‘I love Kenya’s sukuma wiki’

After the disappointment of failing to finish the Athens Olympic Games marathon in 2004, Paula Radcliffe relocated to Monaco.

She felt she had let Great Britain down and wanted to make amends.

Radcliffe wanted to live and train in a place not too many people would recognise her, and the tiny Principality of Monaco was just the address she needed, tax issues aside (there is no tax on personal income in Monaco).

But a stress-fractured femur affected her assault on the Beijing Olympics medals, the 38-year-old Bedfordshire legend finishing a disappointing 23rd.

Back to Monaco, Radcliffe took time off to give birth to her second child, Raphael, in 2010 before making her marathon comeback at last year’s BMW Berlin Marathon.

She finished third in an impressive time of two hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds in a race won by Florence Kiplagat, the fourth-fastest Kenyan woman marathoner, in 2:19.44.

Olympic ticket

Radcliffe’s time earned her a place in Great Britain’s team to the home Olympics in London with the other two places yet to be decided by UK Athletics, Kenya-born Mara Yamauchi among the probables.

Shifting base from Monaco to Kenya’s high altitude town of Iten has been quite a culture shock for the world marathon record holder (2:15.25), but Radcliffe is well aware of the fact that there’s no gain without pain as she pans for Olympic gold.

Away from the head-turning Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys that burn the rubber on Monaco’s Avenue Princess Grace to the dirt roads of Iten, blazed by the ubiquitous boda bodas and battered Toyotas, Radcliffe has settled in quite well since she first pitched camp with Team GB at Lornah Kiplagat’s High Altitude Training Centre last November.

“Iten is such a beautiful place to train in and we have everything we need here - great running trails, a gym, pool and massage facilities,” the world record holder told Monday Sport at the HATC last week.

“I love the countryside and the food here is great...I love the ugali, mangoes pineapples, kale (sukuma wiki) and avocadoes.”

Radcliffe does her laundry herself and lives in a simple room at the HATC with no television set, a stark contract from the 800 Euro (Sh90,000) a night accommodation you would get at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco. “I have no time to watch television,” she says. “I only miss my husband and children so much.

“But any professional athlete who is serious with training will get everything here. I usually spend my time between training on my ipad or reading books.”

Radcliffe trained in Iten for four weeks last November in the rain. but, and a staunch proponent of altitude training, she had always nurtured the dream to come to Kenya a long while back.

“I wanted to come early last year but my boy (Raphael) was young and I was breast feeding. I didn’t want to come with a small kid. The HATC is owned by Kenya-born Dutch marathon champion, Lornah Jebiwott Kiplagat, and her husband Pieter Langerhorst, a former Ironman, windsurfer and marketing chief at American sportswear manufacturer, Saucony.

As I continue the poolside interview, I notice Langerhorst and Kiplagat busy shuttling between the athletes’ restaurant to their office and the gym.

Incidentally, Kiplagat will offer Radcliffe the opposition at the London Olympics after she won selection to the Dutch team by finishing third in last October’s TSC Amsterdam Marathon.

Kiplagat needed a sub-2:27:24 time and, paced by James Koskei and with the backing of a strong supporting cast, led by Langerhorst, the famous physio, Limerick-based Irishman Gerard Hartmann, and David Kurui, she ran 2:25.52.

By coincidence, there are only two women selected to the Dutch Olympic marathon team, and they are both from Iten! Kiplagat’s cousin Hilda Kibet, who is married to Dutch 2:12 marathoner Hugo van den Broek, qualified to wear the Oranje colours in London after clocking 2:24 in the Rotterdam Marathon last April.

Olympic hopefuls

The allure of Iten was too strong for Radcliffe to resist and understandably so as besides Kiplagat and Kibet, Iten is home to three of Kenya’s Olympic hopefuls.

World champion Edna Kiplagat, London Marathon title holder Edna Kiplagat and Berlin Marathon champion Florence Kiplagat all live and train in Iten.

Radcliffe is aware of the immense pressure awaiting her in London but she is taking everything in her stride.

“I will only run half marathons in March and April. The training here is good and I’m mainly doing speed work, recovery runs and long runs.”

The world record holder says she is not about to change from her traditional tactic of gingerly front-running.

“I enjoy running hard and my strength is to stay ahead of the pack. It’s hard staying in the middle as I want to see a clear path ahead of me and it’s easier to attack from the front,” she says as a Team GB handler indicates to me that time’s up for the interview and it’s time for Radcliffe to attack her lunch-time ugali and sukuma wiki.

So, does she think her 2:15.25 world record will fall any soon?

“Of course I would like it to stay longer. There are many people who can break it and Mary (Keitany) is slightly ahead of Florence (Kiplagat).

“Edna (Kiplagat) is a championship runner and I also expect Lydia (Cheromei) and Lucy (Kabuu) to run well.”

True to Paula’s prediction, Kabuu last Friday made a stunning marathon debut, running 2:19.34 in finishing second to Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.
As we wind up the interview, I ask Radcliffe what she would take back to Britain from her stay in Iten: “The happy children who always want to join you and do what you are doing... and I’ve learnt a few words of Swahili, like habari.

“It’s nice to see such enthusiasm in Iten and you get a lot of satisfaction here. There is no lack of idols here - I will take back the beautiful countryside and the friendliness of the people.”
Radcliffe’s and Team GB’s training at altitude in Iten was funded by UK Athletics and the Virgin London Marathon with the strong team also including world 5,000m champion, Somali-born Mo Farah.

The programme was recommended by UK Athletics’ head coach Charles van Commenee and Ian Steward, UKA’s head of endurance.

Touched by the joy and humility of the children in Iten, Radcliffe says she will send over clothes and other toys that her children have outgrown.

She will definitely have a huge fan base in Iten when she cruises past the scenic Embankment in London, battling with Dutchwomen Lornah Kiplagat, Hilda Kibet and the three Kenyans for the Olympic gold.