Running News Daily

How a trip to Kenya motivated former optician Guillaume Pontier to nurture athletics talent in Iten

Frenchman Guillaume Pontier is passionate about nurturing talent in Iten and has opened up on the motivation he got when he visited the area for the first time alongside his father, who was a coach.

Frenchman Guillaume Pontier, a former optician, is making huge contributions in the Kenyan athletics scene to ensure the nurturing of talents continues.

Most Kenyan athletes come from humble backgrounds and affording training gear is always an uphill task but Pontier has made it easy for the athletes, providing them with affordable training gear in a store set up in Iten.

With the help of the Distance Athletics company, where Pontier is the co-founder, he was able to construct a tiny metal hut in 2022 with the outside of the structure reading, “For All Runners”.

There, they sell second-hand shoes from well-known brands with prices ranging from about Ksh 300 to Ksh 1500.

His motivation came from a trip to Kenya with his father, Jef, who was a coach of the France national marathon team some years back. Seeing athletes run barefoot with some wearing inappropriate gear, Pontier was motivated to help them. His father also spent much of his time in Iten where he trained French runners.

“It’s a community project, not a profit-driven enterprise. We saw many athletes on our trips running barefoot because they didn’t have trainers. It’s inaccessible. In Kenya they run 200km a week…They need shoes to do that,” Pontier told Financial Times.

To ensure the shoes are sold at fair prices, Pontier noted that he has by Ledisha, a local athlete, who works with her brother at the shop and they always decide the prices of the shoes.

The training gear sells fast and Pontier admitted that once they restock, news spreads like wildfire and dozens of athletes flock the store to purchase what is available. Due to that Pontier decided to partner with Distance’s European stores to help.