Muhumed making his way with each stride

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Ahmed Muhumed dressed up, wore a tie, and carried a folder with his resume as he walked into the car dealership for a job interview.

The woman behind the desk looked surprised. The Craigslist posting for a lot attendant in Salem, Ore. had not yielded much in the way of prime candidates.

Muhumed sat and smiled and handed over the folder.

"What's this?" she asked.

Muhumed's resume was nicely detailed and included his work history and his accomplishments, including his 2015 Oregon Class 6A cross country title.

"The other people we've had apply for this job are older, and none of them was as well prepared as you," the woman admitted.

She scanned his one-page resume for a few seconds.

"Yeah, you're hired," she said.

As it turned out, the woman had a son who attends West Salem High School. Muhumed is easy to vouch for. Dependable, smart, hard-working, Muhumed has been gathering nuggets of opportunities in the U.S. ever since his family moved to the Portland area five years ago.

Muhumed's father set a positive example.

Back home, in Kebri Beyah -- a Somali village located within the borders of Ethiopia -- Ahmed's father (Abdiwahab Abdi) had started small. He sold cigarettes and granola along the side of the road. And over time, he added more items that people needed. Muhumed built one store and then a series of stores.

The family was doing well. Ahmed and the scores of other kids in Kebri Beyah played soccer almost every spare moment that they weren’t in school. It was peaceful. The family was doing well and Ahmed’s father held a position of respect in the community.

But in 2005, the United Nations offered a Resettlement program to families in this impoverished and vulnerable area of the world.

Ahmed’s family did not feel that it needed to apply out of desperation. But the educational opportunities for Ahmed and his eight siblings weighed heavily on his parents. There were a series of written tests and medical examinations. Abdiwahab Abdi and his wife, Fardowsa Ahmed, and their children were accepted. The family moved 8,500 miles to Portland.

Ahmed adapted quickly to his new middle school. He absorbed a new culture, a new language, and found a level of comfort.

A middle school P.E. teacher, Ingrid Macomber, helped him discover that he could run, an activity that never occurred to him when it wasn’t attached to playing soccer. She watched Ahmed run a mile in six minutes and suggested that he join the track team in the spring.

Ahmed, of course, was grasping on to any success he could find and began to piece together his own plan to make the family’s sacrifice worth it. He thought his best sports opportunity would come in soccer.

Mrs. Macomber told Ahmed she would support him with his freshman year sports participation fee if he could run 1,500 meters in 4:15. That got his attention. That offer, even a small one, felt like a step up. He began to train his body to run, but he could only run 4:30 for 1,500 meters.

The teacher was impressed by his dedication and helped him anyway.

Ahmed kept working, always looking to return a favor with earnest effort and appreciation.

But Ahmed and his family didn’t stay in East Portland and he spent only a few months at David Douglas High School. A few weeks after placing 21st at the OSAA Class 6A cross country final, his family packed up and moved 45 miles south to Salem.

Ahmed attended West Salem High School, where he was one of the only students of African descent and perhaps the school’s only Muslim (besides his siblings). At home, he helped cook for his family and care for his brothers and sisters, and translated for his parents as they adapted to yet another new city.

Ahmed kept running and built friendships on the West Salem track and cross country teams. He worked hard in class and gained the admiration of his teachers and peers. And his coaches kept helping him improve in running.

As a sophomore, Ahmed placed third at the state cross country meet.

As a junior in 2015, Ahmed became the first runner from a Salem high school to win the 6A cross country title in 26 years. He was fourth at NXN Northwest and 40th at NXN.

On Saturday, he can become the first runner to win back-to-back 6A titles since North Medford’s Drew Jordan (2008-09). His job at the car dealership has been a perfect complement to school and running -- he can usually pick his own hours each week and earn a few dollars while pursuing his goals.

On the berm at Lane Community College, where the crowd gathers to watch the Oregon cross country championships, Mrs. Macomber is expected to be in attendance. She lives and teaches in Arizona now, but she is flying back to Oregon to witness for herself how her encouragement paid off. 

Ahmed expects to make his college choice by Monday.