Iten, Kenya β Runner Lornah Kiplagat was not going to let a lack of money or contacts, and especially distance, stand between her and the biggest race of her life β the Kenya Cross Country Championship. By the eve of the race, held over brutal, open-air natural terrain, Kiplagat had not eaten in 24 hours.
She had easier options to make a living. Born in a remote Kenyan farming village, she had just earned a scholarship to study nursing in India. But she turned it down to chase her dream of being an athlete; a road less travelled, and especially for women from her Kalenjin community in the 90s.
Kiplagat, now 46 years old, is an athletics legend β a four-time world champion and former holder of multiple world records β and a business mogul. Like many athletes, she has her own branded line of athletic apparel: Lornah Sport, the official kit of several sports teams in Kenya. But she is also deeply enmeshed in the business of minting future champions, as the owner and co-founder of the world-famous High Altitude Training Centre HATC. Built 20 years ago, HATC has risen from a camp in a nondescript Kenyan village to a global force in athletics, with a stellar client list that includes top stars such as marathon legend Paula Radcliffe and four-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah.
The year-old, who has run in three of the five world marathon majors, first visited the camp to prepare for the London Olympics marathon. Chasing his maiden success on the global stage, Kobe, who is in Iten preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, has spent an average of six weeks at HATC over the past nine years.
Prior to the pandemic, there would be anywhere between to 1, local and international athletes in Iten training in packs. Add to that an Olympic year, and the sleepy town would be buzzing this time of year. The Kenyan government suspended all sports in the country and ordered all training camps to close for the majority of to contain the spread of COVID Iten, which is based in Elgeyo Marakwet county where the predominant economic activity is agriculture, has also suffered as sports tourism has fallen off.
