Villagers give new world marathon champion Dennis Kimetto hero's welcome

World Marathon record holder Danis Kimeto (third left) is blessed by elders after arriving at his former Kamwosor Primary in Elgey/Marakwet County. He is accompanied by, from right, former marathon holder Wilson Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai and the County's Assembly speaker Albert Kuchei (second left). [PHOTO:  Peter Ochieng/STANDARD].

ELGEYO MARAKWET COUNTY: "Looking at a king's mouth, one would think he never sucked his mother's breasts," is an analogy from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart that aptly captures newly-crowned world marathon record holder Dennis Kimetto.

Through sheer determination, he has risen from ashes to world glory. In his early days, he conquered whatever nature threw his way, devoting most of his youthful years to doing menial jobs such as setting traps in order to flush moles out of people's farms in his rural Kamwosor village in Elgeyo Marakwet County. In those days, he charged a fee for every mole he trapped.