Touring athletes catch up with Eliud Kipchoge in training

A group of 20 tourists landed in Nairobi destined for Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet and their mission was one: to stay in the area and see how world-beating Kenyan athletes conduct their training sessions.

The high altitude Iten is one of the best places to train in and is home to thousands of athletes who train and reside there as they prepare for various competitions, including the World Championships which starts on Friday.

This month, Iten has played host to American athletes, among them World 5,000 metres silver medallist Paul Chelimo, Shadrack Kipchirchir, Stanley Kebenei and Haron Lagat. They have been training in the athletics-rich region ahead of their assignment in Doha.

And last Friday, members of Spain-based Tigers Running Club came to Kenya to tour the Maasai Mara Game Reserve but before heading to the South Rift region, they wanted to see first-hand how Kenyan athletes train for races. The group has been putting up in Iten and on Tuesday, they had a chance of watching world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge during training.

SPORTS TOURISM

The group is made of athletes who are working and at the same time participate in various races in Spain and across the globe.

Nation Sport caught up with the team in the morning on their mission to see how Kipchoge has been training in preparation for his attempt to run the marathon under two hours. Kipchoge will be attempting to run under two hours in a project dubbed “INEOS 1:59 Challenge” in Vienna, Austria on October 12.

Their visit coincided with Kipchoge’s speed sessions at Global Sports Communications and at 6.45am, they alighted from two vans and went straight to the Moi University Annex Campus track where tens of athletes converge every Tuesday for speed session and intervals.

From their faces, one could see excitement at seeing their top athletes from Kenya training hard, sweat trickling down their cheeks.

“I’m happy to see how Kenyans train hard for various competitions. I came purposely to see them training and they inspire me a lot,” said Paula Cobo, a long distance athlete.

Cobo also said she was lucky to see Kenya’s world-beaters, including Kipchoge, in training.

“I’m so excited that I was able to see how Kipchoge is preparing for the race. I must admit that Kenyan athletes are talented in the sport,” she added.

Augustino Rubio, a coach who travelled to Kenya with the group, said: "We have a training camp back at home and we came to see how athletes train in Kenya. The weather is perfect and it's good for training and our joy is to see how the world record holder is preparing to write history in Vienna next month."

"We shall be proud when Kipchoge crosses the line, having written history by breaking the 1:59 time. We saw him training and it will really inspire us to work extra hard," said Rubio.

Mario Lara, an athlete, said: "This a good experience for us and I can say the athletes from Kenya are really good and fast. They have good discipline and that's why they keep shining."

Nuria Martinez was happy to see how the athletes train on a daily basis, which she said motivated her to do more.

Patrick Sang, Kipchoge's coach, said that Sports Tourism is the way to go.

"It's good to see other people from various countries who are coming to witness how our athletes are training hard. Sports Tourism in the country should be encouraged," said Sang.