Mutiso: From a humble life in Makueni to eyeing gold in Paris

When Alexander Mutiso Munyao stormed to his maiden World Marathon Major victory in London last month, he proved his mettle that he was ripe to fly the country’s flag at the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon.

To many athletics enthusiasts, Mutiso’s name has not been featured among the strong points during discussions and debates on who would make the top three in the marathon squad to Paris.

And on Wednesday when Athletics Kenya (AK) and National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) unveiled Kenya’s final marathon team to Paris, his name featured prominently.

In a side chat with Standard Sports, 27-year-old Mutiso promised to do his best in the Paris Olympics assignment.

But who is Mutiso? From a humble background in Ndithini village in Makueni County in the Eastern region of Kenya, Mutiso has been making his lofty ambitions known, one race at a time.

When he was growing up in Ndithini located in the Kakuswi area in Makueni, Mutiso says, athletics was not a popular sport in the locality.

He says he watched decorated marathoner Patrick Makau cruise to victories in road races including winning Berlin Marathon three times, and he got inspired to run.

“Athletics was not a favourite sport in Kakuswi and the larger Kiteta location where I was born but after watching Patrick Makau running and winning races, I got encouraged and started taking part in school competitions. After taking up athletics and following in Makau’s footsteps, I discovered it was possible for someone from my region to make it in athletics,” says an unassuming Mutiso.

The Ngong-based athlete went on to say: “It was when I was a student at Kiteta Boys when my coach Peter Muteti spotted my athletics talent.”

Coach Muteti was a teacher at the nearby Luani Secondary School but was impressed by Mutiso’s athletics talent during cross country competitions at Makueni County school games.

Muteti recalls how Muteti immediately enrolled him at Ndumbi athletics camp where he attended training during school holidays, and he continued impressing the tactician.

Mutiso is still being trained by the same coach at Ngong.

“In 2013, when I finished my high school education, I joined a residential camp under Muteti’s close watch and that is the year I was called to Team Kenya for the first time. I represented the country at the 2013 World Youth Championships,” the London Marathon champion says.

At the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, he won bronze in 3,000m, a medal he says propelled him to the big stage.

So far, he says, athletics has meant a lot to him – elevating him from humble beginnings to a dependable family man.

“The Paris Olympics is the biggest assignment and that is where my focus is right now.

“Discipline is my key pillar. I have realised progress over time because of my discipline. I strictly follow what my coach says because I know how indiscipline hampers a career. In most cases, my coach gives a training programme and we follow it whether he is present or not,” Mutiso said in the interview.

He thanks his wife Irene Alex and his two young children for giving ample time to train.

“I am always out of our home, training in camp and Irene and the children have really been supportive. I owe it to them,” he says.

At the Paris Olympics, he will be competing alongside compatriots, two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and the 2024 Tokyo Marathon champion Benson Kipruto.

“I am motivated after my first World Major marathon in London. Eliud and other athletes in the team will give us confidence.

“If lowering my personal best will not happen in Paris, there will still be another time. The best thing would be teamwork and winning medals,” he added.