How athletics has shaped Home of Champions

Governor Elgeyo Marakwet County Wesly Rotich and race partners in preparation for the upcoming Iten International Marathon to be held on December 18,2022. [Christopher Kipsang,Standard]

Today, the Iten International Marathon staged in one of the world's most preferred training destinations is seeking to join the list of well-oiled races across the globe.

The 42km race is happening in a town that has shaped the country's athletics history since the 1970s, producing world beaters and attracting huge numbers of athletes to it.

Iten is a tiny town synonymous with athletics, and over the years, the running bug has caught almost everyone living in the high altitude training base.

Despite its small size, Iten is bigger and more famous than its physique - you talk about it and its athletics giants.

Athletes training in readiness for high-paying races in various countries welcomes visitors to Iten. It does not take a visitor long to discover that everyone in the small town is either running, walking faster or watching some of the world's famous athletes pacing along a dusty murram road along the busy Iten-Eldoret road.

Very early in the morning, groups of road racers train along the area's dusty roads; others heading towards Sing'ore and some teams taking the route to the iconic Kamariny stadium and in the direction of Elgeyo border - all in an effort to rise to athletics stardom.

Legendary athletes did the same in Iten and went ahead to deliver historic victories in global championships such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and Africa Championships as well as World Marathon Majors.

Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar, formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya (steeplechase world record holder) also trained in Kamariny stadium, in the outskirts of Iten.

"Stephen Cherono would quietly come here at 4am. He would train alone and leave by 8am. The mornings were chilly but the weather did not seem to bother him," David Cheruiyot, who has been a security guard at Kamariny stadium for years, says.

Some of the legendary athletics stars who have trained in Iten include Ibrahim Hussein, the three-time Boston Marathons winner and one-time New York City Marathon champion, Peter Rono (the 1988 Olympic 1500m gold medalist), Wilson Boit Kipketer (1997 World 3000m Steeplechase champion), Matthew Birir (1992 Olympic 3000m Steeplechase champion) and David Rudisha, the 2012 Olympic 800m gold medalist and world record holder.

Also in Iten's list of world beaters are former world champions Edna Kiplagat, Florence Kiplagat, Lornah Kiplagat, Linet Masai, and Mary Keitany among others.

Three-time London Marathon winner Mary Keitany, Edna Kiplagat (two-time world champion) and Florence Kiplagat (former world half marathon champion), world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei and Beijing Marathon champion Valary Aiyabei shaped their careers in the home of champions.

Irish missionary and teacher-cum coach, Brother Colm O'Connell - the father of Kenyan athletics, who has been largely responsible for the relentless rise of the Kenyan athletics stars has called Iten home since the 1970s.

But how have athletics legends contributed to the growth of Iten from a village market with three retail shops and a post office in the mid-1970s?

"There were very few shops and a post office when I arrived in the 1970s. All these hotels and infrastructural developments developed gradually, because of athletics," Bro Colm told this writer four years ago.

From Elgon Valley hotel owned by the 2009 world 10,000m bronze medallist Moses Masai, to former marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang's Keellu resort and Kenyan-born Dutch legend Lornah Kiplagat's Iten Club and Hilda Kibet's Belio petrol stations, Iten prides in an epic growth resulting from athletes' investment.

Lornah Kiplagat and her husband Pieter Langerhorst established the Lornah Kiplagat High Altitude training facility a decade ago, the only modern track outside Nairobi, so far. It is located about three kilometres from Iten town.

The idea of a track was conceived after Lornah won her first international marathon in Los Angeles in 1997. In the last few years, the camp has attracted a number of international athletes including Britain's Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe.

"Athletics is outshining any other sporting activities in Iten. The town is Safari Rally route, it is one of the favourite destinations for paragliding and cycling as well as football and volleyball, but athletics has remained dominant," Iten-based sports expert Dr Byron Kipchumba said.

According to Kipchumba athletics attracted paragliders to Iten, and led to establishment of hotels such as Kerio View at the edges of the steep, rugged Kerio escarpments.

"The heritage plaque by World Athletics was part of the recognition of Iten in global athletics. It is also an economic centre through sports. Athletes who have inhabited Iten have become part of the town and have improved its economic status.

"Many global sporting management companies have set up bases in Iten," Kipchumba said.