How Ebuya ran away from cattle rustlers to global fame

He left his fellow herdsmen and travelled over 400 kilometres to Eldoret with a dream – to run and earn money to buy land and settle away from cattle rustlers. And three years later, the soft-spoken Joseph Ebuya has already achieved his target.

A fortnight ago, Ebuya stunned the world when he led Kenyans in a 1-2-3 sweep of the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country IAAF Permit race, leaving the Ethiopian icon Kenenisa Bekele to settle for the fourth place. The runner from the cattle rustling-prone Baragoi village of Turkana North District braved the snow to romp to victory 36 seconds ahead of the six-time World Cross Country 12km champion.

It was the Bekele’s first cross country defeat since he dramatically dropped out of the 2007 World Cross in Mombasa, losing his global title to Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese. He had not lost a cross country race that he had finished since 2001. “I started running with little expectations. I never dreamt I could race against world beaters like Benjamin Limo, Eliud Kipchoge and Tadese, although my instincts kept telling me that I would step onto the world scene.

“I went to Edinburgh burning with the desire to win. That day, before I got out of bed I prayed to God to allow me to beat Bekele. [Compatriot Titus] Mbishei and I worked out the plot to beat Bekele,” Ebuya, who trains with Mbishei, told the Nation in an interview at the PACE Sports Management training camp in Kaptagat recently.

Come a long way

Ebuya posted an impressive 28 minutes and 41 seconds to finish ahead of Mbishei and World Cross Country and World 5,000m silver medallist Eliud Kipchoge. But the Armed Forces runner has come a long way. His parents could not afford to take him school, so he stayed at home to herd the family’s goats. The determined, lanky athlete started to train in jeans and leather shoes. Now he wants to introduce running to his rural home in Baragoi.

“I call upon my fellow herdsmen to take up running. I’ll strive to ensure that we set up an athletics training camp in Turkana and I want to change their lives,” said Ebuya, who will compete in the Armed Forces Cross Country Championships this Saturday at Kahawa Garrison, Nairobi.

He finished second in the 5,000m race at last year’s World Championships trials, behind his colleague Vincent Chepkok and Kipchoge, just months after graduating from the nine-month military training that made him miss last year’s World Cross in Amman.

Tripped by runner

He, however, slumped to a distant 13th at the World Championships in Berlin, which he explained thus: “I picked up an injury after a runner tripped me 600 metres to the tape and I could not catch up.” Ebuya says the military has improved his endurance: “I entered the track season in top form. And with my family background in mind, I have to work harder. I will not rest on my laurels ahead of the national trials as I expect stiff opposition.”

Whether he makes the team or not, the soldier seeks divine intervention in the battle against Bekele at the March 28 World Cross in Bydgoszcz: “I can’t boast I will beat him in Poland. I’ll work hard as Vincent Chepkok and Moses Masai will offer a mouth-watering clash at the national trials. The rest I leave to God.”

Since battling World Cross junior bronze medallist Chepkok and World 5,000m bronze medallist Masai in Berlin, Ebuya has won three cross country races this season: the Yecka race (Murcia, December 13), Corrida de Houilles 10km (Paris, December 27) and Amardora 10km (Lisbon, December 31). His personal best times stand at 7:34.66 for 3,000m, 12:51 (5,000m) and 28:53.46 (10,000).

British kingmaker Ricky Simms, best known for managing Usain Bolt and Christine Ohuruogu, has 40 Kenyan runners including Ebuya and his younger sister Alice Aprot as trainees. Sammy Rono, Kenya’s assistant coach at the Berlin event, also trains Ebuya.