Kenya's athletics stars who have defied age in race for glory

It's strange how fortunes can conspire, defy age and even set monumental records.

Some Kenyan athletes worked hard in their careers, nursed huge longevity dreams hoping to make a mark in global distance running. And their ambitions were realised in spectacular fashion imaginable thanks to their consistency and longevity.

This is the script that simply defines Vivian Cheruiyot and Edna Kiplagat’s impressive shows at the 53rd New York City Marathon on Sunday. Vivian finished third while Edna came 12th –all boasting almost three decades in active global competitions. But that’s no news!

From 1987 Africa Games 10,000m champion Leah Malot, who actively competed for 32 years to two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and Vivian Cheruiyot (5,000m), both stayed on the track for 18 years before graduating to marathon; the narrative is similar.

Edna, the 2017 London worlds marathon silver medalist has remained dominant since making the national team in 1996 world juniors in Australia while a Standard Seven pupil at Kapkoi Primary School in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

She is the only athlete on the planet to have competed in the all the six World Marathon Majors (WMM) series races and, of course, the World Athletics Championships and Olympic Games marathon contests.

So far, Edna has competed in all the six WMM races, twice at the World Championships and the Olympic Games –a feat no athlete on the planet has achieved save for America’s Shalane Flanagan, who did it for fun in 2021.

The Sydney Marathon was added to the WMM series on Sunday and there is no telling if Edna might compete there or not.

Edna has produced good shows in these WMM series. Sample her calling card: London Marathon winner in 2014 and second place in 2011, 2012 and 2013 as well as 10th place in 2015. New York Marathon winner in 2010, ninth in 2013, 12th in 2014 and fourth in 2017.

Boston Marathon winner in 2017, ninth in 2018 and second place in 2019 and in 2021 she became the oldest athlete to win Boston then aged 41. In 2016, she finished third in the Tokyo and Chicago marathons and a fourth place in the Berlin Marathon in 2018. She won World Championships in 2011 and 2013 but finished a distant 19th at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

She was a runner up finisher behind Russia’s Liliya Shobukhova in the 2012/2013 WMM series and another runner up spot to Rita Jeptoo, the winner of 2013/2014 WMM series.

But Vivian’s rise to global fame warms the hearts of budding athletes.

Nick-named “Kadogo” (small), Vivian is a giant in women’s long distance running. Sample her collection card: 5,000m and 10,000m world champion (2011), Olympic gold and silver in 2016, a former world cross-country junior and senior champion and former London Marathon winner.

Her giant strides to the pinnacle of world distance running started in tears in 1997. Then she was a Standard Four pupil at Chemwabul Primary School in Keiyo South. She was good enough to enter the 1997 national cross-country championships trials and showed it when she won the junior race at the Ngong Race Course.

But at 14, she was considered underage and disallowed from joining the Kenya team that was headed to Turin, Italy.

Vivian, now 41, was to finally make her debut in the national colours the following year when she finished fifth at the world cross-country championships in Marrakech, Morocco. And the rest is history.

Immediately, throw in the crazy jig-man Ezekiel Kemboi, the four-time world 3,000m steeplechase champion, who won silver in the 2003 world championships when Conseslus Kipruto, the world and Olympic champion, was nine years old.

Then meet Mark Kiptoo, the ever-green Kenya Air Force Senior Sergeant, who is still destined for a bigger slice of marathon glory.

At 47, Kiptoo claimed victory at the Zurich Marathon on April 21 in 2:12:31.

Kiptoo, who picked up athletics after serving in KDF for seven years, said discipline makes him remain consistent in the sport.

“I serve in KDF where there is a high level of discipline. While I was a civilian, I never had such a discipline. There is a need for athletes to also seek wise counsel from successful athletes who competed for many years. For my case, I always seek advice from Noah Ng’eny (former Olympic 1500m champion) and John Kibowen (former world cross country 4km champion).

“As an athlete, you learn to have long term goals in the sport. That keeps you the focus and drive to remain active for many years,” he said.

In 2013, Kiptoo triumphed in the Frankfurt Marathon in 2:06:49, the fastest ever time by a 38-year-old, taking 23 seconds off the mark set by Carlos Lopes in 1985.

Kiptoo might be the oldest active Kenyan athlete at the moment.

But Malot's athletics script offers refreshing, heart-warming and inspiring experiences to the current athletes, many of whom actively compete for a few years.

Malot picked up athletics in 1981 while a Standard Four pupil at Chepkero Primary School in Elgeyo Marakwet and she made the team to the 1987 Africa Games in Nairobi where she won gold.

At the Africa Games competition –then aged 15 –was in the squad with three-time world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop's father David Kebenei, who wound up fourth in 1,500m at the African Games.

Also in the mix were the late Some Muge (10,000m), father of 2008 world junior 5,000m silver medalist Mathew Kisorio, 2013 Paris Marathon winner Peter Kimeli and former Africa cross country junior champion Nicholas Togom.

But until 2013, Malot lined up on the same courses and tracks with Asbel, Kisorio, Kimeli and Togom as they competed for places in the national to major championships.

Malot, who is a former nominated Member of County Assembly in Uasin Gishu, said the word fear is nowhere in her dictionary.

"During our time, we sacrificed a lot in our lifestyle to train hard. Unlike nowadays, there were no cases of athletes taking alcohol, engaging in sexual behaviours and doping.

"Some athletes nowadays prefer to take the short cut by doping to make money easily. That's why most of them are not consistent," said Malot, a Moi University graduate in Business Management.  

She loves the bible verse, Isaiah 40: "They that wait upon the Lord shall find their strength renewed, they shall mount on wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they walk and not feint."

Lydia Cheromei, who made the national team to World Junior Championships in Bulgaria in 1990, retired recently having finished second at the Eldoret City Marathon in 2019.

Sally Barsosio, who won Kenya’s first 10,000m gold in 1997 at worlds while a Form Four Student at Sing'ore Girls in Elgeyo Marakwet, also retired recently.

She made her debut in the national team in 1995 at the Africa Games in South Africa. She works in KDF and attributes her long stay on the track to discipline.

But Eliud Kipchoge, the former world marathon record holder, said he sticks to a traditional diet for longevity.

"I have kept on with my usual diet. I stuck with traditional foods. That’s ugali, traditional vegetables and milk for longevity. This is what I was weaned with and I still believe it has helped me remain consistent in athletics.

"I strongly believe that courage, mental and physical strength helps in marathons," said Kipchoge.

Kemboi has been dominant since winning the Africa Junior Championships in 2001. He made eight appearances at the world championships, four at the Olympic Games and four at the Commonwealth Games.

He grew up in Mathira Village near Kapsowar and picked up athletics after completing Form Four at Kapsowar Boys High School.