world-record holders Steve Jones and Arturo Barrios. I tell him taking part in two Discovery races will be a good way to learn what grassroots running in Kenya is like.

“Are the races tough?” I ask.

Tanui smiles, a kind of Cheshire cat I-know-something-you-don’t-know smile. “You will find out. I think you are in for a big surprise,” says Tanui, who has a personal best of 2:06:16 in the marathon, third fastest ever. A few months later, Tanui would place third at the 2000 Boston Marathon, in that race’s closest finish ever. Elijah Lagat, who won the 2000 Boston ina thrilling homestretch sprint, as well as 1999 winner Joseph Chebet are, along with Tanui, part of a unique training camp system set up in the Rift Valley by Fila, the Italian sports manufacturer.

After arriving in Nairobi, I was eager to get to western Kenya as soon as possible to see the depth of Kenyan running firsthand. “Hmmm. You are an interesting tourist,” says Simon Mukuna, head of Sights of Africa Safari Tours in Nairobi, when I tell him I don’t have time to go to the Masai Mara game preserve because I am in a hurry to get to Eldoret. “Most mzungos come to Kenya to see the ‘big five’ animals. But you come to see the big-name runners.”

And why not? Many of the biggest names in long-distance running are in Eldoret. It starts with Keino, now head of Kenya’s Olympic committee. Keino also runs an orphanage and an IOCsponsored training camp for young runners from around sub-Saharan Africa.

Many are called, but feware chosenin the Fila-sponsored crosscountry competitions that decide who will advance to be trained in elite camps.

Tanui leads 30-plus runners at his Fila training camp at Kaptagat, 10K from Eldoret, while an hour’s drive north up some 4-wheel-drive roads is Kapsait, where Chebet trains at 10,000 feet at a camp headed by two-time Honolulu winner Eric Kimaiyo. And 20K south of Eldoret in the Nandi Hills is another Fila camp headed by Lagat, who sports a 2:07:41 marathon best.

“Yes, there is arivalry among the camps,” says Tanui, “but when we are all running Boston we will be hoping everyone runs their best.”

Each camp has its own personality and its own leaders, but what they have in common is a superabundance of talented athletes with the dedication, discipline, and drive to make it to the top of the running world. In addition to Chebet, Tanui, Lagat, and Kimaiyo, runners training in these camps include 2:06 marathoners Fred Kiprop and Josephat Kiprono, 2:07 marathoners Simon Biwott and Japhet Kosgei, Los Angeles Marathon winner Simon Bor, and two-time Rock’n’Roll Marathon winner Philip Taurus. In fact, five of Track & Field News’ top 10 marathoners of 1999 are here. And rushing up quickly behind them are scores of lean and hungry sub-2:11 marathoners.

“People in America often ask what is the Kenyan secret of running,” Bor says. “Please tell them there is no secret. Some people say Kenyans are good because we are more talented. No, no; it is because Kenyans put their interest mostly into running and not into other sports. It is a very hard job, and it is all about training.”

It is also about identifying talented youngsters and giving them the opportunity to train so that they can develop into champions. That is how many of the Kenyan runners dominating races around the world got their start, and what Fila is doing with its two Discovery races.

The first, the Rift Valley cross-country race, features roughly 1,800 children and young adults in six races. The second is the Eldoret Discovery half-marathon road race a week later. Those showing promise in these races are selected and sent to one of the training camps, with their lodging, food, travel, equipment and—in some cases—school fees all paid for. The idea is that after a couple of years training with the best in the world, these new runners will join the ranks of the international elite.

Both Discovery races are underwritten by Fila and organized by Tanui, with help from a Who’s Who of track and field, including Olympic gold medalists Peter Rono and Paul Ereng, five-time World Cross-Country champ Paul Tergat, former 10,000-meter world-record holder Yobes Ondieki, Chebet, Lagat, Kiprop, and a host of others. This is how basketball fans must feel when attending an NBA all-star game: At every turn is a World Championship or Olympic medalist or another elite runner.

Before the cross-country race begins this Sunday morning, Tanui stands like a general among hundreds of little Kenyan kids. He barks acommand, and

the children line up obediently. Kenyan schools are very strict, and that discipline is apparent here. There is no slouching, no baseball caps worn backward, no talking back. Tanui lines them up, and the runners set off. Beginning with 500 meters for the under-10s, each race unfolds the same way: Every runner in the field sprints as fast as he or she can for as long as he or she can. The winner is the one who slows down the least, which often is not much. Caroline Talam, 11, takes the under-12 girls 1K ina very fast 3:19. Peninah Jelanga, 13, runs 3K in a remarkable 10:06.9, leading 15 other young girls under 11 minutes.

Here, at 7,000 feet on the old polo grounds of the Eldoret Sports Club, it is easy to see why Kenyans dominate road and track racing. The depth of talent in the Discovery race is staggering. Just to finish in the top 10 in any of these races is an achievement. The talent of the Kenyan runners is seen in the junior girls race. Alice Timbilil, 16, wins by one second, clocking 21:22.6 for 6K, followed closely by Sharon Jerop (21:23.4), and Vivian Cheruiyot (21:25.2). Seven weeks later, Cheruiyot will win the IAAF World Cross-Country junior 6K race, leading Kenya to the team title. Second at World Cross will be Timbilil, who last year ran an amazing 32:02.2 for 10K on the track, at altitude and barefoot. Timbilil also ran in the finals of the Sydney Olympic 10K, placing 14th—this time wearing shoes.

You could take any 7 of the top 30 girls in the junior race, enroll them in college, and have a team that would win the NCAA cross-country title. For nontrack fans, we can frame the Discovery race like this: It would be like going to a children’s basketball camp in a Los Angeles neighborhood and finding hundreds of kids good enough to start for major college teams, along with a dozen players as good as Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, or Michael Jordan. The depth of Kenyan tal- One Kenyan advantage is that they make use of entat this racereallyisthat every resource they have, including the topostaggering. graphical diversity of Kenya itself.

Timbilil lives in a mud hut near Moiben, not far from where Bor grew up. It is a land that reminds one of the American Southwest: rolling hills and hardscrabble mountains, dry fields, cactus, and tough people. When Bor talks about his childhood in Moiben, the pattern that underlies the early life of many of the Kenyan greats appears. Bor’s primary school was about 5K away from his home. There are no buses to bring children to school in the Rift Valley, no parents in SUVs picking them up. Children have only their own feet to walk and run over rutted, rocky roads and fields.

“You walked to school?” I ask Bor.

“No, no. I did not walk. I ran.”

“Why? Did you like running so much even then?”

Bor shakes his head and smiles. “No. Not that. I ran so I would not be late to school. Because if you were late, you got pinched or beaten with a stick.”

“Did that ever happen to you?”

“Yes, very many times,” Bor says. “Sometimes I would come home for lunch and find that the food was not ready. So I had to wait before returning.”

Bor ran to school in the morning, back home for lunch, back to school after lunch, then walked home in the afternoon. That means each day during his childhood, he was covering at least 20 hilly kilometers, at nearly 8,000 feet elevation. “You see, I was training for the marathon even though I did not know it at the time,” Bor says. “That is how it is for all of us.”

And that is how the Kenyans build up a strong aerobic base over the years, a fitness base that is the foundation of future success. All the childhood running and walking strengthens their joints, tendons, and ligaments, allowing them to put in the high mileage necessary to run world-class marathons without getting injured.

As I await my turn to race, Kip Keino comes by. “Do you have any advice?” Task him.

“There is nothing I can say to help you if you are not already well prepared,” Keino says. “All I can tell you is ‘Good luck.’”

Ismael Kirui, a top international runner whom I met in Boulder a few years ago, sits in the shade of a cedar tree. “You are going to run? Man,” he says, shaking his head, “it is going to be very painful. This is not like the joggers’ [citizens’] race in the Bolder Boulder. It is going to be terrible for you.”

And it is. It is noon, and the equatorial sun beats down on us like a heat lamp turned up full-blast by the time we line up. After a false start, the gun is fired, and the runners sprint off as if we are running 800 meters, not 12 kilometers. Immediately, arunner falls in front of me. [jump over him. Another runner goes down on my right, and another is pushed into the Fila banners on my left that line the race course. I try to hold back but still run the first kilometer in 3:10, and the mile in 4:55. It feels very strange to be running that fast in a race with 500 people and being nearly dead last.

Michael Sandrock RUNNING WITH THE KENYANS 85

The pace slows the second lap, and I begin catching a few runners. However, each time I come up behind someone, the crowd yells and the runner drops out, embarrassed to be passed by amzungo. Ipass several runners slumped over in the grass. There is no glory of finishing in this race. It is all about racing fast and being discovered. Clouds of red dust arise from the stampede of runners in front of me, and by the end of the third lap, I am hot, dizzy, and exhausted. I pull out and find some shade to sit under. An official approaches and pulls off my number. The leaders run by, but I don’t look up. I bend over, catching my breath, just one of the hundreds of runners who will not be discovered this day.

Our intrepid mzungo in Kenya tries his heart—and legs— in the local competition, where to run last is to be ejected.

That night I walk into the bar at the Hotel Sirikwa in downtown Eldoret. Keino, the man who started it all with his Commonwealth and Olympic gold medals and stirring victory over Jim Ryun in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic 1,500 meters, is there watching a soccer game on TV. “Can I buy you a beer?” he asks.

We talk about running and life in Kenya. “When I was racing, our hill workout was very important in the early stages of training, before we started doing track workouts,” Keino says, keeping one eye glued to a Kenya-Uganda soccer match on the television. “Near Thompson Falls we have a one-kilometer hill we call Agony Hill and another two-kilometer hill in Kiganjo. It is gradual; you build up as you run up the hill. The last 100 meters you go very fast and are hurting. My record was 18 times up the hill. Then Ben Jipcho broke the record when he did it 20 times.”

Asin Keino’s time, hill training remains key for today’s Kenyans. Tanui has his own special workout called the Fluorspar Hill, a 21-kilometer climb with

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23 turns that goes from the bottom of the Rift Valley to the top of its escarpment at 8,850 feet above sea level. “I discovered this hill in 1990,” Tanui tells me. “Of course it is hard. It is building all the muscles at the same time. It opens up your chest. When I am training for Boston or Chicago I run Fluorspar once a week.”

A few days later, I am running up Fluorspar, having started ahead of Tanui and the Kaptagat training group. I run steadily, feeling good as I climb up out of the Rift Valley. The road winds back and forth, and with each curve the valley appears farther in the distance below.

I pass some sheep, then an old woman. All at once she breaks into a jog and begins running easily alongside me, chattering away in Swahili. I pick up the pace, but she stays with me. I surge again; the woman’s chattering stops and her breathing becomes labored. “This is ridiculous,” I think. “I’m trying to drop a barefoot old woman who is carrying a bag of fruit.”

Asif by reflex, I look around to see if anyone is watching. Not seeing anyone on the steep slopes, I slow down into a slower rhythm and start enjoying the run with the woman. Green hills with streams tumbling down rise in front of us. Once in a while a mining truck rumbles by, scattering the sheep and cows heading up the road. Suddenly, the old woman waves good-bye and jumps down a slope. I follow her along a grassy trail, feeling free as we leap across a stream. She laughs, and I laugh with her, and I leave her with her family at a cluster of small houses.

There is a pleasing rhythm to life in the Rift Valley; people here in rural Kenya have not yet been separated from Mother Earth. They are still in close contact with the ebbs and flows of the day, the rising and setting of the sun, moving up and down the hills, walking and running, carrying water, milking cows, planting seeds, harvesting beans and maize. This is, I think, watching children carrying buckets of water home, how our earliest ancestors must have lived. Good, honest work caring for crops during the day, going to sleep when it is dark, arising with the sun’s first light. Running light-footed across fields and hills, not to lose weight or relieve stress, but to get from one village to another.

The record for the Fluorspar run is one hour and 21 minutes. Tanui’s best time is 1:24; today he finishes in 1:31, about a minute behind Chris Cheboiboch. No matter. For Tanui, it is winning marathons that counts, not winning training runs. “One of the hardest things in training is not to rush, not to compete all the time,” Tanui says. “You have to wait. My training is not to push all the time. It is to have energy for everything. You see, there is a time to run very hard and a time to rest. Training goes together with rest.”

After the run, we drive to Tanui’s camp, where a huge pot of chai, the sweet Kenyan tea, awaits us. I tell Tanui that being a camp director and race director

is not the best way to prepare for the Boston Marathon. “Don’t worry. I will be ready for Boston. The camp is not a big problem,” Tanui says, shrugging and sipping his tea. “I have lots of energy. What we are doing here is good training. The way to attack a marathon is not simple. It is very, very difficult. I want to see our future continue when I go out of running. That is my dream.”

Tanui has been working for nearly a decade with Dr. Gabriele Rosa, the Italian doctor and coach who established and oversees the training camps. “I think he is the best coach,” Tanui says. “One thing that makes Gabriele good is that he follows the athlete during training, one, two, or three hours. Every time he is there to see how you are running. He knows what he is doing, and he is learning from the athlete.”

Kaptagat, Tanui’s camp, is several flat acres laid out in a rectangle and surrounded by a fence and a border of trees. Kapsait, where Chebet trains, is much different. Traveling there is like going to a Tibetan monastery, for it imparts a feeling of sitting high in the sky, far removed from the quotidian affairs of men and women. Every step is either up or down.

And that is the idea, Rosa says. “It is good for our training because we have dirt roads, mountains, birds, and clean air. This is my dream. To go for endurance here, then later to a flat area for speed. This might be the best place in the world to build endurance. I am 100 percent sure. Our rule when we train is to start slowly, but then we need a fast pace during the run, with the last kilometer very fast. It is a progression during the run. That is my idea.”

Farming is the Kenyan occupation that feeds the stomachs of its people, while running is the occupation that grows their pride.

Michael Sandrock RUNNING WITH THE KENYANS i 89

The trip ends with the Discovery Half-Marathon in downtown Eldoret. “T was discovered here,” says Lagat, who won the race in 1997. “In 1993, I was very fat. I started running for my health. I was sick, with serious stomach pains and had difficulty breathing. The doctor advised me to start jogging. Not for competition, just for fitness.”

“We were all discovered together,” adds Bor. “We received equipment and good coaches; this is a way that allows people to train. It is a very good program and has discovered many other athletes.”

Unlike a road race in the United States, there is no joking around at the start. There are roughly 400 runners, all fit, all serious, all ready to race. I stand in the shade of a large tree to escape the sun. After my cross-country experience, I am wondering how far behind the pack I will be.

Very far, as it turns out. When the gun goes off, it is as if we are running an all-out mile, not a half-marathon. I pass the first, slightly downhill mile along Uganda Avenue in 5:08. That time would put me near the front of many U.S. road races. Here, I am dead last, running along behind a barefoot guy wearing ragged pants. I look at him and think, “No, he is not going to be discovered.” By three kilometers, passed in 10:31, I have moved past about a dozen runners.

The Eldoret Half-Marathon is not, I think as I struggle with the heat, altitude, and fast pace, a typical road race. It is seven laps of a 3K loop. Deep crowds around the course offer encouragement with shouts of “Go mzungo! Good job!”

My goal was simply to see how far I could get before getting lapped and pulled out of the race. It is humbling to pass 5K in 17:50 and be bringing up the rear. On the third lap I see that two runners have broken away from the pack and are rapidly catching me. I pump my arms and accelerate into the fourth lap. The crowd cheers as I make a sharp left off Uganda Avenue and run through the commercial district of town, near Kip Keino’s sport shop. Soon the leaders come by and for a brief instant I sprint and match pace with them. I am running with the Kenyans. Then, just as quickly, they are gone up a short, steep hill and I stop as an official pulls off my race number.

After the race, Chebet, Lagat, and the other elites relax in the Hotel Sirikwa, talking with Rosa. The runners have plates piled high with fruit, rice, potatoes, beef stew, and ugali, the mashed maize that is the staple of the Kenyan diet. After all the runners have met with Rosa, they get up to leave, ready to go back to their farms or the training camps. Bor drains his tea, then stands as we shake hands. “I have to return to my family now,” he says, walking away. “Good-bye; I hope to see you in the United States.”

Then he stops and turns. “You were the only mzungo in the race today. That showed courage. If people ask you about Kenya, tell them that with courage and good training you can do great things. . .. Maybe that is the secret.” ‘

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Weightlifting For Marathoners

Part Il of Il: Weightlifting Routines Designed to Raise the Marathoner Above Any Training Plateau.

\ N ] ELCOME TO Part II of our Weightlifting for Runners program. In Part I in the January/February issue, we talked about the basics of weight training, what it will do for your body, and how it will help your running. Now, in Part II, we’re going to get down to the nuts and bolts. We’ Il talk about the details of our workout—the specific exercises and how to do them correctly and safely. But first, let’s spend a moment reviewing the general concepts we covered in Part I (and feel free to sing along if you remember the words!). In Part I, we explained how running is a total-body movement and because of that, can contribute to strength imbalances, which can lead to pain, strain, and injuries. Strength training helps correct this, with an addition to your weekly workout time of as little as two 30-minute sessions, done on non-consecutive days. We also talked about the need for a quick warm-up before the workout and stretching. Your strength training workouts should be comprised of sets that work all the major muscle groups of the body in an alternating sequence. This way, you can exercise nearly nonstop but without working the same muscle groups two sets in arow. We also talked about proper lifting form, which should involve slow, controlled movements and continuous breathing. Keep all of these concepts in mind as you read the following pages, and refer back to Part I when you feel you’re losing sight of the forest for all the trees. Okay, let’s get right to it!

If you’ ve finished reading Part I of our program, congratulations. You’ ve come a long way. Believe it or not, you now know more about weightlifting theory

than most people in a busy gym on a Monday night. You certainly know enough to design your own workout. But don’t get nervous; I’m not abandoning you.

This section will introduce you to the specific exercises Irecommend. It will also explain how to choose which ones to do, and in what order.

The exercises listed here are arranged according to the major muscle groups that they work. Each of these groupings is numbered, and within each group are machine, bodyweight, and free-weight exercises. Begin your workout by choosing one exercise from each of these groups and perform them in order. This will comprise your first circuit.

After you complete one circuit of these exercises, repeat them, increasing the resistance (or the number of repetitions, for bodyweight exercises), as we discussed earlier. For your third circuit of sets, choose a different exercise from each group, and perform these exercises at a high resistance level, as we also discussed. Finally, perform one last circuit of these exercises at a lower-resistance level, as indicated earlier. Good work—you’ ve completed your workout!

As you go through the exercises on the following list, note that while our workout calls for you to do only two different exercises for every major muscle group, I’ve listed more than two exercises for each group. This enables you to choose different combinations of exercises each time you work out. This also prevents boredom and encourages more complete strength gains since each different exercise works the muscles in a slightly different way.

GROUP 1: CHEST

Dumbbell Press. Lay flat on the bench and hold the dumbbells at shoulder level, a little wider than your body. As you push the dumbbells up above you, bring them together slowly, until they lightly touch at the top of the movement.

Incline Dumbbell Press. This exercise targets the muscle fibers of the upper chest. You can perform this exercise if you have an adjustable bench or an incline bench. Set the bench at about a 30-degree incline and perform the dumbbell presses as described above.

Chest Press. The seat on the machine is at the proper height for you if you are driving the handles straight away from your shoulders. Bring the handles toward you