Vincent Yator: From jaws of death to Honolulu podium

As has been routine over the years, Vincent Yator was headed back to Eldoret after applying for his Schengen visa at the French embassy in Nairobi.

In his sights was the Paris Half Marathon that would effectively launch his 2018 road season.

Yator was travelling with fellow road runner Francis Kiplagat who had also been to the capital on a similar mission, though his was a visa application at the Embassy of China ahead of a marathon he’d programmed for China.

They tucked themselves in as their North Rift shuttle ran at full career through the night, past Kikopey, hurtling towards Nakuru at about 9pm on February 18.

Then there was a loud bang, and then pitch darkness.

“I knew we’d been involved in a bad accident,” Yator recalls. “I was conscious, and I felt OK. I then forced my way out through the window, looked back and saw the damage. It was too hard to take. From the wreckage and damage to the matatu, I knew Kiplagat was gone. He couldn’t have survived this.”

In a flash, a crowd milled around the shuttle and helped those stuck in the wreckage to get out.

Some of the passengers had died on impact, among them Kiplagat.

The injured were rushed to the St Mary’s hospital along the highway, with Yator later transferred to Nakuru, and then Eldoret.

Of the 11 on board, seven died, five of them on the spot, with three critically injured. Yator, miraculously, was the only one conscious and on his feet. He was later told the three critically injured were crippled for life.

“It was by coincidence that, after applying for our visas, separately, I and Kiplagat boarded the same vehicle,” Yator explains.

“That’s when I sensed there was something weird. I started sweating, for no apparent reason, but prayed God for journey mercies. That his wish be done. As we left, I wished Kiplagat a safe journey and told him we should wake one another up in Nakuru so that we can have something to eat. That never happened...”

Yator suffered three broken ribs and internal bleeding that saw him admitted at Eldoret’s Reale Hospital for about a week after his wife Emmy Chepkoech and fellow athlete Festus Tallam rushed to Nakuru and had him moved.

That he recovered from that tragedy to finish third in Sunday’s Honolulu Marathon is nothing short of miraculous.

After running in the lead pack for 20 kilometres on Sunday, Yator and race winner Titus Ekiru broke away from the pack midway through the Hawaii race.

Ekiru then made a decisive surge at 23 kilometres, dropping Yator who was caught by fast finishing Reuben Kerio and that’s how it ended, a Kenyan sweep: 1. Ekiru (2:09:01), 2. Kerio (2:12:59) and 3. Yator (2:15:31).

“This is a miracle,” Yator said after the race. “For me to finish third after that accident, it’s a simply miraculous.”

Yator had trained for just 45 days for the Honolulu Marathon where he also finished third last year. Ideally, it requires at least 90 days’ training ahead of a marathon.

“After the accident, I started by going to the gym first for one week in Eldoret. It was then that I realized my body was OK, and then I continued gym training for a month. In mid August, I started slowly getting back to training on the road, before launching my speed work training on the road, which didn’t go too well, forcing me to stop.”

Yator suspended his serious training until October when he felt better.

“I started long runs of up to 35 kilometres and then I spoke with my manager (Davor Savija) who agreed to enter me in October’s Frankfurt Marathon.”

At Frankfurt on October 28th, Yator finished 10th in 2:12:03, with Ethiopia’s Kalkie Woldaregay winning in 2:06:37.
“This run made me feel I’m OK, and it encouraged me to train harder,” Yator, the father of two – seven-year-old Sharleen and four-year-old Teddy – told Nation Sport at Hawaii’s Outrigger Reef Hotel after Sunday’s race.

After the Frankfurt Marathon, Yator, 29, stepped up his training in Iten under coach Joseph Cheromei and training partner Mark Korir.
“My body felt good today, it’s just that I didn’t put in enough training.

“I trained for just 45 days, which for a marathon is awkward.”

Yator’s manager Savija also sees a new lease of life in Yator after the miraculous events. “I keep telling him he’s been born again,” says the amiable Czech.

And indeed, Yator considers it a new beginning, his faith in God having grown in leaps and bounds and his determination to improve on his personal best time (the 2:12:03 recorded in Frankfurt) renewed.

“I want to start training again in mid January for a big marathon in April – perhaps Rotterdam, Vienna, or Paris. I prefer Paris because I can chase a good time there as the course is good.”

His target is to run under two hours, five minutes.

“I’m internally motivated,” says the 2010 national 5,000 metres champion and African Championships silver medallist over the distance.
“What I know is that God has a purpose for us all. Nothing will mess you up when you believe and trust in God.”

It’s common for Kenya’s pious elite athletes to make huge offerings to their local churches. Yator and his wife are no exception, and had planned to do the same on the week the accident happened.

And they did after his recovery.

“Jesus is life and He saves. I believe God made me survive as He has a plan for me, especially in athletics,” he reflects. “There’s something I have to do.”

And that something includes running a sub 2:05 PB, besides nurturing young athletes to make careers out of running.

Already, Yator has mentored several athletes, including Tallam and this year’s Jakarta Marathon champion Sheila Chesang.
At the moment, he’s already coaching five young track runners.
“There’s more to come,” the Mochongoi Secondary School (Baringo County) alumnus concludes.
“I don’t want to be selfish. It’s not about Vincent Yator alone. I want to be humane.”
A miracle indeed!