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Runner: Kenya has a long way to go
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) -- For all he has contributed to Kenya's rich distance running lore, Kipchoge "Kip" Keino wishes his country were known for something more. "There is a lot to be done," said Keino, who chairs the Kenyan Olympic Committee. "So far, we haven't produced anything in this country. We are not producing anything other than some farm goods." Even Iowa has felt the impact of Kenyan runners. Nine of the past 10 winners of the Bix 7 road race in Davenport have been from Kenya. The record holder in the 800 at the boys state track meet, Joseph Kiptanui, was a Kenyan who attended Indianola High School. Between them, Kenyans Mike Boit and Kip Koskei won three outstanding performer awards at the Drake Relays in the 1970s. Keino's son, Bob, shared the award with Michael Johnson in 1997. Reminded of all the runners his nation has produced, Keino just shrugged. "What is runners?" he said in an interview with the Quad City Times, which sponsors the Bix 7. "The runners, they come and go." Keino, 60, was the man who started Kenya on the path to becoming a nation of runners. He set world records in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in 1965 and won two medals in a courageous performance at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Suffering from gallstones at the time, Keino was told by doctors he was risking his life if he ran. He ignored their advice. In the 10,000, Keino was leading before stumbling onto the infield in pain with two laps to go. He staggered to his feet and finished fifth. Then he ran the 5,000 and finished second to earn the silver medal. With a medal in hand, Keino decided to follow his doctor's advice and skip the 1,500 and the highly anticipated duel with American Jim Ryun. But on the day of the race, Keino changed his mind and hopped a bus to the stadium. When the bus got tangled up in traffic, Keino jogged the last two miles and arrived just minutes before the race. "I was determined," he said softly before taking a sip of tea. Keino beat Ryun by 20 meters. Though he wasn't Kenya's first gold medalist, Keino was the most inspirational. His homeland had a new hero and a new tradition. "Many other idols have come along since then," said Brother Colm O'Connell, who has helped perpetuate the tradition as the coach at St. Patrick's High School in Kenya. 'But people in the athletics community still recognize Kipchoge Keino." Boit, who became Kenya's minister of sport, calls Keino the father of Kenya distance running. "He put this country on the map," Boit said. Keino won two more medals at the 1972 Olympics, a gold in the steeplechase and a silver in the 1,500. Since retiring from running, Keino has settled into the life of a gentleman farmer and humanitarian. He lives on a 200-acre plot near Eldoret in western Kenya. He also operates a tea farm and a combination book/music/sporting goods store in downtown Eldoret, Kenya's fifth-largest city. And then there's his labor of love: the Kip Keino Orphanage and Training Center. For more than three decades, Keino and his wife, Phyllis, have taken homeless orphans into their home. In the beginning, Keino could count the children on his fingers. Now they care for 87, most of them girls. "Our main objective is love and then shelter," Keino said. "You also need education. You need knowledge today to survive." Keino's 20-room home is a winding, maze-like structure that includes a huge kitchen, a library filled with children's books and eating and sleeping rooms for all the kids. Two other homes on his farm house athletes who train and learn from the master. As many as 40 athletes live there at a time, many from other African nations. Zambia. Uganda. Lesotho. Tanzania. The irony is that the head of Kenya's Olympic committee is helping the competition. "No problem," Keino said, setting down his tea and waving a hand. "We are all brothers and sisters."
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