When trail meets road - Braveheart Runners

Braveheart Runners Team

ITEN, KENYA - February 2022

Welcome to Iten, Kenya. This vibrant little town in Africa, known as "The Home of Champions", is like nowhere else on earth. Iten is the mecca of road running and it is hard to believe how many champions and big names have been running on these dirt roads over the past decades. So, back in February, we boarded a small, giraffe-print jet from Nairobi to Eldoret to meet the Braveheart Runners Athletes and team and discover the magic of Iten for ourselves.

But first things first, let’s rewind time to understand how this adventure all started.

Back in March 2021, the team at SCOTT HQ crossed paths with Alistair in Zürich, Switzerland. Alistair is an enthusiastic and friendly Brit who has been living in Switzerland for the past 30 years. Recently retired and passionate about the power of running to make lives better, he decided to invest his time and energy into a foundation called Braveheart Runners. The foundation’s concept, their values, and the support that they would provide to talented young athletes instantly resonated with the team at SCOTT and we decided to get on board.

This initial conversation was followed by countless hours of meetings, brainstorming, logistical planning, and of course, athlete selection and final preparations for the upcoming season. In November 2021, our final team was assembled, and everything was put in place - we were ready to go! Meet the Braveheart Runners team below:

Alistair Davidson – President of Braveheart Runners Foundation

Alistair’s main role as President and Founder of the foundation is to find and manage the relationships with all partners supporting the foundation. He takes care of contract negotiations, finances, as well as logistics for European races. He’s also closely involved in the athlete selection process at the beginning of the season.

Peter Aburi – General Manager

Peter’s role as a General Manager is to be the foundation’s main contact on the ground in Kenya. As a native Kenyan living in Nairobi, Peter takes care of all administration for the athletes. This includes setting up racing calendars for the season, distributing the necessary gear, giving them their monthly allowance and meeting with the whole team in Iten on a regular basis.

Benard Koech aka. Chebasa – Team Captain

Chebasa is a local legend and knows pretty much everyone in Iten. He’s a vibrant individual with a big personality. After quitting his engineering studies, he recently started running professionally. As the eldest brother in a big family, he is caring and takes on a lot of responsibilities, making him the perfect Team Captain for the Braveheart Runners team. His role is to be a reliable and trustworthy point of contact for all the athletes. He coordinates their weekly trainings and team meet-ups and ensures everybody is happy and on track for upcoming races.

Isiah Kosgei – Coach and Therapist

Isiah is the official coach and therapist for the team. As a marathoner and famous coach in Iten, he is renowned for his talent and coaching methods. He ensures all the athletes get their weekly complimentary therapy to prevent them from any injuries. As a coach, he sets up their training agenda and monitors their weekly progress to adjust and support the runners in the best way possible.

And just like that, with a motivated team full of passion and ideas, the Braveheart Runners adventure could begin. The biggest step was then to select the first athletes to be part of the team.

This selection process took place during the month of December 2021 in Iten, with the help of Peter, Chebasa and Isiah. The selection criteria that were set for this first season were the following:

Have gender equality between men and women
Age approx. 20-25 years old
Developing athletes - meaning that they have not reached endurance maturity yet
In need - not clearly self-sufficient in their daily lives
Some form of established performance or belonging to a strong local team
High progression abilities
Attitude

After some intense decision making, the selection committee chose 9 athletes that were eligible for a Braveheart Runners scholarship for the racing season 2022:, 5 women and 4 men. Discover the team below.

Benard "Chebasa" Koech

Daisy Chepkosgei

Emmy Jepkemoi

Enock Kipkemboi

Ledisha Jepkemboi

Reuben Ronoh

Winnie Jeptarus

Sarah Lagat

Isiah Kosgei - Coach

Peter Aburi - General Manager

Fast forward a year later and here we are in Kenya ready to meet all of those who have helped build this exciting project. Our short stay was intense and full of emotions.

Our days were busy as we got to know all the athletes, how they live and train and what their daily lives in Iten look like. We enjoyed some morning runs, had some photo shoot sessions and ate lots of Ugali.

We spent some time bonding with locals and having insightful discussions about the running community that is present in Iten. Professional athletes and runners from all over the world come for months at a time to train and learn from the best in this small Kenyan town. From coaches to runners, they all have some tips and tricks to share.

On this trip, we also had the opportunity to meet with Fred Tranchand, one of SCOTT’s international athletes who was in Iten for a training camp with the national trail racing team. The Braveheart Runner athletes and Fred where able to share experiences about trail running and the athletes gathered a couple of tips and tricks from Fred’s expertise about how to train for their first trail race attempt this summer.

One of the main focuses of this trip was also to align all the people involved in this project and ensure we had a clear, shared goal. Unfortunately, in Iten and in Kenya in general, with such a high number of good runners and with salaries being often very low, a lot of “athlete managers” take advantage of vulnerable runners with difficult situations. We’ve heard too many stories about these situations and want to ensure the intentions of Braveheart Runners are clear.

The aim of this partnership with Braveheart Runners foundation is to offer athletes on the rise access to the best training possible and support them in kick starting their careers. The Braveheart Runners foundation is not a training center, but more specifically a scholarship program.

All selected runners receive the following as part of their scholarship:

Monthly allowance covering rent, food and daily living costs
One physiotherapy session per week as well as medical treatment if needed
Fully supported, individual coaching program as well as nutritional support
Access to 1 or 2 month-long racing trips to Europe per season
Help with administrative tasks such as passport applications, race registrations, etc.
Access to full prize money in case of good race results (we do not take any commission fees)

So, what’s next?

For the 2022 season, two main objectives are awaiting our Kenyan Team. First one is in May with two races in Switzerland: the 20km of Lausanne and the Geneva Marathon. Later in the summer, some of the athletes will also tackle their first trail race in Zermatt at the 10th Edition of Matterhorn Ultraks.

Don’t forget to follow their journey on our social and see you soon!

Braveheart Runners Team

SCOTT Running