Globe Runner blog

There is a saying in the Catholic church that a late vocation (the call to the priesthood) is the best; meaning that the novice is usually older, more mature, and has had the time to make the decision for himself, rather than be pushed into it by family expectations, or whatever.

It is probably the same with any pursuit; my colleague Bob Ramsak aired a profile of Haroun Keitany last weekend, which suggested that the Kenyan, a former field-hockey player, and a recent arrival into the middle distance world rankings is an example of this phenomenon.

Bob’s story about Keitany (who only began running in 2005) was picked up and highlighted by the dudes at www.letsrun.com, who suggested that this was yet another example of the latent talent in Kenya. I certainly can’t disagree with that, but surely that sort of talent is hidden away everywhere.

One of the best examples of the former, ie hidden Kenyan talent that I’ve ever encountered was Elijah Lagat. I interviewed Lagat prior to his record breaking victory in the Prague Marathon 1998. Already 32, Lagat had only been running for five years. Prior to that, although born and bred in Eldoret (the town in Western Highlands whose name is a byword for running excellence), he was an overweight civil servant working in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

It was a combination of factors which set Lagat on the road to marathon fame. A doctor told him that the 15 kilos (30+ pounds) or so excess weight he was carrying wasn’t good for his health. Concurrently, he started reading about friends like Moses Tanui, and even colleagues and relatives back in Eldoret, who were making a good living from being successful athletes.

He quickly made a decision which changed his life. In 1993, he got a work transfer back home to Eldoret, contacted Tanui, and set about losing the lard. Incidentally, the Prague preview I wrote about Lagat, entitled ‘From Fatman to Fastman’ drew the quickest response I ever got to a piece. BBC Radio was on to me within half an hour, asking where they could get hold of this latest phenomenon.

It turned out to be a good call, since the following day Lagat won in the Czech capital in 2.08.52, a course record that was only broken earlier this year by compatriot Patrick Ivuti (2.07.48).  Lagat went on to win Boston 2000, in one of the most exciting finishes ever seen in Beantown. He edged eventual Olympic winner, Gezahegne Abera, and his own training guru, Tanui, the trio finishing within a few strides of one another. Only another questionable decision by the Kenyan federation, dropping him from the team then giving him a late reinstatement, prevented Lagat competing properly in Sydney.

But such stories of late flowering talent are not confined to Kenya. The tale of Paul Evans should be another reminder to under-achieving Brits (and other Firstworlders) that it’s never too late to contest the field, even with Kenyans.

Over 20 years ago, Evans was a parks footballer, a guy who loved his soccer and played every weekend for a local team in the wilds of East Anglia. He was 25 years old, with a full time job and a young family when a friend egged him on to enter a local 10k road race. “Back then (1986),” as he had no need to remind me earlier this week, “the standard was quite high, even in our neck of the woods. I thought it would be a good idea to train, but I only managed two or three times half an hour. I ran 33min 33sec, and finished seventh, but I was the first local guy.

“My football team manager said, ‘Maybe you should be a runner, because you’re not much good as a footballer’. I was quite hurt at the time. But there was another 10k three weeks later, and I did exactly a minute faster, 32.33. I thought to myself, I ain’t too bad at this. I tried to do both (football and running) for a while, but I got quicker and quicker, and inside three months, I was beating everyone in East Anglia.

“I went to meet a coach, and he asked what I wanted to achieve. I said I wanted to run in the Olympics, and he said it would take about ten years to get to that standard. I said, I’m already 25, I can’t wait that long. So I trained three times a day for three years, I ran five miles to work and back, and did a track session at lunchtime. When I got home, that was the end of running for the day, ‘cause I had my family to think of”.

The rest is history. Within six years of that first 10k race, Evans ran for Britain in the 10,000 metres at the Barcelona Olympics, an achievement he repeated in Atlanta 1996. His best track time was 27.47.79.  But there was more and better. He finished second in the New York Marathon 1995, third in London 1996; and after Atlanta came the highlight of his career, victory in the Chicago Marathon, in 2.08.52. At the age of 36. “And it was my personal best”.

Evans is still in involved in the sport, as Athletics Development Officer for Active Norfolk. Helping to identify people like himself, who chanced on the opportunity to be a world class runner. Hopefully some of those people will have the strength of mind and character to do what Evans did. And prove that you don’t have to be born in the Western Highlands of Kenya to be a great distance runner. You can quite easily do it from the wilds of East Anglia. Well, maybe not easily. But you know what I mean.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.