler house. He had finished dead last (8th) in the qualifying heats. This was expected since he had never beaten Mr. Simpson in the 400 meters. The field looked like this, in order of qualifying time, to the best of my recollection (and confirmed by one of the runners, Carter, recently):

1 Boham -- Kuhiss: Had own cheering band, cum instruments and all (4th lane)

2 J.C Bisagoma -- OWASS: Word on the street: Needs 1st place for U.S colleges (3rd lane)

3 Carter (Boahene) -- Kuhiss: Formidable runner (5th lane)

4 Joe Barimah -- OWASS: Needs to show for Bowdoin College (6th lane)

5 Mr Simpson -- Prempeh: An also-ran for many years, no one around so in limelight (2nd lane)

6 No name OT School : (1st lane)

7 Officer AMASS: He seems to turn it on when you least expect it (7th lane)

8 Osco -- Prempeh: Long distance runner, he is here to help out. (8th lane)

Just before the race our two runners came in for the usual "fans". They certainly have their work cut out for them. Then word came in that one of them has promised to WIN the race. Now, that will be a MIRACLE in Oseikrom.

The runners are off! Due to the stagger one cannot really tell who is ahead. As usual all eyes are on the middle lanes. Then they hit the straight course for the last 100 meters.

Wait a minute!

There is a Prempeh guy about fifteen (15) meters ahead of the pack.

And it is not the perennial imposter from Prempeh, Joe Edus.

Our samanmo goes up an octave. Our man in front is practically hopping instead of running.

The rest of the field is closing in, but he digs deeper, and holds on to VICTORY.

THE PREMPEH STAND GOES BESERK.

BOHAM and his band have been vanquished. J.C Bisagoma "yamutu".

WE DID BELIEVE IN OSCO'S MAGIC!!!

Osco has won it for us!!!

Yes Osco, despite his 8th place qualifying time had posted the best time at the meet in the 400 meters.

For a brief while there, we looked like our sister-school, OWASS, no discipline in our jubilation.

We thought we had more points than we needed to win it all. But no. Mr. Simpson had quit while he was in 5th place. His reason? He knew we needed 5 more points and with Osco's 7, he thought we had enough to win. Officer of Amass had gained 2 points we had not factored in by coming in 5th . J.C Bisagoma had also quit to save face.

We lost the meet by one (1) point. Yet we went back to Sofoline with our heads up since "we" had shown the world that when the chips are down we have people like Osco to count on! Carter says the other runners had planned their revenge for the regional's but Osco did not even bother to show up. I reminded him that Osco only did that for mother Prempeh!

Years later, in 1984, I asked Osco about THE GREAT RACE. He was then at the Bank of Ghana in Kumasi. His response was: "Prempeh needed those points and I felt that if I dug deep enough I could give it to her, and I did."

What is the morale of this? Prempeh is going on fifty and we stand to enrich her for another glorious fifty. So let all the Oscos among us step up to the plate and donate to the Amanfoo Global Endowment Fund. And even the Messrs. Simpsons among us should finish the race with whatever they can come in with. Particularly those of us who never had to perform similar feats such as Osco's for Prempeh.

Wherever he is, I hereby promise to contribute $100 in Osei Kwadwo's name to the Global Fund. Osco, thanks for the memories. Maybe the rest of us can leave the future generations such beautiful memories off -the- field by contributing to the fund.

Prempeh ooh, more jordan! As an aside, I saw Boham's bandsmen carrying their instruments out of the stadium at the end of that day. Oh boy , were they laboring?

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