Kip Keino and the Man Who Fell into the Water Jump

Kip Keino was his usual friendly self when we met up again after a period of ten years at the Laureus World Sports awards last week in Abu Dhabi. The man who opened the gates to African middle and long-distance running - he won Olympic gold in 1968 and 1972 - once watched me run in the 3000 metres steeplechase in Kapsabet, western Kenya, a race that constituted the official national trials. Seeing that this particular event is one that Kenya has totally dominated globally forever, it could be argued that it was the most competitive race anyone could participate in. Predictably, with 2 laps remaining, I was out on my own running at altitude (9,000 feet) and in front of 15,000 bemused Kenyans in a ramshackle stadium with all the other runners long-finished. I fell into the water once and was told, while the winner received a cow, that I would be awarded a fish "as you like to spend time in the water." Keino invited me back to his house and orphanage he runs and it was there that he presented me with a leather water gourd complete with multi-colour beading. "This is for you," he announced. I asked him why. "Because you finished the race, and I found you most entertaining." I'm not entirely sure that was a compliment but that gourd sits in my office at home today, a priceless memento of an experience neither I nor 15,000 Kenyans are likely to forget.