After completing a 30.5-kilometer run on the dirt roads of Kaptagat in Kenya’s Rift Valley, Bernard Lagat called his sister, Mary, beaming with excitement.
“Eliud Kipchoge ran with us today and I could see him from a distance,” Lagat told his sister. “And he finished only 16 seconds ahead of me! Eliud Kipchoge, of all people!”
Though he was born in there, Lagat has only traveled back to Kenya a handful of times over last 20 years. But in early January, Lagat left his wife and two kids at home in Tucson, Ariz., for a six-week training block in Kaptagat, immersing himself with some of the world’s best marathoners, including marathon world record holder Kipchoge, and renowned coach Patrick San.