📍Kapsisiywa, Nandi County, Kenya
1984 – 2001“Eliud Kipchoge grew up in the village of Kapsisiywa, in Nandi County in Kenya's highlands, the youngest of four children. His father died when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother, Janet, a teacher, who taught him discipline, honesty and hard work. The family farmed, and there was little money; Eliud helped by carrying milk from the farm to sell, cycling around fifteen kilometres to the market in Kapsabet. Like many children in Nandi, an area famous for distance runners, he ran to and from school, about three kilometres each way, often barefoot. At the time it was simply how you got there, but it built the endurance that would later carry him. After Kapsisiywa Primary School he went to Kaptel Secondary School, finishing in 1999. In the village he often saw a neighbour, the former Olympic steeplechase medallist Patrick Sang, training and coaching young runners. At sixteen Eliud asked Sang for a training programme, and Sang wrote one out for him. It was the start of a partnership that has lasted his entire career. In 2003, at eighteen, he won the world 5,000 metres title, beating the greatest runners of the day. He later moved to the marathon, winning two Olympic gold medals and, in 2019 in Vienna, becoming the first person to run a marathon in under two hours. His philosophy, that no human is limited, and his humble life at the training camp in Kaptagat, where he still does chores with the other runners, reflect the values of Kapsisiywa.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📷 Location image · via Wikimedia Commons