Another Zatopek in the making? Eliud Kiptanui in Prague (© Pat Butcher)
In a little over two hours on Sunday morning, Eliud Kiptanui erupted into the athletics public consciousness with all the impact of an Icelandic volcano.
He didn't stop the planes flying, but this hitherto unknown distance runner, with a 2:12:17 debut in a little noticed marathon in Kenya five months ago, did stop the clock at 2:05:39, to win the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, by over a minute and a half.
On a renowned difficult course around the Czech capital, with several kilometres of cobblestones - as someone said, a proper marathon course, not a world record track - Kiptanui beat last year's course record of 2:07:48 (already a minute faster than the previous record of a decade ago), by over two minutes. In an era of burgeoning marathon times, that made him the sixth fastest of the year, and the 17th man on the all-time list. And he will not be 21* until June 6.
Kiptanui was due to go to the Vienna Marathon three weeks ago, but the volcanic ash over Europe kept his plane grounded in Nairobi. His manager, Volker Wagner looked around for another race, but with budgets spent, his best offer came from Prague, and that was "prize money only, no hotel, no food, no nothing," said Wagner, who lives a six hour drive away, in Germany, and duly brought Kiptanui here by road just the day before.
The youngster rewarded himself and his manager with a 75,000 euro pay-day, and will now be dealing with the likes of New York, Chicago and Berlin for future freelance employment.
"First, he had to extend his training by three weeks, and this course is not easy," opined Wagner. "In Vienna or anywhere with a better surface, he would have run a minute faster".
Before you dismiss this as manager-speak, consider the following; when compatriot Denis Ndiso shot off through a 1:02:33 first half on Sunday, though Kiptanui was leading the chasing pack most of the time, he kept his head, and led his seven rivals (at that point) through a more temperate 1:03:16 'half'.
But when Kiptanui put the boot in, first at 30k, then at 35k, and disposed of the rest, including World championships fourth placer Yemane Tsegay of Ethiopia - Ndiso had long been caught - the youngster ran his second half in the same time as Ndiso's first – 1:02:33! A negative split of some three quarters of a minute.
And so to young Mr. Kiptanui. Like many of his country boy colleagues - he comes from Kaptagat (c3000m altitude), near Eldoret - he is soft-spoken to the point of silence. But though his performances, or certainly this latter one speak volumes, he did offer that he is fourth in a family of six, and that he already decided to run long distance at school, "because the middle-distance was too competitive".
To those of us in the First World, with state schooling and other social benefits, it comes as something of a surprise to discover that Kenyan families, no matter how poor, have to pay for their children's schooling. Many, like Kiptanui do not finish their education. Beginning serious running at school four years ago, when he was 16, he says, "I couldn't continue with my studies, my family was too poor". Hence his response when asked what he would do with his prize money. "My brothers and sisters are still in school, I have to assist them."
Training outside of any recognised group, it was a 15k race in nearby Eldoret two years ago that persuaded Kiptanui that he could make the grade. "I was ninth in 47 minutes (at 2000m altitude), but everyone in front of me was a top runner," he says.
He did get a trip to Norway last summer, to make the pace in a track 3000m ( he ran 8:04, his only recorded performance in the IAAF bios, until Sunday), but it was the marathon in torrid conditions in Kisumu last December that brought him to Wagner's attention.
"Last time I was in Kenya, Isaac Boit introduced me to this guy. When I heard the conditions of the race in Kisumu, I knew he could do under 2:10, maybe 2:08."
Now Wagner was talking to his charge about one of the top races. "Chicago would be my preference for him, he could break the course record there. But you won't have to spend so much time leading, being a pacemaker for others," he told Kiptanui.
"I like leading," replied Kiptanui, "but I also drop back, so I can look at the others." The television replays of the race later confirmed that smart strategy.
He didn't know the guy on the black and white poster in the athletes' hotel, but was intrigued to hear that local hero Emil Zatopek is the only athlete in history to be honoured with a statue in the park of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
Certainly, Zatopek's like will never be seen again. But a few more performances similar to the one in Prague last Sunday, and Eliud Kiptanui's likeness will be all over the show.
Pat Butcher for the IAAF
* updated 23:00 CET. Kiptanui was incorrectly reported as being 19 years of age. He will be 21 on 6 June, not 20. We regret the error.
