News07 May 2010


Kirop and Ivuti, traveling two different roads to the Marathon

FacebookTwitterEmail

Helena Kirop in Prague (© Pat Butcher)

The two Kenyan favourites for the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday could not have had more different approaches to their debuts at the distance. Patrick Ivuti was a reluctant marathoner, who just happened to run one of the fastest debuts in history; while for Helena Kirop, the marathon was a survival strategy - literally.

"My husband and I had two small children, no work, and no money," recalled the 25-year-old Kirop in Prague of Friday (7). "So we sat down and discussed what we would do. We saw that marathon runners could earn good money, so I decided to start running. But where we lived, in Kapenguria was not at really high altitude, so we moved to Eldoret, so that I could be among good runners, and I started training."

That was in 2004. Two years later, her promise secured her a race in Casablanca, where she won in 2:34:43.
 
Six months later, she went under 2:30, with 2:28:51. Four years on, she is embarking on her tenth marathon, and her best is down to 2:24:54, from Dubai in January.

Her husband Peter Lomuria also began running, and got down to 2:13:47, for second place in Treviso (Italy) 2008, but it was Peter who took responsibility for overseeing the house they built from their winnings, and moved into last summer, but also to administer the website for their extraordinary display of social responsibility, the Helena Kirop Foundation.

Both had poverty-stricken upbringings, Helena in West Pokot, home also to Tegla Loroupe ("we are neighbours," says Kirop), and Peter from arid Turkana in the north. The aim of the foundation, according to their website, www.helenakiropfoundation.org is to, 'identify the girl child at least from every poor family within Pokot and Turkana communities and bring them education'.

Kirop herself says, "When you are successful in Kenya many people come to you, saying, 'assist me, assist me'. If you are tough, no one comes, but I had to leave school early, my family is poor. I had a moral (obligation) to assist."

They have begun by sponsoring three girls from the Pokot tribe, and intend to expand the project.

Inspiration from schooling is something that Ivuti recognises, although his came in a different form. "I'm from Machakos, in Eastern Kenya. Cosmas Ndeti is from there, but not many other athletes, I was the only one in my school. But my headmaster, who was also my coach told me I could be good."

"He took me to one of the training camps in Eldoret in the school vacation. I was there for three weeks, and saw how the big athletes trained, it was a motivation, and exposure which helped me become a good athlete. Later that year, I was in the junior world cross country team, in South Africa. I was the only one from my area who went outside the country, everybody was very proud."

Twice second in the world cross senior, and fourth in the Olympic 10,000mm in Sydney 2000, Ivuti thought he wasn't quite ready for the marathon in 2003, when his coach/manager Gabriele Rosa persuaded him to go to Chicago. He ran 2:07:43.

It's time he says he still intends to improve on, and last year's win here in Prague was just five seconds shy. But a recurrent hamstring injury has blighted his training over the last year. "I've done the whole (training) programme but not at the intensity I would like. And there's a very good group here this year, better than last year. I'll try to stay with the group, and get a good time."

Kirop, in contrast was confident enough to let her opponents know, "I'm ready for 2.25".

Pat Butcher (organizers) for the IAAF
Pages related to this article
Disciplines
Loading...