Bike crash fails to deter ‘Kip’

A motorcycle injury derailed his emergence to the national scene, limiting the number of races he participated in this season.

However, World Youth 3,000m champion Isaiah Kiplagat, has put the “boda boda” misfortune behind him and is now focused on winning his second medal at the elementary level, the world cross country junior 8km race.

It will be the second time that Kiplagat will be running in Europe, his first being last year in Bressanone, Italy, but he will not be cowed by that fact.

“I have other senior athletes in the group like Charles Chebet and Japheth Korir who have raced in previous competition in Edinburgh and Amman. But that is past, how we run in Poland is all that matters now,” said Kiplagat, currently training with the national team in Kigari, Embu.

After his victory in the junior men race in Embu in December, Kiplagat went home but was involved in a small accident that kept him off the training programme for some time.

“I went home and boarded a ‘Boda Boda’ and it had rained heavily. “We slid and fell and I injured my toes and hand. But it has healed,” he said.

At 17 years, Kiplagat, who is a candidate student at Filibwet Secondary School in Keringet, Molo, is seeking to add another feather to his cap.

“I train together with World Junior 10,000m champion Josephat Bett. He is struggling to make it in the senior cadre, but I want to change that.

“That is why I am putting in a lot of effort to follow what the coach says. It is important to labour now and reap the fruits in Poland easily,” he said.

“Training is hard and I know I shouldn’t be complaining because I must experience pain before gaining.” A top three finish will be enough to satisfy Kiplagat’s ego.

Not that he fears his challengers but he acknowledges their experience as a factor that might shape the race outcome.