The death of world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana in a tragic road crash not only robbed the world of athletics one of its brightest rising stars, but also took away a mentor and financier of many youngsters dreaming of also making it big sports.
The departed superstar, whose career was on a spectacular upward trajectory, had a lot of dependants besides his family members.
He took up the responsibility of supporting their fledgling careers.
They would train with Kiptum in Chepkorio, a high-altitude area in Elgeyo Marakwet county, just four kilometers from the more famous Kaptagat.
Kiptum’s training group was made up of nine athletes. Kiptum directly supported seven of them. He paid their rents, bought them food and provided them with training gear.
Behind the shops on the main street of Chepkorio Shopping Centre is a rental apartment where Kiptum, his coach, and several of his teammates lived.
When Nation Sport crew toured the apartments around midday on Wednesday, they found several athletes sitting on the verandah.
On a normal day, they would be having a massage or physical esessions according to their routine.
However, on the day, they were mourning their two pillars and had not trained since the news of their deaths broke.
“I was surprised that Kiptum did not call me on Monday morning, which was unlike him. I went to our usual meeting point but there was nobody there. Since I had left my phone in the house, I could not call anyone so I decided to go for a run alone. On getting back to the house I saw a lot of missed calls. Going online I saw the news. I was heartbroken,” narrated Donkat Komon, who was overcome by emotions.
Komon said they were now staring at an uncertain future following the sudden demise of Kiptum.
The 28-year-old Komon from Cheptais in Mt Elgon, Bungoma County, was among the first athletes to start training with Kiptum.
The two met in 2019 when Komon visited a friend in Chepkorio, and Kiptum convinced him to stay behind so that they could train together.
The offer was too good to reject as Kiptum offered him accomodation and food and provided him with training gear.
At that time, Kiptum was also an upcoming road racer and had just made his debut on the international circuit with a fifth place finish at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March 2019, clocking a personal best time of 59 minutes and 54 seconds.
However, the onset of Coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 would separate the two for close to two years.
“Coronavirus nearly destroyed my career because I had decided to go back home to Cheptais, where I hardly trained. But in early 2022, Kiptum called me and asked me to come back to Chepkorio so that we could continue training together, urging me not to give up. I agreed,” said Komon.
Henry Kipyego was Kiptum’s village mate. They both hailed from Chepsamo village, about three kilometres from Chepkorio.
Kipyego joined Kiptum in 2019, immediately after sitting his Form Four exams.
He made his full marathon debut in July last year at the Nairobi Expressway Marathon, where he clocked 2 hours and 21 minutes.
“Kiptum registered me for that race, he paid for my transport and accommodation in Nairobi,” reveals Kipyego.
The 23-year-old, who has a personal best time of 64 minutes in half marathon, said Kiptum convinced him to train for the full marathon.
“Coach (Hakizimana) and Kiptum had promised to secure me an international race this year, now I do not know what to do,” said Kipyego.
Novestus Kibet, who was set to pace Kiptum at the Rotterdam Marathon in April, joined the training group in December. He said the brotherhood in the camp gave him peace of mind while training.
“I have been here for about two months now, and I must say I have enjoyed it a lot. Kiptum and the coach looked out for all of us. We never lacked anything. Now that they have gone I do not even know what we will do.”
The athletes said Kiptum’s discipline in training was unmatched, and he never allowed anyone to miss training.
He also provided transport for his group whenever the day’s session demanded they travel a long distance.
“Sometimes we normally go for speed work in Eldoret and long runs in Moiben which are far.”
“I remember him saying that for us to succeed in this career we must hold each other’s hand. He told us that his dream was to make the world know that there was a place for training called Chekorio,” said Komon.
