Gabriele Rosa: The man behind Kenya’s marathon success

When the shocking revelation that Kenya’s elite marathon runner Rita Jeptoo had tested positive for a performance enhancing substance, after an out-of-competition test, filtered through last October, Federico Rosa is said to have wept.

Federico, a senior management official at Rosa Associati, Jeptoo’s Italy-based management team, then broke the news to Gabriele Rosa, his 73-year-old father, at their via Mirabella base in the Italian region of Franciacorta famous for its sparkling wine.

“Federico cried when the IAAF called him and said Rita had tested positive.

He told me, ‘She has destroyed our life’,” Gabriele told Lifestyle in an interview in Eldoret where he is holidaying ahead of today’s Discovery Kenya Half Marathon Championship that he has consistently sponsored for the last 24 years.

Just like his son Federico, “Doctor Rosa”, as the silver-haired Italian is fondly referred to, was devastated by the news of Jeptoo’s positive test for the banned blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO).

Jeptoo now faces a two-year ban from competition by the International Association of Athletics Federations and will lose more than $800,000 (Sh72 million) she stood to earn from winning last year’s Chicago Marathon and the overall World Marathon Majors title.

'I’m sorry, and also happy, that Rita was found guilty'

“I’m sorry, and also happy, that Rita was found guilty. Happy because she is a top athlete, and everybody in the world and the international media have been talking about her.

Because of this attention, other young runners will now know the problem of getting involved in doping,” said Gabriele.

However, for the cardiologist and sports medicine specialist who in 1981 founded Centro Marathon, a sports clinic in Brescia that is part of Rosa Associati’s operations, there is no doubt what recent reports of doping mean for the country and individual athletes.

“I’m sad because I like Kenya a lot, and because Rita is a strong athlete who has the ability to win even without using drugs,” he says.

Gabriele’s pain is understandable. The Italian is credited with transforming Kenyan distance running, moulding the country’s top runners from track and cross-country stars into some of the world’s best marathoners.

His love affair with Kenyan athletics started in 1990, at a time the country boasted only two world class marathon runners of repute — Douglas Wakiihuri and Ibrahim Kipkemboi Hussein.

Hussein, the first black man to win the New York Marathon in 1987, was then largely based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, while Wakiihuri, the 1987 world marathon champion, honed his marathon running skills in Japan under legendary coach Kiyoshi Nakamura.

While Hussein went on to win the Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii a record three times in a row, Wakiihuri became the first Kenyan to win the prestigious London Marathon in 1989.

Gabriele came into personal contact with Kenyan athletics in 1990 when distance running legend Moses Tanui, who at the time was based in Italy, approached him for medical and technical assistance.

Then, there were only three Kenyans in the top 100 rankings of world marathon running — Hussein, Wakiihuri and Daniel Nzioka, a 2:13.17 runner.

Ironically, Tanzania had five athletes high up the world rankings in 1990: Gidamis Shihanga, Juma Ikangaa, Simon Robert Naali, Philbert Nada Saktay and Suleiman Nyambui.

But since Rosa introduced marathon coaching to Kenya, starting off with Tanui, statistics have turned on their head with last year’s rankings, for instance, showing that Kenya had a massive 70 runners in the top 100 with not a single Tanzanian runner among the top 800. How things have changed!

“Moses had knee problems, and was in Europe for three months of training. He decided to come to my medical centre,” Gabriele, born in 1942, recalls.

“He was a strong runner and told me that I must come to Kenya because Kenyan athletes needed technical information on running.”

At the time, said Gabriele, few Kenyans were travelling for international track competitions.

“It meant that those who were not top athletes could not get a chance to travel abroad,” he told Lifestyle.

But he had no doubt about the talent available then.

“I knew Kenyans had good endurance and good biomechanics too, and I was sure they would compete against the world and be winners,” he says.

It was then that “Doctor Rosa” introduced comprehensive marathon training to Kenyan athletes, starting with Tanui. Many stars would later pass through his skilled hands, including former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat, London Marathon winner Margaret Okayo, multiple Boston Marathon champion Robert “Mwafrika” Cheruiyot and three-time London Marathon winner Martin Lel.

“In hindsight, it (introducing marathon training) was a good idea because today, 83 per cent of the marathons worldwide are under the control of Kenyans,” he proudly says during the interview at Eldoret’s Pinetree Gardens Hotel, with his successor, Claudio Berardelli, at his side.

And statistics bear him out because among the top 200 male marathon runners last year, Kenya placed 142 athletes.

Gabriele recalls that Tanui, who was then a 10,000 metres track specialist, quickly adapted to marathon running.

'I was worried about pushing Moses too hard'

“I was worried about pushing Moses too hard but then later I realised that Kenyans could be pushed. Tergat also told me that he could do more than I was telling him to do. I must say the Kenyan runners made me a better coach,” he says.

Gabriele gave in to Tanui’s persistent requests for him to set up a training base in Kenya and help other potential marathon stars with his technical expertise.

“I then came to Kenya in 1990 and we put together good runners, not the very top, but good runners who then started training specifically for the marathon,” he offers.

He then decided to open training camps which would help Kenyans be professional runners, with the first one being in Kaptagat. Today, Gabriele has additional camps in Kaptagat, Kapsait, Nyahururu and Kapsabet.

“In a short time, these athletes won many, many marathons as they now understood that marathon running was a new activity — because every major city in the world organises a marathon and there were now many opportunities,” he says.

Gabriele estimates that there are about 1,000 Kenyan marathoners on the global circuit whose success has translated into the socio-economic fortunes of their communities.

“The social results are there for all to see as these athletes win a lot of money and are able to help their families,” he says.

Other management companies have followed Rosa Associati’s initiative and launched training camps especially in the North Rift, most significantly in Kaptagat, Iten, Kapsabet and Kapng’etuny.

“These (new camps) are very important because we cannot do everything alone and we don’t want to do everything alone,” Gabriele says.

However, he has what he considers “fatherly advice” to young, fledgling athletes that they should not dive into the deep-end of marathon running before having a feel of track competitions.

“It is important for the young athletes to run on the track and in the cross country first before taking to the marathon —  the marathon cannot and should not be the first choice for young runners,” he warns.

Interestingly, “Doctor Rosa” himself was not a world-class athlete, instead taking up coaching at a young age.

“In high school in Italy, I was a good runner but over 50 years ago when I went to university it was impossible to train and study at the same time and go to competitions,” he says.

Gabriele then opted to take up coaching at the age of 26 years, instructing young villagers in North Italy.

His first major coaching success was in 1986 when one of his athletes, Gianni Poli, won the New York Marathon and later silver at the 1990 European Championships.

But “Doctor Rosa” still doesn’t consider himself a professional coach.

'I’m not a professional coach'

“I’ve enjoyed 47 years of coaching but I’m not a professional coach. What helped me to be a good coach were the Kenyan athletes —  they helped me to understand the good training methods,” he says.

He explains: “I changed my mentality and training programme. What was working for the Italian runners was not good enough for the Kenyan runners,” he explains. “Kenyan runners made me understand what to do.”

At 73, Gabriele still heads the Rosa Associati operations but has handed over coaching duties to 34-year-old fellow Italian Claudio Berardelli who is currently based in Eldoret full-time.

“Claudio has had incredible results, not only in marathons but also in the short distance races,” Gabriele says with a deep sense of satisfaction and admiration for his protégé.

He adds: “What’s important for me now is that the future of Rosa Associati is in good hands, and I’m happy with Claudio and Federico.”

The legendary coach also supports various community projects in Kenya, including the Kaptabuk Primary School in West Pokot, which he visited recently to give his traditional, annual motivational talk to the excited pupils.

He also opened a sports clinic at his Kaptagat training camp in honour of the late Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru who was also one of his athletes.

Today, the 24th edition of the Discovery Kenya Half Marathon will be run on the streets of Eldoret with Gabriele saying he has grand plans for next year’s 25th anniversary of a race he launched in 1991 to help discover Kenya’s distance running talent.

“We will have a big party for one week next year... I hope Claudio and Federico will then push the race for another 25 years to celebrate a 50th anniversary because most probably I will not be around. I’m an old man now,” jokes Gabriele.

In the wake of doping allegations against Kenyan athletes that triggered the launch of the government-run Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, Gabriele has also launched blood testing among athletes in the Rosa Associati stable.

“Doctor Rosa” last week imported a Sh1 million blood testing kit that will be used to regularly check his athletes before competitions.

“I like Kenya and I’ve done a lot for Kenya and I would like to help clear Kenya of this (doping) problem. All our athletes will be tested before competitions using this new machine.”

The grand old man of Kenya’s marathon running believes the country’s legendary athletes provide the best inspiration against doping.

“I must fight on behalf of my older athletes like Paul Tergat and Moses Tanui who were clean and won clean for Kenya,” says Gabriele by way of a parting shot.