Paul Tergat is a shining Example

Kenya has over the years produced several promising young athletes who showed plenty of promise at the beginning of their careers. Many of these have however fizzled out for various reasons. Some simply became complacent after winning some money, some run in too many races at the behest of greedy agents and end up burning themselves out, some simply apply the wrong training techniques. The list of runners who were very promising in their earlier careers but did not fulfill their promise is long and includes the likes of Noah Ngeny, Japheth Kimutai, Daniel Komen, Richard Limo, Philip Mosima and Christopher Kosgei. Most of these ended up becoming one hit wonders, i.e they won one major event like
the olympics then sunk into oblivion.
One common mistake that young athletes make is moving overseas to train. Moving to a location like London to train is a lousy idea. For one thing it does not provide the high altitude that is neccesary for building endurance. Secondly life in a Western location tends to make people lazy. The statistics do not lie. The most consistent runners have stayed true to their roots. Haile Gebresellasie still trains in the hills of Southern Ethiopia where he grew up. Hicham El Guerrouj trains in Ifrane, a high altitude area of Morocco, and still lives in "boarding school like facilities with other Morocan athletes. Paul Tergat trains in Ngong hills and is still a soldier in the Kenya Armed forces. This rugged lifestyle is part of what makes a succesful distance runner. The high altitude helps build larger lungs and more red blood cells to burn oxygen. Running up and down hills helps build strength which is useful for that last lap kick. The diet of consisting of plenty of milk helps build stronger bones which means a lower likelihood of injury. Living in a comfortable apartment in London with plenty of distractions such as satellite TV , traffic, crowds and polluted air does not help. Polluted air actually shrinks lungs which is bad for distance runners. Its akin to smoking cigarettes. The comfortable lifestyle of a rich athlete in London makes them lazy. Upcoming runners like Eliud Kipchoge and Isaac Songok ought to be advised on what they need to do to stay consistent. Moving overseas will not do, neither will running in too
many races. Its better to have a long succesful career like Tergat than to make a few quick bucks.
 

In 2006, the 37 year old Tergat outsprinted much younger Hendrik Ramaala to win the New York Marathon

 Tergat has stayed strong and produced gliterring performances on the track for nealry two decades. He won the world cross country title a record six times, he won two olympic silver medals, won several marathons across the globe and in 2004, set a new world record in the marathon.

Tergat is a true soldier , both literally and figuratively. His disciplined and
regimented approach has allowed him to stay consistent for more than a decade
and as a result has garnered one accolade after another. No one deserves a world
record more than he does. Any budding athlete who is interested in a long
succesful career ought to look to Paul Tergat for advise. Athletics Kenya should
seek his services as a coach and mentor to younger athletes upon his retirement.

In addition to his achievements on the track, Tergat has spearheaded several initiatives to promote the development of sports in Kenya. When KFF officials were wrangling, tergat stepped forward, contributed his own money and helped raise more money towards a training camp for the Harambee stars.

Home