Today we awoke with a brutal 20 kilometer run awaiting us. Our friend, Kibunja, led us along the escarpment of the Rift Valley which provided an amazing view of the sunrise over the mountains and allowed us to take our minds off our frantic heartbeat. While racing along the rift, we were swarmed by as many professional and amateur athletes as young children in school uniforms sprinting to get to class. Together, the athletes and children give Iten a magical feel, even though it seemed to wear off after 90 minutes of attempting to keep pace with Kibunja.
After the run and filling ourselves with some Kenyan pancakes, we headed to St. Patricks, the former school of Olympian David Rudisha. We were in search of his coach, Brother Colm, in hopes for some insight from one of the best coaches in the sport of running. A soft spoken coach, Brother Colm has perfectly complimented the simple and honest lifestyle the Kenyan runners live. Unfortunately, he was not there but we were told to return later in the week.
After our trip to St. Patricks we made our way to the Kamariny dirt track where there was a local competition. Although there were no big names entered, all of the distance races were well contested. The crowd was just as entertaining as the races as many families spent the day cheering on the competitors.
When we are not running or trying to locate world class athletes and coaches, we have been teaching some of the Kenyan workers here at the camp how to swim. Let's just say the Kenyans should probably stick to running!
After just a few days training with the Kenyans and watching them race, we are slowly learning what it means to abide by the Kenyan motto, "train hard win easy." With a few days remaining here in Iten, we look forward to more suffering before we leave this magical place.
Mike & Alex