Top 5 Running Memories #3 Running in Kenya

 I was lucky to go to Kenya early in 2002 as part of a running tour with the Discovery Kenya team from Fila.

The Highlights

We were invited to lunch by Moses Tanui. I just remember shaking as we walked up the steps. Moses is a Champion among Champions. 2 Time Boston Marathon winner, first runner under 60 minutes for the 1/2 marathon. 2 time world Champion. World Records on the track. He had a wonderful career and here I was eating lunch at his house. It was simply an amazing day to be with such a humble man who once took it out on any runner who tried to beat him. Moses could live anywhere in the world with the winnings he had but he chose to live in Eldoret, Kenya where he can further the lives of people through running. 

Running with Paul Tergat. A humble man with some very fast legs. At the time Paul was the Current World Cross Country Champion (Many times over). It was such fun running with this man. Everyone knew him and waved to him. I mean everyone young and old. He was a legend then and the legend only grew when he ran 2:04:55 in Berlin.

But the real highlight of the trip was a group run. There were 20-30 runners who started out. The run started on a mountain road at 8,000 feet elevation. It finished 15K later at 10,000 feet. The record for the run was in the 49 minute range. The run finished at a high elevation running camp where injured runners or runners not in competition form stayed. They had no electricity or running water. We took showers under buckets and were fed a feast by the runners. It was fresh lamb and lots of Kenyan flat bread. It was simply an amazing day of running.

It's a good life….