Alex Siboe of Stanbic Bank, Alexander Gachihi of Shofco and Evans Ngala of Express Shipping & Logistics (EA) all work in demanding roles. For each of them, running has become a way to manage the pressure that comes with their work and lead better.
As a young boy, Alex Siboe dreaded running and went out of his way to avoid school races. Decades later, a back injury in 2017 forced him to take up walking instead, and when Covid-19 struck, that walking habit turned into running. By April 2020, he had finished his first 10km race. Today, Alex's relationship with marathons is far warm enough to weave running into his lifestyle.
“I don’t mind waking up at 4am to go for a run. It’s refreshing and sets the tone for the whole day,” he says.
Since 2020, Alex has run marathons in Amsterdam and Cape Town, and even conquered the grueling Lewa trail marathon.
Running for well-being
As CIO at Stanbic Bank Kenya, Alex oversees core banking transformations, work that leaves little room to switch off. As a result, he guards his weekends for family, and spends most of his Saturdays on the trail. For him, running is not just good for his health but for his performance at work.
“The gym helps regulate my body and energy levels, and running builds endurance. Both help me stay balanced and focused through demanding work,” he says.
Like Alex, Evans Ngala has built a similar habit around his own busy schedule as group ICT manager at Express Shipping & Logistics (EA). Managing ICT across four countries in the shipping sector leaves little room for slow mornings, so he uses running to process rather than escape.
“I do leisure runs to decompress or plan my day. Ten kilometres is enough to fix my head,” he says.
Alexander Gachihi has also turned to running to ease the pressure that comes with his job as technology director at Shofco, a role he likens to a Korean drama.
“There are moments where everything clicks: the systems are running smoothly, teams are delivering, and you see the impact of the work. Then there are difficult moments: outages, fibre cuts, process incidents, where suddenly the entire team is mobilised to stabilise operations. And then there are the flat moments: long stretches where you are quietly building, improving and preparing for scale. No big wins, no big losses, just things going on,” he says.
That kind of work demands resilience, adaptability and constant learning, qualities Alexander has found on the road as much as in the office.
While he has been a regular gym-goer for years, he took up running about a year ago and quickly made it part of his routine. These days, it’s not unusual for him to complete a 10-kilometre run before the workday even begins.
“The gym helps regulate my body and energy levels, and running builds endurance. Both help me stay balanced and focused through demanding work,” he says.
Lessons that cross into leadership
For all three, running has been a source of lessons that they apply in their work.
Alexander sees a direct link between his composure on the trail and his composure during technical crises. One memorable instance was when a digital survey tool used by more than 100 field facilitators failed. As a leader, he knew that his role was to support his team to look for a solution.
“My role is not to add pressure, but to help the team stay calm, fix the issue, understand what happened and make sure we do better next time,” he says.
With Alex, the parallel is even more explicit. He links the mental grind of the final kilometres of a marathon to steering a team through a stalled project.
“After 30 kilometres your legs feel heavy, the lactic acid builds up, and it is all mental from there. You just have to keep going until you finish,” he says.
This same metaphor finds its way to his work.
“You need family, training partners, mentors and people around you. Leadership is the same because you cannot do it in isolation.”
Evans, on his part, views running as maintenance for a mind that has to stay sharp across borders, vendors and systems.
“I do leisure runs to decompress or plan my day. Ten kilometres is enough to fix my head,” he says.
