Kipchoge: giant killer on the track and quiet bookworm at home

Eliud Kipchoge, winner of this year’s London Marathon (right) with Wilson Kipsang, who took second place, pose with their trophies after the race on April 26. [PHOTO/REUTERS]

For a man who earns his living by displaying his athletic ability before thousands in packed arenas and major city streets, Eliud Kipchoge is an extremely shy man.

But so, too, are many other talented and successful professional athletes who are more celebrated abroad than at home.

Still, even the now familiar Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Eldoret International Airport welcoming parties, complete with government and Athletes Kenya functionaries, ululating friends and relatives, upcountry buses decked with twigs and the trademark sip of mursik (sour milk) for the conquering heroes, are too much for Kipchoge.

That’s nothing compared to the swooning madness that some sports stars, like India’s cricket players, have to endure from fans.

But Kipchoge wishes everyone would just let him sneak quietly back home, even after leading a Kenyan top four sweep at one of the world greatest marathons – the recent Virgin London Marathon.

Well, the 30-year-old doesn’t get his wish, but once all the fanfare is over and done with, he retreats to his home in Kapsisywo Village in Nandi County and gets on with his simple life.

He is really a man of few words who likes to go about his business quietly. He rarely comments on issues, evasive but keen to post congratulatory messages on his Facebook wall to the media and his coach after winning big races.

“I take this opportunity to thank my family, coaching team, management team, my fellow athletes, colleagues, friends, my followers in Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Google and members of press and the Almighty God, I do appreciate your support, both mutual and in prayers.

Without you, I could not have made it a historic day. Thanks once again and God bless you all. Amen,” he posted on his Facebook wall soon after winning the London Marathon on April 26.

ADMITTING ERRORS

Kipchoge beat the odds to overcome defending champion Wilson Kipsang after a neck-and-neck battle in the final two-kilometre stretch.

The marathon was an opportune moment for Kipchoge to ‘revenge’ against Kipsang, who beat him in the 2013 Berlin Marathon when he broke the world record.

Kipchoge borrowed from American poet Arthur Guiterman: “Admitting errors clears the score and proves you wiser than before.”

“When I was entered in the London Marathon together with Kipsang, I went back to the drawing board and re-examined where I went wrong in Berlin,” he told the Standard on Sunday in Eldoret on Thursday.

It takes a bit of coaxing to get this  track champion to speak about his academic aspirations, or even admit that he is an avid reader and loves quoting from John Mason, the author of The Impossible is Possible and Imitation is Limitation.

“I read at least two or three books in a month. You can’t expand your knowledge horizons without reading,” he says.

And despite having won medals in major competitions since 2001, Kipchoge had his most rousing welcome on the night of April 28, when arrived at Eldoret International Airport.

“I don’t like the big parties. Why should I be driven around the town after winning a race? It doesn’t add up for me,” he said.

Often, the last thing on the minds of young millionaire professional athletes with years of active sporting life still ahead of them is education. Kipchoge thinks differently.

The fire for knowledge still burns strongly in his belly, a decade after his high school education at Kaptel Boys’ High School in Nandi North.

Kipchoge still seeks academic excellence. He says he ventured into full-time running because his family could not afford to pay his college fees. His plan was to make enough money to go back to school and fulfill his academic dream. Unfortunately, the athletics schedule could not allow him enough time for full-time study, but the never-say-die Kipchoge registered for a human resource and de- velopment course at Alphax College in Eldoret.

Kipchoge desires to join Moi University for a degree in Sports Management, “but for now, I need to utilise my top form, run and make good money then get back to academics”.

“After high school, I wanted to join a tertiary college and pursue a course in human resource management. But there was no money at home and I just thought that if my neighbour Patrick Sang (the 1992 Olympic 3,000m steeplechase silver medallist) had made it in athletics, I could, too,” Kipchoge, who trains under Dutch track and field agent Jose Hermens, recalls.

CHANGE CHARACTER

He says he sees no reason why money should change the character of an athlete who has won a mere Sh50 million when an uneducated farmer in Uasin Gishu can spend a similar amount on his 2,000-acre wheat farm “then go ahead to pray to God for rain”.

“The athlete with Sh50 million in his bank account might keep bragging, but the uneducated farmer who can use the same amount to plant his wheat for a season is not even noticed as he walks in town,” says Kipchoge.

The giant-slaying Kipchoge stands out among Kenya’s high-achieving long-distance runners, having bagged medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

He is also one of the most conquietly sistent athletes, having racked up star quality track performances for close to a decade – just like world and Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi.

But Kipchoge’s rise to stardom offers refreshing moments in athletics– it simply inspires and warms the hearts of budding athletes.

Kipchoge ran casually in school and could not go beyond zonal competitions. Incidentally, he didn’t have to look outside his village for inspiration as he wanted to emulate neighbour, Sang, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics steeplechase silver medalist, who still guides him.

His raw talent, constant training and unbridled love culminated in his 2003 win, in the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

He has never looked back. The only athlete and the last born in the family of four started running on local roads at his Kapsisywo Village.

His passion does not stop at athletics though. He is a fan of world tennis stars and siblings Serena and Venus Williams of the United States of America.

“I follow nearly all their matches. I developed a love for tennis while I was in high school, though I never took part seriously in sports at school,” he says.

He might have started serious running later than some, but this shy champion is proof that it is never too late.