The Habit of Movement with Gilbert Tuhabonye

Jessica Honegger [00:00:03] Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Going Scared podcast. This is your host, Jessica Honegger, founder of the world changing brand Noonday Collection. And we gather here every week to discuss how we can live lives of courage by leaving comfort and going scared. Today is a really special conversation. I actually recorded this back at the beginning of December and was planning on releasing it during another series, even though it was made for this series. It's all about movement, but as you'll hear from his story, how he began to run is about so much more than just moving your body. And I actually have been having a hard time with my exercise routine. And if you've been listening long enough, you know that that is one of my cornerstone habits. And just, I think, traveling again this year and being off my schedule also, this is crazy, but my daughter can drive herself to school now. And I always drove the boys to school and Joe would drive Amelie to school and now Joe can drive the boys to school. And I didn't realize that that habit of driving my boys to school every day is what got me up and going early. So again, it's just another example of how we need routine and consistency in order to develop our habits. And so, I decided, let's release this episode. It's extremely inspiring and I think it's going to help me at least get moving again. Gilbert Tuhabonye is a beloved role model, coach and inspiration to people all over the world, and he's also a genocide survivor in Burundi, which is a part of the same genocide that was in Rwanda. We just don't hear about it very much. But in 1993, as a high school junior, Gilbert escaped a horrific massacre in the long Tutsi Hutu war of Burundi, where he endured unbearable torture. He witnessed mass murder and barely his escaped his own death. And he shares about that today. And more than 8000 miles from Burundi, Gilbert is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. And he actually is right here in Austin. He's a retired professional runner, philanthropist, author and community leader, where he lives here with his wife Triphine and two daughters, Emma and Grace. He's the owner and founder of Gilbert's Gazelles. This is one of Austin's largest running training groups, and he's the co-founder of the Gazelle Foundation, which provides clean water to people in the homeland of Burundi, Africa. So, I'm excited because he really thinks everyone can be a runner. I don't know about that, but at least I'm going to get running this week, so I'm excited to share his story with you today. I wanted you to share your story about growing up in Burundi.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:03:18] You know, growing up in Burundi, it was it was a lot of fun. When I was young, I grew up in a family was big back then. Had a lot of cousins. We did a lot of things together, especially this time of the year where we all came together, and we shared a meal. We got the blessing from the grandparents. And then after the new year, we'll go back to our normal routine. So, growing up in Burundi was, I would say, medium family. And my daily routine will be, you know, fetch water for my family. We didn't have water in the house or electricity in the house. I would get up in the morning and go fetch the water and then I would run to school. And then I would say school was six miles away from my home and I would stay at the school because it was too hard to go back and forth. So, I would stay there. I would leave. I didn't have a watch early in the morning and I come back late in the afternoon and then I would go back again, fetch the water for my family. And then it would be time to collect the cows and make sure that everything before we go inside the house everything has been like where it needs to be. One of my fondest memories is while we were waiting for the food to be done. You know, it's like cooking fully using wood. it's not a fast here you cook with microwaves, and everything is 2 minutes. So, you can kind of regulate the temperature, right? None of those. And so, we'll be waiting for hours for the food to get done. And so, think about it. When you're cooking a potato and you're cooking beans, you're cooking, you name it. And so, my grandma, she will be you know, we will all be around grandma listening to this story, telling us the story about, you know, the past. And one of my fondest memories, she would make us sing a song. This this woman, she never been to school, but going to church every single day she memorized that the, you know, the song, you know, in the book that they give at the church. And this song is like 100. I would never forget. It's in the book, you see it. Then when I was in a middle school after sixth grade, you have to pass a national exam. And based on your score, the government decided where to go. It's not your parents. It's going to send you to nearby homes. So, I was separated by my parents. I went to a boarding school called Kebemba. That's like a seventh grade, eighth grade, all the way to 13th grade. And when I was at that school, so many things happened. I end up becoming a good runner. But when I was about to graduate to go to college, October 21st, 1993, some terrible things happened. There was a civil war, a Hutu president. We have two major tribes in Burundi. They have Hutu tribes and minority Tutsis. And then the Trois or pygmy. And at that time, the October, the 21st, the president was assassinated by the Army. And then an act of retaliation, the Hutu wanted to kill all the Tutsis where they could be found. They came to my school. I remember was a Thursday morning and they were trying to capture every Tutsi student and teacher. It was a rough day. It was a hot day. It was a day that I would never forget. We tried to run. But the school was surrounded. They knew the President was killed so they came early and surrounded the school. And the school was kind of isolated. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was not a big city. Outside the school was not a big city. And so, we tried to escape. Hutu and Tutsi, remember, we were used to leave to get out shooting everything. At that point, we became divided Hutu on the one side Tutsi into one side. And the Hutu student joined some of the Hutu student joined the mob, which is when I said the mob is the neighborhood around the school were that the evil act was to attack the school and make sure they murder all the Tutsis. So, we organized a I was part of organization. We organized like a peaceful walk through, walk away from the school to march towards an army camp. There was an army camp which was like 26 miles away. And we decided no matter what it was going to take, we're going to go. We walk together and so we don't separate each other. But they had a plan to stop us. So, they stop us. The headmaster told them to come get us because he was worried that if we go to the army, the army would come and it would try to stop and help the people that was already in the fire because they started putting an innocent civilian like a Tutsis in a fire like six am in the morning. After they heard on the radio from Rwanda, Radio. Rwanda Radio was the one announcing that there was some killings that the President was killed before Burundian yet know. And so, then I got stopped because the headmaster told him to capture me because I was a great athlete. They want to make sure they come to me first. So, they brought me to school in front of him. But on the way on the way when they said turn around, it wasn't not like a turn around it was a violent. They threw spears into the crowds of students at a stop and someone, my teammates, me went in. We scattered, started running from a different directions and that's where they came, was chased by almost a hundred people and with the spear and machete, they I fear that we're not going to hurt you. The headmaster wants you just if you cooperate, nothing would happen to you. So, I accepted it because I was innocent. I was a great student. I was a great ambassador for the school. I've done so much for the school. For the school, was a great runner in the country. So, I was like, no, nobody is going to touch me. I go, we go back and there was a judging station. This station headmaster had approved. Who goes to the fire? Who doesn't? Hmm. Pretty much every Tutsis were going to the fire, no question asked. And so, they started stripping us naked, took us all clothes, and they rope us in the bent, rope us sitting together. And I remember I was in the midst of 22 people, 11 people to my left, 11 people to my right. They were hoping that I would not be able to escape because I had to pull like 11 people to my right and 11 people to my left. The walk was almost two miles. It was a station. It was a gas chamber. It was a gas place. They had this design. They selected a one the strongest, the houses to burn the student and a civilian. And so, as we walk in, the people that I knew, you know, they will turn against me. They will look the other way because they were worried. They tried to have me. They would get hurt. And then we got to this before we set the building. You know, they were entering in a few at the time, and then they had created a kind of like a semi-circle where they were using that this big stick, they used to hunt lions to kind of hit people on a neck. They were using some words, you know, in the monbules, which means make sure you hit the top of the spine. Pretty much paralyzed people. That was a message and was sent me. Was this kid a giant kid? His dad was a general in the army. He refused to get inside the building. He thought his dad would come and rescue him. So, he refused with fear because they started chopping these kids into pieces. And I was just scared. I'd never seen that before. And suffering was not an option. I forced myself to jump in the building. And in the building at that point was not in on a fire. It was a corporation. It was a crack team. They had a plan where they could do, you know, light the building. So, they tried to hit me my neck, but they hit me in the chest and forced myself to jump in a building. [00:12:52] And as soon as I got in the building and lit the building put the building on fire and witnessed my friends and my classmate, my teammates dying one by one, screaming, I cannot the horror of seeing, I cannot explain. But I was determined to escape. After 8 hours, I had decided that it was quiet. Outside. They people were chanting far away, celebrating it, their horrible massacre. And I was determined to escape. So, I used a dead body to break the window. And I ran in in the middle of the night and I was running. They spotted me and they chased me. And I ended up in a hole. And they give up. [53.3s] I was in the hole for a little while. You know what I mean by a hole is what they did was they have dug up a lot of holes to bury people. So, I landed in that one. They thought, you know, because I was in a fire and it was downhill and disappeared in the woods, I mean, in the dark. And they decided to postpone the chase. They said they're going to come the next day, in the morning. I remember them saying, we're going to get him. He's going in the area; our people are going to capture him. And that people was full of Hutu. So, I need to make sure that I need to change direction, which is to go back towards where the school was. That was the only safe area. Then the journey, the journey begin of surviving, walking in the middle of the night, I lost 30% of my body. It was a bit harder to walk was a bit harder to pull one leg in front of the other. There was a hospital nearby, but it took me almost 2 hours to walk from my. When I escaped to the hospital halfway between, I landed in a group of people. And one guy was a man who was guiding the house. He was in charge of making sure that no one escaped. And then they were like away from home because they had this sort of what's happening come in an alien in the middle meeting as I'm walk in. [00:15:23] I thought it was safe walking, but I just kind of ran into them and they're like, oh yeah, he escaped. Let's finish him, let's crucify him. Let's kill him. And so, the man went to grab, you know, get a woods and it went to chop wood to crucify me. And there was this woman I would never forget. And I've been looking for a way to reach out to her and thank her. She refused. She said, kid, there is a wounded group of student men and girls. They are in the hospital. Get out of here, go. She let we go. And a way the men were looking for words to crucify me. She let me go. And then, of course, there was a lot of things happened the moment they are like why did you let this guy escape. I said, no, they let me go in a light. I said, no, I am a mix of Hutu and Tutsi you see my dad is a Hutu to my mom is Tutsi and they didn't believe it. [61.9s] And like, no, no, no, we know him. He escapes. So, they start arguing. And finally, that's when they said, enough is enough. They measure my forehead on my hands. Look how many lines of my palm. They look at my fingers and measure my ankle, thinks that I never heard the things you hear. And that's it's those kinds of things. I'm like, how do we know what distance they are doing to me? Anyway, the woman let me go and I went in the hospital. And I find a bunch of students. Before I got there, I got stopped. Somebody spotted me and chased me to catch me. I was able to outrun him. I end up in a maternity room. I go with the student was out in a maternity room like a bathroom. And I locked myself up became a look for me. Couldn't find it. Find me at the same time the show the surgeon was. They would come in. They were looking everywhere and looking at the survivors. And then I heard the head of one, the soldier asking. We heard the athlete Gilbert was killed. Anybody knows when and where. And so, they said he was in a fire. He's dead. He was the first person to put in the fire is dead. And I heard I'm hearing from them and I'm inside. And so, I got up. And finally, it was someone that I know and this soldier's drop everything he had and put him in a one bed truck. They were using it to go around and collect all the student from that building and move out to a. We were transported to Army Hospital, but it was very hard to move in those tracks because I was burned on my back. I couldn't sit, I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand. It was so hard. And I was hanging on and hanging out on the rail, like on the truck in the back of the truck and then in the hospital. This it was a kind of army hospital it would be guiding by would be guided by armies. [00:18:36] And, of course, the news where around the country that students from the high school were killed. And so, my parents started doing the funeral ceremony until seven days later where I got a hold of my brother and I was able to reunite in my family was also to be transferred to a hospital nearby where I grew up, where I grew up, there was a no killing. That's the thing. I come from south; a province called Bururi. At that point there was no killing. [32.9s] The killing happened like when I was in Gitega.

Jessica Honegger [00:19:13] But so the killing was happening in a boarding school area, but your whole family was spared from it.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:19:18] Yes, that's right. And but people were too angry everywhere because they lost, you know, you had a student and relatives are far away that were killed. It was not just my school. It was a couple schools around. Mostly the school where the headmaster didn't protect, or bad neighborhood was surrounded by. A majority of people were kind of, I would say bad people [00:19:43] anyway, spending three months in the hospital praying to God, trying to understand, trying to heal emotionally and physically, trying to understand how the people that I used to live with that kind of betrayed me, trying to understand how the president was killed. I don't even do politics. And for somehow I was innocent because I wasn't born on a wrong tribe. And it's it was hard to understand. But I read the Bible trying to come up with a notion amid incredible people. A lot of people come to see me and they would leave me with, you know, most of the Bible, you know, the tiny one, the New Testament, a tiny one. And I started jogging, started running. And running, coming back to life, because running is my therapy is my freedom. The helps me, grounds me. And once I started jogging and running, took me a year and I was back to what I was. In 95 I started competing and and I started traveling abroad. I presented at University of Burundi and 96. I came to this country. I attend. I came here to study and also participate in the Olympics. But I didn't have a stand up to run an Olympics. But I got a chance to carry the Olympic torch through Birmingham, Alabama, which was incredible experience. Someone who's been in if I had been able to run with the flame, it was an unbelievable experience. [97.8s] You told me, you know, deep down it's a light at the end of the tunnel. And so, when I was running, I was super happy, overjoyed. After the Olympics, of course, I did go back. And I went to Abilene Christian University, where I ran a track and a cross-country. I was all-American and also national champion. And when I graduate from Abilene Christian University looking for places to go and I end up in Austin and in Austin, it's been a great city. Being a second home for me, that's where I raised my children. I was able to start running a group called the Gilberts Gazelles. Incredible people that really that motivates me every single day and then through to the Gazelles, Gilbert's Gazelles [00:22:06] I was able to co-found the Gazelles Foundation with, you know, three others - DK Reynolds, Peter Rauch and Paul Pugh. Paul Pugh and Peter Rauch, we were running and my friend just came back from Ethiopia. He was like, hey, man, I just came back from Ethiopia to help for Habitat for Humanity. And he said, you should do this for your country. And I'm like, how so? So, we started meeting and the foundation. I'm so proud what the foundation has done to be able to change more than 110,000 people are getting a clean water close to home. That is something that I'm proud of. That's something that brings me joy. And to be able to see that transformation also make a difference in people's life, give, you know, give comments, give financial and it's a been a great. [59.2s]

Jessica Honegger [00:23:06] Gilbert, thank you so much for sharing your story. I treasure these stories. My son's Rwandan attorney is a genocide survivor himself, and we've walked with him through many years now of healing. And I just really treasure whenever anyone shares their story. And I know our listeners will be a good steward of your story. I'm so struck by you running in fear, running for your life, and now your motto is Run for joy. And what I've heard about the gazelles is you would hear your background and think that you train elite athletes, but really your joy is to see people from all backgrounds start to run. And so, I'm curious for those listeners that are listening right now, maybe they used to run, maybe they, you know, running the good thing about running is that it's so low maintenance. You can do it anywhere. You don't need any equipment. What would you say to the person, maybe me, who is a bit of a hesitant runner? Where do people like us begin?

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:24:24] The Run with joy. First born to run with Joy. It came from I ran you know, to survive. It was a way of life. I love to run; I ran to fetch water. I ran to school. I ran to market. Whenever everything my parents wanted, I went for it. It was a way of life. Then I become competitive, become very good and well known in the country. I competed at a high level, ran in the NCAA and ran a professionally after graduate from college. And when you look the things that are we really bring it to it was stressful when are you competing for college you line up on a line the coach wants you to do well. You're not running for yourself. You're running with there's a team holding you accountable. You have to score if you don't score scholarship, you get it cut. I mean, it's just like stressful, not fun. And you go to the meet when you are a professional, you hoping to make some money, you go to you don't make money, you're screwed. So, the run we can show it is when you go outside. Enjoy the nature, have fun, take a look around you, enjoyed every breath you take because deep down there's someone out there who cannot run. To go back to your question, why someone like you, you should try to run. I think we always looking for a quick solution. We don't take it time to do a little things like a stretch or do strength. And I want to get faster overnight. I want to run a marathon. You'd be surprised how many people run a marathon, but never run a 5K. And that's incredible. And so, someone like you to help you become a good runner. And that's what I do for mostly beginners or in between, because it usually leads to things about thing that got it. I think I have it. I just need to be faster at that. [00:26:27] The beginners, it's you have to set, you know, small incremental goal. You have to set short and a long-term goal. The short-term goal might be someone like you may be run 20 minutes without stopping in the week. Before you can be called a runner you got to do that first 20 minutes and then after that 20 minutes, 30 minutes and then an hour. Forget about the pace we live in. The technology where everything is a heart rate, everything is a pace, everything is. Forget about that. We're so spoiled here in Austin where we have a trail that is a three mile to four-mile loop, five-mile loop and seven mile. And I think the other pieces. Make sure you go slow at the beginning. Go slow at the beginning and run faster towards the end. Once you start seeing the finish, the more you run, the more strength you do. It's not I don't mean how much you should lift or bench and stuff like that. You know, do pushups and do lunges, do calf raises, do squats, things that help you activate the muscle we have to use by running in that way. Running becomes very, very easy. I believe someone like you. I have a place for you. [85.8s] I this is goes to everybody listening that are having this struggle running. You know what's a universal resolution to my New Year's resolution to do this and do that? I have a place for you. I will help you learn how to run with joy to start yes. You just have to start a slow. Take it slow and I will guide you. I will help you to learn how to breathe. Have you had to? How are you? Clear your shoulders, which means you're running the biomechanics, your running form and everything started coming to life.

Jessica Honegger [00:28:28] Well, and you have built a community.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:28:31] True. [00:28:31] And I'm so humble and appreciative. My community is amazing. The people that I work with on a daily basis, it's unbelievable. They are so positive. Everybody comes to have a goal whether is, you know, qualify for Boston, qualify for New York, run their best time, run it every single day. I have a solution for everybody. It's just the community is amazing, is incredible. I owe a lot to the community. They think I inspire them, but deep down, they inspire me. If it wasn't them, I would not get up 5:00 in the morning. [38.6s]

Jessica Honegger [00:29:10] I do think that that is one of the key things about keeping a habit of movement is to find community, whether that is CrossFit or gym. I know that for me, in order to continue a habit of movement, I have to have community built around me.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:29:31] That is true. And during a COVID, you remember how everything was hard. The only thing that was available was to run outside gym closed. And I've seen group. I've seen the people getting together to stay together. The community is what really held everything together. Do you have a community away from your home? I call a family away from your family home. It's a place where it's always. It works. It works. And you have to make also a priority. For me running people ask me, how often do you run? Around six days out of a week. I can run seven, but I don't need to. I need a one day off. I don't depend on it. If I don't run, I'm fine. I just think it's a routine. You know, the routine goes from, like, I brush my teeth until it is running has to be part of it's ingrained to me. It's something that I really command becomes part of the routine.

Jessica Honegger [00:30:35] It's truly a habit. It's truly a habit for you. You don't even have to think about it.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:30:40] That's right.

Jessica Honegger [00:30:40] Yeah. And that is what our series is all about. So, I am just thankful to have you on. And I'm thankful for all of our listeners, no matter where you guys are on your physical journeys. First of all, Gilbert's story can inspire each of us in a story of resilience and a story of no matter where we are, whether we're plateauing, just beginning, or just need a little bit of a push. Gilbert, thank you so much for your time today.

Gilbert Tuhabonye [00:31:08] Thank you, Jessica, for having me.

Jessica Honegger [00:31:18] You know, I think so much of habits is not about starting them, but about how to restart them if you've stopped. And I think exercise can easily be one of those because you can go on vacation for two weeks that can interrupt your routine. You can get sick; you can just travel for work and get off of your mojo. And I do. What I love about running is that you don't need a gym for it. It's just low maintenance. You can get out and do it anytime and anywhere. And I hope that today inspired you. I'd love to hear from you. You can follow me at Jessica Honegger. That's two Gs and one N over at Instagram. I'd love to hear about how do you really start a habit when you have stopped? Because that's where I'm at. I could use your encouragement. Today's music is by Ellie Holcomb, and I'm Jessica Honegger. Until next time, let's take each other by the hand and keep going scared.