BORN TO RUN

On the eve of my latest adventure to the African continent, I wanted to take a second to let everyone know what I’ll be doing over there and also put a little perspective to the trip.  I have been hired to be the Head Group Leader for the STRIVE Trips, Inc in Kenya.  I will be responsible for leading a group of high school runners who will be going to Kenya to perform service projects and also train at altitude.  Working for an organization like STRIVE is the culmination of a lot of my experiences since college, including being a running coach as well as studying and working in several countries in Africa, including Kenya.  But the seed for living out this trip began much earlier than that.  It goes all the way back to my high school days.  

My growth as a runner in my formative years coincided with the rise of elite distance runners from Kenya in the 1990’s.  I can remember following the career of my favorite runner, Wilson Kipketer, who was the world record holder in my favorite race, the 800, for most of my life.  Of course many people know about famous Kenya runners like Kipketer and Kip Keino, or have seen the names like Kiplagat, Mutai, and Kemboi  win famous marathons and Olympic races.  What you may not know is that virtually every famous Kenyan runner hails from one tribe in Kenya called the Kalenjins, and virtually every Kalenjin grows up within a few miles of each other in Western Kenya. 

 

 In the year 1996, when I was 16 and trying to break the 2 minute barrier in the 800, 56% of the top 10 runners in every track event from the 800 to the 10,000 were from the Kalenjin tribe.   Maybe even more amazing, Kenya has not lost a 3000m Steeplechase race at the Olympics since 1968 and every one of those winners was Kalenjin.  To say the least, Kenyans have dominated distance running since my youth and the majority of those runners come from the Kalenjin tribe.  

As a boy growing up in San Antonio I would dream about those Kenyans running across the highlands of Africa’s Rift Valley, never going so far as to think I would visit there someday.  A few years ago while working for Sprite and the NBA in Africa I got to actually visit the area, but I didn’t have much time to seek out runners.  This time, however, that’s my whole trip.  I will be staying in the small town of Iten, which is where 90% of Kalenjin train when not competing abroad.  There is only one track in the town, one of only 2 in the country, and it has been a dirt track until it was surfaced this year.   

 

All of the great Kenyans train on that track and it will be a dream of mine come to life to experience that reality; to smell the fresh mountain air at 8,000 feet and feel the lack of oxygen burn my lungs as those Kenyans race around that oval.

So I’ve got 7 weeks to absorb the magic and the mystery of the greatest runners in the world.  Along the way I’ll be going about my own training as well as coordinating service projects for the local communities.  It’s a dream trip and one I hope I don’t take for granted.  I’ll try my best to give you a taste of that life on this site before I have to return to the real world.  I’ll try to post as frequently as possible, so keep checking back for the latest.  During my first week I’ll get to do some personal travel with my mother as well as my Uncle David and his new wife Donna.  We’re going to visit several places in Kenya and Tanzania including Nairobi, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti.  It’ll be their first trip to Kenya so it should be quite an adventure!  Safari njema everyone!