Superstar Kenyan marathoner busted
in giraffe-fighting ring
As it turns out, there may be one thing Muriithi Odumbe, a top-ranked marathoner who has won in Boston and London, can’t run from.
Saturday, in the coastal town of Mombassa, Kenya police raided the house owned by Odumbe under suspicion of a large-scale giraffe-fighting ring.
Hours later, they recovered a dozen of the creatures — all of whom appeared to be healthy, though frisky — and arrested Odumbe.
“I vehemently deny the charges against me,” said Odumbe. “This will be a long process that will not be resolved overnight. I only wish there was a running metaphor that I could use to describe what this process will be like.”
The bust was set in motion by neighbors who became suspicious when they discovered 20-foot-tall doghouses and trees modified with limbs made out of steel and leaves fashioned from chain link in Odumbe’s backyard.
In the indictment, Odumbe’s nickname is listed as “Al.”