Lornah’s track and family race

By Vincent Bartoo

Marathoner Lornah Kiplagat followed her heart when she met and fell in love with Dutchman Pieter Langerhorst seven years ago.

"I changed my citizenship because, according to our African customs, a woman leaves her parents’ home for her husband’s. That is what I did," she says.

In an interview with the Sunday Magazine at the couple’s home in Iten, Lornah, 35, says money has never been a motivation in her life.

"It should not be the ultimate goal for happiness in life. Personally, there are so many things I like doing which bring me happiness. Acquiring money is the least of them," she says.

Lornah with husband, Pieter Langerhorster at their Iten home, during the interview.

Marathon runners, from left, Geta Wami of Ethiopia, Lornah, Chunxiu Zhou of China and Berhane Adere of Ethiopia in London in 2007. Photos:Peter Ochieng’ and Agencies\Standard

"I was assigned the duty of signing her up for a sponsorship deal and two things happened: I signed her up and fell in love," he says.

Their relationship started in 1997 and culminated in marriage in 2002.

But before they married, Pieter had to seek Lornah’s hand in marriage according to Keiyo customs that the athlete abides by.

"I flew in my parents to Kenya from the Netherlands to help me seek her hand in marriage. The dowry negotiations took the whole day!" Pieter recalls.

At this point, Lornah interjects humorously: "It had to. He had to go through the rigorous ceremony of getting a Keiyo girl. It’s not always that easy you know, even for a mzungu!"

The ceremony took place in Kabiemit location of Keiyo North District, complete with all traditional rites.

"At the end of the day, I was told to pay Sh240,000, five cows and five sheep according to the Keiyo customs which I gladly agreed to," says Pieter.

Wedding no automatic pass

After the engagement, the couple flew Lornah’s parents to the Netherlands for their wedding in 2002.

"Mum was particularly impressed by the greenery in Holland and commented that I was being married off to a fertile country just like Kenya," Lornah says.

"She even asked us to rear cows just like we do in Keiyo."

The wedding, however, was not Lornah’s automatic pass to becoming a Dutch national.

Although she moved to the Netherlands in 1999, she gained citizenship later in 2003 which allowed her to compete for that country.

"It is a process that took me about five years. Doing proficiency exams, understanding the culture and other requirements, according to laid down rules. You do not just become a citizen overnight."

Lornah had no problem fitting into Pieter’s family as a daughter-in-law. Likewise, Pieter is an ideal son-in-law for Lornah’s parents.

Pieter’s close relationship with his mother-in-law got a jump-start, thanks to the popular Kalenjin traditional fermented milk, mursik, and Diet Coke.

"One of the things I love about Keiyo is mursik. I drink it every day before I sleep. And I sleep like a baby," Pieter says.

They struck a deal

Lornah’s mother liked Diet Coke, which the couple gave her on a visit, saying it "tasted sweeter than ordinary soda".

Pieter says they struck a deal that whenever he visits her, she should have a gourd of mursik ready for him and he would bring a six-pack of her favourite coke.

"No Diet Coke, no mursik and vice versa. It has worked for us all these years," he says.

Lornah’s immediate family did not have a problem with the union.

"We used to live next to a mzungu at home (Keiyo) and my family’s relationship with him was cordial. So they had no problem with Pieter or his family for that matter," she says.

But there are always some doubting Thomases and these viewed Pieter suspiciously.

"Maybe they thought I was after her money, who knows," he says jokingly.

Adds Pieter: "But I fell in love and married her because she is a human being with the same values as I have".

Marriage’s ups and downs

The couple has had their ups and downs in their marriage but their diversity has worked positively for them.

Contrary to belief that she became a Dutch citizen for monetary gain, Pieter says Lornah runs for the Netherlands purely as a national duty.

"All she gets back home are letters of commendation from the government for her track achievements," he says.

Lornah is a celebrity in the Netherlands and is treated with high esteem by Dutch nationals.

The Dutch government has also appointed her a senior adviser to the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen.

"Lornah meets the minister on a regular basis advising him on initiatives the Government could undertake to assist Africa, with focus on education, sports and alleviation of hunger and poverty," says Pieter.

This is an opportunity Lornah has taken advantage of to link the Kenyan government, as well as local organisations, to the Netherlands government for developmental support.

"I consider myself an ambassador for both Kenya and the Netherlands, building a bridge for our people to benefit mutually," she says.

Next month, Lornah has organised a meeting between Verhagen and the chairman of the Mutui Museo (good neighbour) campaign, Isaac Kalua.

The campaign was launched by Ukambani professionals to combat hunger in the region.

"I have held talks with the Netherlands Crown Prince, Willem Alexander, who is keen on international water management issues," says Lornah.

Thus, they are exploring ways to start water projects in Ukambani as a way of alleviating the cycle of hunger there.

Lornah and Pieter donated Sh100,000 towards the campaign when it was launched early this year. She is also the ambassador of the Doctor-to-Doctor programme sponsored by Dutch airline KLM and Free University in Amsterdam.

"Dutch doctors are flown to Kenya to exchange expertise with Kenyan doctors in health care improvement," Lornah explains.

The doctors’ primary focus is improving pre-and post-natal care to reduce child mortality. When she started running in 1995, Lornah found the going tough.

"It was hard to reach the top as a woman. Even on the track, it is fairly easy for men to get to the top. Women have to fight many obstacles," she says.

Her challenges on track were compounded by her community’s belief that women’s place is the kitchen, helping their mothers.

However, this perception is changing following the achievements of female athletes in international championships.

Proved to be role models

"I am happy we overcame and proved to be role models. If we had failed, girls would probably have had no chance," she said.

Lornah felt a burning desire to assist budding women athletes from poor backgrounds in the North Rift region find a place where they can hone their talents.

"In 1997 I used my first prize money to buy a piece of land in Iten where I established the High Altitude Training Centre for girls in 2000," she says.

The centre not only caters for the girls’ sporting needs, but is also a transit centre to education overseas through sports scholarships.

Through the centre many girls have found their way to the top, some through sports and others academically.

"Currently, we have 64 girls studying in the United States in top universities such as Harvard while pursuing their athletic careers."

Harvard University allocates two scholarships to the Kenya Scholar Athletics Programme (Kensap), an organisation she founded alongside former Kenyan athletes. They together with Kenya Flourspar Company help her run it.

"My joy over this programme came when an orphan who had gone through it graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. I was so elated and humbled."

The boy was special. He had been referred to Lornah by well-wishers and when he qualified for a scholarship, he promised to work hard and he kept his word.

Apart from the scholarships, Lornah is also sponsoring 12 girls, currently in various levels of education locally and abroad.

Lornah and Pieter have no children together although Pieter has an 18-year-old son from a previous marriage.

"We will have children when the time comes. But as for now, we have many poor girls and children we call our own," says Lornah.

Back to athletics, her first love. A knee injury, which has put her off international competition for a while now, is threatening to cut short an illustrious career but she downplays it and says she is not about to hang her boots yet. She has set her sights on the 2012 Olympics.

"I am scheduled to have some surgery although the injury is not that bad. God willing, I will bounce back very soon."