The Eliud Kipchoge Foundation marked a significant milestone on Tuesday when it officially launched its 20th running academy at Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County, bringing its total enrolment of student athletes to more than 4,000 pupils across Kenya’s Rift Valley region and cementing its position as the country’s largest school-based athletics development initiative.
Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who attended the ceremony alongside his foundation’s executive director Sarah Kimutai and Nandi County Governor Stephen Sang, said the 20-academy landmark represented not just athletic development but a deliberate investment in the character and resilience of Kenyan youth.
“Running is about more than winning races. It is about discipline, patience and the willingness to do the difficult thing every morning before the sun is fully up,” Kipchoge told the assembled students, many of whom had risen at 5am for a ceremonial 5km run with the marathon legend. “Every academy we open is a statement that we believe in young Kenyans.”
What the Academies Offer
Each Kipchoge Foundation running academy is embedded within a participating secondary school and operates on a model that combines structured athletic training with life-skills coaching, nutritional support and academic mentorship. Students selected for the programme — typically 150 to 200 per school — receive two formal training sessions daily, access to a foundation-employed physiotherapist who visits each school fortnightly, and a monthly nutritional supplement package formulated in partnership with the University of Nairobi’s Department of Food Science.
The foundation also runs a digital learning module accessible via Safaricom-provided tablets, through which students study sports science basics, financial literacy and career planning. Foundation data show that 83 per cent of students who have completed at least two years in an academy have gone on to pursue post-secondary education, compared with a national average of 67 per cent for rural secondary schools.
“We are not just producing athletes. We are producing citizens,” said Kimutai. “When a young person learns to set a training target and work towards it over months, that skill transfers to every other part of their life.”
Impact and Athletic Outcomes
Since the first academy opened in Iten in 2021, foundation alumni have won 34 medals at the Africa Youth Athletics Championships, with seven students progressing to Kenya’s senior national squad. Three former academy members competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, including 1500m finalist Brian Komen of Elgeyo-Marakwet, who credited the programme with rescuing him from what he described as “a directionless adolescence.”
Governor Sang, whose county hosts four of the 20 academies, said Nandi County had co-invested Sh45 million in academy infrastructure since 2022, covering the construction of two tartan running tracks and the renovation of changing facilities at participating schools. “The Kipchoge Foundation does not just come and put up a sign. They build something real and lasting,” he said.
The Kapsabet academy will initially serve 180 students, with places allocated through a county-wide talent identification exercise conducted by foundation coaches over three days in May. The process involved 1,200 applicants, the highest figure for any academy launch to date.
Looking Towards Los Angeles 2028
Kipchoge, who has indicated that he is likely to compete in the Los Angeles 2028 marathon, said the foundation’s work was intimately connected to Kenya’s broader Olympic ambitions. The Kenya Olympic Committee has set a target of 25 medals at LA 2028, and athletics is expected to contribute the majority of those through track, road and field events.
“The athletes who will represent Kenya in Los Angeles are already in our schools. Some of them are in this compound right now,” Kipchoge said. “Our job is to find them and give them the conditions to become who they are meant to be.”
The foundation has announced plans to open a further five academies in Coast, Western and Nyanza regions by the end of 2027, with funding secured from corporate sponsors including KCB Bank, Safaricom and NCBA, as well as a three-year grant from World Athletics. The Rift Valley currently hosts 14 of the 20 academies, though the geographic expansion reflects a belief that elite athletic potential exists across all of Kenya’s diverse regions.
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