Double Rotterdam marathon champion Marius Kipserem has urged local leaders to embrace sports and build sports training camps to nurture young talents.
Kipserem, who won the Rotterdam marathon titles in 2016 and 2019 with the course record of 2:04.11 said that there are many sprouting athletes in north rift but they lack training areas and facilities for them to realize their talents.
At a personal level, Kipserem, the 2018 Abu Dhabi marathon champion said that he is trying to bring up young talents back in his home county of Nandi by training some young athletes because the majority of current elite marathoners are above 26 years.
“I would like to tell our leaders to start building some small training camps everywhere so that some young talents are nurtured. For the young talents they cannot come and start running from nowhere, they need guidance to progress. To get a good athlete, they have to be built slowly, organize some small races in local communities so that they can be monitored and motivated on how that running is,’ he said.
He added that many camps in the region are private making it difficult for young people to start training from there.
“We don’t have enough camps for young athletes but we are discussing with some leaders to establish many camps and join other established camps. The small camps, if spread across the region, can assist the young ones as their starting points before entering big camps,” he said.
The 2016 Eindhoven marathon silver medalist added that he has taken personal initiative to train some young people to realize their talents.
“I also advise young athletes to run from track before marathons. There should be gradual growth. For me I have assisted young athletes with facilities and other items but the best thing is to advise them through discussions,” he added.
The 2021 Rotterdam marathon silver medalist is credited in winning the Abu Dhabi marathon, Rotterdam marathon twice and competing at Milan, London and many marathons across the world.
“This year I was supposed to run well in Rotterdam, in search of my third title but I got in an accident in February hence failing to train very well for the race,” he said.
After healing, the man who paced Eliud Kipchoge at the Ineos 1:59 Challenge has started training and he says that he is in top shape and fitness as he plans to compete in either the Chicago or London marathon before the year ends.
“After Rotterdam, I started training slowly, hoping to run either Chicago or London marathons. For now, I am not sure but am still waiting for an invitation. But the accident was not that fatal. It happened when I was going to pick children from school so I rolled my car, of which I was affected and failed to train well. The accident affected my back but it did not affect my leg. Now I am very well, in good condition, training well, ready for the next race,” he added.