Friendly Runners: Samuel Njuguna

So I was sitting in the Athletics Kenya waiting room when a young man struck up a conversation with me.  Now normally I'd be my usual, introverted self and promptly snuff out the conversation, but since I have this blog to think about, I put on a smile and chatted him up.

Turns out he is an aspiring marathon runner who only has 2 full marathons under his belt.  His first was a 2:25 effort in the 2004 Nairobi Marathon and his latest was a 3rd place finish in last year's Barbados Marathon.

He is training for this year's edition of the Barbados marathon where he is aiming to win the whole thing.  Apparently last year, he was in 2nd place with a few miles to go when he received poor directions and went the wrong way!  By the time he got back on track, he was in 3rd place and had to settle for that at the finish line.

Furthermore, he had sorted out his visas just a couple days before the race and arrived in Barbados the day before.  Let's hope things work more smoothly for him this time around.

But the title of this post was "Friendly Runners..." which has been my general impression with the runners I've met so far.  So many of them are looking for the right opportunity to prove their talent and hard work so they seem to be willing to share their stories.

Njuguna informed me that many of them train on the outskirts of Nairobi and I hope to visit them there next week.

Samson Kikwei Tuiyange- A Long Road to Victory

Although Kenya is known for producing large quantities of young running talent, there are also a few old guys and gals coming up through the ranks.  Paul Tergat (39) ain't no spring chicken and fellow marathoners Catherine Ndereba (36) and Tegla Loroupe (35) are also closing in on the 40 year mark.  Yet all are still competitive on the international marathon scene.

The recent Nairobi Marathon winner, Samson Kikwei Tuiyange (34), hopes to join their ranks.

As is typical of all Nairobi Marathon winners, Samuel came from near obscurity to win this highly competitive race in a course record 2:10:30 last Sunday.  Cosmas Musyoka (3rd, 2:13:10) was leading for most of the race until Tuiyange and eventual runner-up Gitia Baaru (2:11:01) passed him around the 30km (18M)  mark.  Tuiyange then went solo from the 40km (24.4M) point and cruised to the finish line US$20,000 richer.

Setbacks and Recovery

Back in 2004 he was showing some promise having finished 31st in the Nairobi Marathon then running a 2:15 in China.  He was training under an expereienced manager and things were looking up.

But an achilles injury in 2005 put him out of serious competition for about 3 years.  3 YEARS!  That's not what you want to happen when your hoping to start an elite distance running career and you're in your thirtys!

But (apparently) Samuel kept at it and after completing a half-marathon in Eldoret (major town in Kenya) he felt he wasa getting in shape.

The rest is history.

But now all eyes will be on him to see if he can duplicate his performance in another marathon in the next few months.  I'll let the media interest in him die down and then try and get an interview with him.  Of course he's probably busy building a new house with his well-deserved earnings, but I can always shoot him a few questions while I hammer in a few nails.  After all, I may not be able to help him build a career at this stage in his life, but I can do my small part to help build his house.

A Day at the Nairobi Marathon

6:35am: Leave the house so that I make it to the starting line before the races kick off at 7am. I was tempted to sleep in a bit since a lot of events run on “African time” which means they don’t always start precisely on schedule, but I decide to err on the side of caution.

6:55am: After a half-hearted attempt to walk (only about 2 miles), I instead opt for a bus that cuts a mile off my commute. The starting area is full of runners warming up although I can’t say I recognize anyone. My efforts to meet up with a coach I know is fruitless since the music blaring from strategically placed loudspeakers disorients me.

7:15am: The half marathon kicks off and it ain’t pretty! There’s so much pushing and jostling behind the starting line that the security guards form a human fence to hold back the surging crowd.

Unfortunately, the security guards remain there when the starting gun goes off! It was almost comical as one security guard was sprinting for his life to get ahead of the runners so that he could get off the course and out of danger!

7:25am: The full marathon gets off and running. Same chaos at the starting line as the half. But we hope that the top runners get off to a clear start although a few runners fall to the ground but luckily avoid being stampeded.

7:35am: I recognize and confront former Marathon World Champion Douglas Wakiihuri (also got silver at the Olympics and won the London and NY marathons). He's a musician as well as an accomplished runner and let me take this picture of him. I hope to get an interview with him in the next few weeks as he's still incredibly active in the Kenyan running scene.

8:17am: The first runner crosses the line in the half marathon. Peter Kurui (only 18 years old) finishes the 21 km in 1:02:23 about 11 seconds in front of Kiplagat who placed 2^nd.

8:25am: Catherine Tuwei takes the women’s race in 1:11:07. She’s more than a minute ahead of her nearest competitor.

9:18am: A new course record is set with Samson Kikwei Tuiyange collecting $20k with his 2:10:30 victory in the Nairobi Marathon. This is almost a 5 minute improvement over the old course record but it should be noted that the course has been changed from previous editions. The picture below is of the winner 100m before the finish:

10:34am: I’m still unable to find my friend so I decide to take the long walk back to my house and daydream about running a sub 2:30 in next year’s marathon (Editors note: author has never run anything close to a marathon and should dream about finishing one first before mentioning sub-anything).

11:02am: My legs surprisingly tired from the 2 mile walk, I take my morning tea (this is Kenya!) and plan on stepping up my mileage for next week.

This Year's Nairobi Marathon

It’s interesting, and a bit sad, that Kenya boasts so many elite runners yet has very few international races held within it’s borders. In fact, up until a few years ago there were basically zero races of any substance, save the national trials in track and cross country.

But in 2003, the Nairobi Marathon started resembling something like a real race. With the sponsorship of Standard Chartered Bank, this marathon attracted 7,500 participants and that has grown to over 15,000 expected for this year’s race which will take place on October 26th.

There are two things I really love about this race. First is that it brings out thousands of ordinary Kenyans to run in streets that are normally clogged with cars and buses and pushcarts. They get to experience the liberating (at least for the first few miles) feeling of running in the capital city of Kenya in the normally cool October weather.

The second is that the men and women’s marathon winner tends to be a “nobody”. I use that derogatory term purely for shock value since they obviously have the talent and dedication to take first place in this highly competitive race. But what I meant is that the winner is usually someone that has not been heard of in the elite running circles.

An example is last year’s women’s winner, Chimokil Chilapong. She won the 2007 version in an impressive time of 2:39:09 and beat out Joyce Chepchumba who was a three-time London Marathon winner. But what’s really interesting is that it was her first marathon and she was totally off the running radar. In fact she and her husband had to sell a sheep and a chicken to raise the money for a bus ride to Nairobi to compete in the race!

Although perhaps lacking as colorful a story, many of the other winner’s of the Nairobi Marathon have also come from the shadows to snatch a 1st place finish.

So if you’re running talent also hasn’t been spotted you might want to take a crack at this year’s race. You have a couple of weeks to get over, get acclimatized (we’re at altitude!) and give it a shot.

I’ll be on the course cheering you on!