Running and finishing a marathon is a triumph. Winning any marathon is a huge achievement. Emerging victorious six times in the same marathon is an incredible feat. Gunning for a seventh win? The stuff of legends.
Fridah Chepkite Lodepa may be little known locally and globally but her exploits over the 42-kilometre race have been phenomenal.
The 42-year-old, who is also a mother, a dairy farmer in Kitale and an athlete, has been running and winning marathons for the last 20 years. She is still going strong with no intention of hanging up her spikes just yet.
“I train with people who are 25-30 years and I keep up with them so why should I quit just yet?” is Fridah’s amused response when she is asked whether she has considered retirement.
Early one recent Friday morning we found Fridah among a group of about 20 athletes pounding the footpaths along the Eldoret-Iten road. The lack of a public training facility in high altitude Iten means runners train on footpaths competing with school going children, bodabodas and even cows.
The group, which includes her two adult daughters, trains under the watchful eye of coach Elkanah Rutto, who is also her husband.
The famous sign ‘Welcome to Iten, the home of champions’ forms the background as the runners take a break to stretch and get a pep talk from the coach. Noisy birds chirp and the sun breaks out, it’s rays a welcome sight due to the biting cold.
Once the pep talk and introductions are over, it’s back to the footpaths for the runners. Marathon preparation is not for the fainthearted.
“When I start preparing for a marathon, every day, Monday – Friday, I run 30 kilometres per day, I do 20 kilometres in the morning and then in the evening I do 10 kilometres. Then on Saturday I run only once in the morning, 40 to 45 kilometres. That’s for 3 months then in the final month of preps I reduce to only 20 kilometres on weekdays,” explains Fridah.
We are conducting the interview outside her house on the outskirts of Iten town. The air is fresh, birds are now singing and her geese nibble at Fridah’s feet. Since 2008, Fridah has trained at high altitude in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County but she says she misses the warmer climate back home.
“I was born in West Pokot and went to Kapsangar Primary school. When I was a young girl, I would see Tegla Lorupe running in the school field, and I thought I also could do that. When going to and from school I would run which is how I developed my running. In class 7 I ran 400m and became the best and represented the school in nationals. That was my start in athletics,” recalls Fridah.
The first born in a family of six – four girls and two boys – schooled up to Standard Eight as her single-mum could not afford the fees. She took up athletics as a career and that decision changed her life.
“I am proud of my athletics career. Through running I have earned a living, I have educated my children, I have bought land, I am now a dairy farmer. In 2011 I represented Kenya in the marathon race in the 2011 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. I bagged a bronze medal and was so happy and proud to represent my country. Due to my running prowess, there have emerged many athletes from West Pokot,” Fridah sums up her ongoing career.
With two decades of running under her belt, Fridah knows what is required for athletic success and longevity: “It needs one to be at ease, with ample peace of mind. One should not be stressed. Many young athletes have stress. Then they are also looking for quick wins. So, if a young athlete does not get success quickly, they give up.”
Because she missed out on completing her formal education, Fridah is very keen on education, insisting that even if her children may get bitten by the athletics bug, schooling has to come first for them. Her 20-year-old first born daughter, Zipporah Jemutai, who considers herself a fun-runner, has aspirations to be a doctor while her second born daughter has her mum’s athletic build.
Fridah, who has conquered the Lewa Safari Marathon six times, has fond memories of running in the wild.
“The first time I ran at Lewa I was a new mum with a four-month-old baby. I was not so sure about myself as I had gained weight. When I placed third, I realized that this was a race I could do well at and win. I love Lewa because the hot climate favours me. Running with the wild animals makes me happy because it is so much fun,” she says.
Fridah ran her first marathon in 2004, the Standard Charted Nairobi Marathon, where she placed fourth. She has since gone on to win the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon twice and the Standard Charted Kuala Lumpur Marathon once. She is a double Kilimanjaro International Marathon champion and has also run marathons in Nigeria, Thailand, Spain, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and Italy.
Despite technology and nutrition being buzzwords in athletics now, Fridah remains old-school. Her smart-watch is her only concession to technology while in keeping to her Pokot roots, she loves meat and milk in abundance.
She sees no huge challenge being a mum and being an athlete whose coach is her husband saying all that one requires is not balancing per se but being and giving 100 per cent in whatever role one is undertaking at any given time. So, when she runs or trains, she is a sportsperson and when she is at home, she is a mum and a wife.
The soft-spoken marathoner is not one to blow her own trumpet or issue bold declarations.
“I will go and try and win my seventh title. You know in athletics only when you breast the tape is when you know you have won. Marathon running is unpredictable. But I can say Lewa I have mastered the course. There is a hill I get to and break away from everyone else,” she says of her quest for a seventh title at Lewa.
The 24th edition of Lewa Safari Marathon will be held at the Lewa Conservancy in Isiolo County on Saturday, June 24. The theme this year is “Ditch the desk, run in the wild.”
