My Kenya Trip in Year 2001 (Part 1)

Richard Nerurkar - If you want the best, go to the best


After reading some chapters of a book written by Richard Nerurkar, who came in 5th in the 1996 Olympics with a time of 2hrs 08min 36sec, the author of the book Marathon Running: From Beginning to Elite, I was motivated to go to Kenya to find out on what were the reason that had made Kenyans to become champions in the world arena of long distance. Furthermore, I was always in awe of Richard Nerurkar, who was the champion of Hamburg Marathon and the World Cup Marathon in the year 1993. He has the believe that if you want to be the best, you should go to the best. As Kenya had been producing top runners in the World Cross-Country, during that period, I decided to go to Kenya, even though there was a threat of terrorism. Hence, I prepared physically and mentally to go for the trip. I also arranged it in a way that I can meet up with about 8 Singapore triathletes over there who left before me.

My Flight to Kenya
I took a long flight from Singapore to Dubai and then from Dubai to Nairobi. Later, I took an internal flight to Eldoret. Finally, from Eldoret, I reached Kip Keino's Training Camp. The whole journey took about 22 hours as a whole. It was a very tiring journey.

Kip Keino Training Camp
The place I reached and stayed was called Kip Keino Training Camp. As you know, Kip Keino is a retired Kenyan athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Kip Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force today.


Also, for knowledge, it is good to know that at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he won the 1500 metres gold medal (defeating American favourite and world record holder Jim Ryun by 20m, the largest winning margin in the history of the event).
Thus, Kip Keino was an inspiration to Kenya. Over time, Many gold medals were won through his effort to improve the standard of running in Kenya. He started a camp for inspired and talented runners and soon after various camps branched out. One such that I saw was Daniel Komen Camp. Daniel Komen was breaking the world records before I came to Kenya. Daniel Komen has done a sub 13min for 5000m.

Training in Kenya
When I was there, I was asked to join in the training to do about 16km. I was untrained at that time and took the challenge to run. The triathlon group cycled while I was running. Due to the altitude, I was not able to breathe well as the other runners. At one point, I wanted to over take a female girl who was just 15 year old. She was a good runner but I found out that she was running slow. I tried to speed up and go to her. It was in vain as suddenly a kind of headache due to the altitude started to affect me physically. Finally, I slowed down and ran back.

Weather and Hill Conditiona
In comparision to the Singapore hills, the Kenyan were observed to run the many hills of the Kaptagat Forest route, which were found to be very gradual in their gradient - both up and down. The weather was very cold that day, between 10-12 degrees. It was winter time for them. The weather was less humid and cooling most of the time.


In Eldoret, is a place which is the size of Singapore, 95% of the Olympic gold medals come from this area as compared to other parts of Kenya. Eldoret is also a plateau. Not only in Kagtagat but in other parts of Kenya, the terrain are all 100% earth. Even the walking path is made of earth. Only the main road, usually at least 5 to 10km away from home are made of tarmac and they are used for cars.

Two days later, I was introduced to to Martin Keino, who had a personal best of 13min 10sec. He met me and discussed with me on the next day program. He told us that they were going to do hill workout and he welcomed the triathlon group and me. I was very happy at this. We did our warm up and then did the hill workout. I found out that the training was very tough as the training were running very fast doing 200m x 12. After the run, Martin Keino discussed on how the children, adolescent and the adult train long distance. It was very interesting to hear the conversation.

Coach Billy
The few days later, we were welcomed to join in another workout. Even though, We declined the workout. I was discussing about coaching with Coach Billy, who was an 800m Olympic champion. I saw him demonstrating to the Kenyan athletes on the technique of push-off, kick the butt, knee lifts and knee extension. He looked like a very hardworking person. Billy was also very patient in explaining on training, training programme and training methodology. On that day, I learnt a number of things  from him.

Kenyan Raunners - Attitude to Train Harder
I also saw on the track, the Kenyans training 10 times much harder than us in training. From, this experience, I realised that Kenyans win in races by not altitude alone but also by attitude. The athletes in the camp were professional long distance athletes and were paid every month. They were paid to go for races when they peak. Kip Keino runs a charitable program. It is run by Phyllis, a lady dedicated to looking after orphans.

Daily Activity on the Track.
When I was there, I realised that the Kenyans do welcome overseas athletes to train and improve. They did not restrict anyone. The athletes train 3 times per day of the week. In the morning, they run is about 8km at the camp. In the afternoon, the athletes do workouts on the 6 lanes of sandy track. They were wearing spikes for the workout. During workouts, women athletes will do with the men together. The rationale for this was to make the woman's  mind stronger. In the evening, the athletes will usually finish the run by going for a 5pm – 8km near the camp.

Terrain to Run
My observation in Kenya was that there no any steep hills like those found in Singapore. Hence, whether it be on the hard ground or soft ground, it is easy to get injured in Singapore but not in Kenya. Singapore terrain is also made of cement in many places. One should avoid this terrain and run on soft surfaces like grass, sandy terrain, sand track and treadmill.

Altitude Training
The Kenyan athletes do stay at 5000ft and to do easy runs at this altitude. They come down to do workouts at 3000ft.  To reach the 3000ft, usually it takes about an hour to reach. I also realised that the Kenyans do not train at altitude above 6000ft. Hence, this allows a person to have the advantage of the increasing 2,3 dpg in the blood which is helpful to performance.

Gradient of the Run
There was one day when I ran in the Kakamega Forest. I ran a 8km route, having an incline and decline of 2%. Mostly, that terrain was made of 2% downhill and I had a wonderful time speeding all the way. It was so enjoyable coupled with the weather which was cooling throughout. After the run, I was given a massage on my legs so that it can recover very fast. A professional person to massage is employed to take care of top runners in Kenya daily.

The benefits of Stretching
Besides ways to recover faster, my discussion with the runners of Kenya like Benjamin, Joel and John showed that athletes do stretch every time before going to bed. They do as an important thing to relax the muscles of the body before sleep. One will have a sound sleep. Usually, the Kenyan athletes Stretch before a run and after a run. More emphasis usually placed after the run. The Kenyans at least take about 5min to stretch before the run.

The life of the Kenyan athletes were found to be very simple and relaxed. I saw that 90% of the people were always smiling even though they were in poverty. The athletes sleep in simple bed sheet with a cover which were given to four people per room. The athletes led a spartan lifestyle.  The bed has not much cushion. Besides that, the athletes were found to do their own washing.

Hence, the description above explains why Kenyans, even now, are the top in the world.