Running News Daily

Eliud Kipchoge has spent years redefining what is possible on the roads of the world. From Olympic triumphs to historic marathon performances, the Kenyan icon has built a reputation as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Yet, his latest achievement has nothing to do with finish lines, records, or medals.

During the Cape Town Marathon weekend in South Africa, the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation successfully raised €24,591 (approximately KSh 3.68 million), with every shilling destined to support education and environmental initiatives across Africa.

The fundraising campaign attracted remarkable support from fans, partners, and well-wishers around the world. Contributions came through direct donations as well as a special charity auction featuring personal items associated with Kipchoge, highlighting the immense admiration and respect he continues to command both within and beyond the athletics community.

Expressing his gratitude, Kipchoge acknowledged the overwhelming generosity shown during the campaign.

"We are blown away by the generosity from all of you who have donated through our website or bid on Eliud’s items through the auction. All proceeds will support education and environment projects in Africa and beyond. We can’t wait to show you how your contributions positively impact the lives of others. Asante sana."

The funds will help advance the foundation’s mission of creating opportunities through education while promoting environmental sustainability—two causes Kipchoge has consistently championed throughout his career.

For many athletes, success is measured by trophies and records. For Kipchoge, however, true greatness extends far beyond personal accomplishments. His commitment to empowering communities and investing in future generations reflects a vision that reaches well beyond sport.

The Cape Town fundraising success serves as another reminder that Kipchoge’s influence is not confined to marathon courses. While millions admire him for his extraordinary performances, countless others are now benefiting from his determination to create lasting positive change.

From inspiring the world with his running to transforming lives through meaningful action, Eliud Kipchoge continues to embody the philosophy that has defined his journey for years: no human is limited.

And as this latest initiative demonstrates, the impact of his legacy may ultimately stretch far beyond the finish line.

The Eliud Kipchoge Foundation has received financial support from a leading sports wearables company to aid in their 2025 executions.

The Eliud Kipchoge Foundation has landed a major boost from COROS, a global company specializing in performance sports wearables.

COROS will be running their Black Friday from November 29 to December 3 and announced that the company will donate 5% of all proceeds from direct sales to the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation. The financial boost will come in handy in ensuring Eliud Kipchoge and his team execute their duties diligently in 2025.

The funds will be allocated towards building a new library containing books and resources for individual research and learning. This will be the second library built since the first was constructed in 2022. The library was built for Kapsisiywa Secondary School in Chesumei Sub County, Nandi County, with funding from former President Uhuru Kenyatta. The library currently has 30 computers with internet access.

The remaining funds were used to construct 10 classrooms, an administration block, and the extension of a perimeter wall. The new library will be looking to provide a safe community space for young people with COROS customers having a direct impact in fostering educational empowerment.

The funds will also help in the construction of classrooms to host educational sessions for the youth staying around the area. Eliud Kipchoge extended a hand of gratitude to COROS for their charity and once again insisted on the importance of education.

"Growing up in Kenya, I know that access to books and knowledge is not always available to everyone. Libraries open doors to endless possibilities. By building more, we extend knowledge and create lasting change,” the two-time Olympic champion said.

Meanwhile, the foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing education and environmental sustainability. It was founded in 2020 and has always strived to provide better access to education.

The foundation’s goal is very clear and will be looking to empower the next generation through both education and environmental initiatives.

Speaking over the weekend during the unveiling of his murals in Eldoret, the world record holder said his next stop will be Boston in April before closing the season with the New York Marathon later in the year.  

Kipchoge has so far won Tokyo, London, Berlin and Chicago, which are part of the World Marathon Majors.

He said winning Boston and eventually New York City Marathon will be great.

“2022  was a great and very successful year for me. Right now my focus is on the Boston Marathon as I seek to win my fifth World Marathon Majors race,” said the four-time  Berlin Marathon champion.

Kipchoge said he wants to consolidate the six-star marathon medals as well as engage in other community-based projects under his Eliud Kipchoge Foundation.

He said he is currently looking at projects anchored around education and tree planting. 

The four-time London marathon champion said his target in the education sector is to build at least a library in each of the 47 counties.

“I do not only want to construct a library in each county, but also adopt a forest in each county. This is a big dream but I know there is a need to plant more trees so that humanity can have clean air to breathe as well as conserve the environment,” he said.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the murals are artistic impressions in honour and celebration of  Kipchoge’s achievement as one of the greatest marathoners.

The murals were inscribed: ‘No human is Limited' and ‘Wenye nidhamu tu maishani ndio wako huru' meaning 'only the disciplined are free'.

Ndegwa also announced a Sh1m donation towards Eliud Kipchoge Foundation. In addition, the telco will also support Eliud with 5,000 tree seedlings as part of his tree-growing initiative at Kaptagat Forest. 

In Boston, Kipchoge will be up against former New York Marathon champion Albert Korir, former Commonwealth 5,000m gold medallist Augustine Choge, Shura Kitata and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie.

Also expected to challenge the streets of Boston are champion Evans Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto, two-time winner Lelisa Desisa and Tanzanian record-holder Gabriel Geay.

When he’s not training to win Olympic marathons or paving the way for future Kenyan cyclists by starting a cycling academy, the world’s greatest marathoner is taking steps to save the planet.

Kipchoge, who trains and lives in Kaptagat, Kenya, is hoping to adopt a forest in all 47 counties of Kenya. He has recently been involved in the rehabilitation of 126 acres of Kaptagat Forest, KBC digital reported. Kaptagat, where Kipchoge lives and runs at the NN Running training center, has been the initial focus of his reforestation initiative. In 2021, Kipchoge spoke at the UN climate change conference, and he’s been dedicated to environmental work and encouraging his fellow Kenyans to get involved. For years now, Kipchoge has been at the forefront of the efforts dedicated to the conservation and restoration of forests.

“I won my first world championship in 2003, and in 2021, I successfully defended my Olympic medal in the marathon. I’m lucky to say I have a long career, and today, I want to share the secret of my success with you because I believe you can apply it too and it will help you be successful in fighting climate change,” the champion said. While it may be surprising to hear that Kipchoge is a climate change activist, he says that it’s the legacy he hopes to leave. “Until a few years ago, I trained by listening to what my body was telling me and was successful and won almost every marathon I race in. But when I realized I wanted to leave a legacy, I knew I needed to do more.”

Kipchoge kickstarted his climate change action shortly after his INEOS 1.59 challenge in Vienna, where he made history by running an unofficial marathon record time in 1:59.40. Aware that eyes were on him, he seized the opportunity to create change by partnering with the government and creating a sub-two-hour tree planting competition among his fellow Kenyans. The athlete encourages everyone to mark life celebrations by planting trees. He says, “can we convert our birthdays and plant a tree? Can we convert our birthdays to walking for the noble cause of climate change? Convert our anniversaries and plant trees or walk? If you are celebrating 60 years, plant 60 trees. If your kid is 2 years old, run for 2 km and plant two trees to commemorate your day. We’ll make this world a green world in only one year.”

Kaptagat is a particularly unique ecosystem where nature, humans, and the economy are intensely interconnected, and years of deforestation had taken a toll on the area. Back in 2019, Kipchoge signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kenyan Forestry Service, allowing him to work towards his goal of rehabilitating the forest. With support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF–Kenya), the project has been a success, and the athlete says he will continue his pursuit of adopting a forest in the other counties in Kenya, through the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation.

Kipchoge encourages other athletes, corporations, and citizens to continue planting trees and taking steps to save the forests. He says his initial inspiration to adopt the vast piece of land in his home county was because he is an athlete, and needs to breathe good air and run on soft ground. The only way he says he can achieve these standards is to preserve the environment. Kipchoge adds: “As an athlete, I train every single day, meaning I need to breathe clean air daily. This means that I need to conserve the environment and focus on it every day. Clean air in combination with performance in sports has made me think about conservation a lot more.”

His inspiration is working: a recent report showed that Kenyan forest cover is now at 12.3 per cent, ahead of  Kenya’s constitutional target of 10 per cent.

Kipchoge will continue to work diligently to adopt more forests throughout Kenya, and he speaks to all of us, worldwide, when he says “Every day is earth day for me. It is our only home and our only business — and only we can save it.”

Eliud Kipchoge has officially launched his own foundation referred to as ‘the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation’.

Fresh from winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in his specialty during the just concluded Tokyo Olympic Games, Kipchoge said the foundation will have a strong focus on education and environment and will be seeking to strengthen communities both locally and internationally.

“My mission is to give all children in the world access to knowledge and education. I want those children to grow up into healthy adults in a green and breathing world where forests keep our people safe.

“I want to contribute and grow the movement in education and environmental protection through my Foundation, to reach the people in the world with my voice,” said Kipchoge.

He also added that he wants to raise awareness and to raise finances to build libraries, schools and grow more trees on the forest sites that will help the upcoming generation in terms of clean air.

“I was lucky in my life to have access to books and knowledge from a young age. It taught me to value life and that is why I have decided to establish the foundation that will help the upcoming generation who also must know the value of having a good environment,” he added.

The Eliud Kipchoge Foundation focuses on two pillars: education and environment and both subjects have been close to Kipchoge’s heart throughout his life and are areas where he foresees making an impact for a better world.

“Education helps you grow, and it can help you grow your community alongside you and access to information is crucial for a good education and a good library is the foundation for this.

“My dream is for all schools and kindergartens in the world to have good libraries right from a very young age, children need to get in contact with books, with learning. This builds a good foundation for children and books can inspire, also to those who do not have access to the internet,” he said.

He also added that he has been inspired by books for his entire life and there are a lot of talented people in Africa and around the world, who may get inspired and help to solve problems people are facing in their communities.

The objective of the Foundation is to sponsor school fees and to give more children access to education, build libraries and inspire people through the importance of education and the power of books.

In terms of environment, Kipchoge said that it is the second pillar for the foundation. The foundation wants to provide a healthy world for the next generations therefore it must all provide the right actions to do so.

“I want the world to breathe well and without forests, you cannot have ideal conditions for training. As a farmer, I know about the importance of a good climate, planting of trees and using the land in a sustainable way, so people can grow healthy food and plants, also for the next generations.

“I believe together we can make dry land green again, which has a huge impact on biodiversity, water availability and healthy food. You can always start helping, even by adopting trees. I began already with adopting a forest near our training camp to help save it. I want to reach out to help save and grow forests around the world,” added Kipchoge.

Olympics marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is still recovering from the London Marathon setback in which he finished eighth on October 4.

“I will take time to recover from the London Marathon loss. I’m healing, I want to move on and focus on the future,” he said on Thursday after touring the Isuzu D-Max Pick-up assembly line in Nairobi.

The world marathon record holder, who had won 10 consecutive marathons since 2014 before this year's London debacle on October 4 in which a blocked ear thwarted his bid for a fifth title, signed a new partnership agreement with Isuzu East Africa that will run until after 2020 Tokyo Olympics that were postponed to next year. 

Kipchoge has been the Isuzu D-Max Pick-up ambassador for the last three years.

On Thursday, Isuzu East Africa hosted the legendary athlete who affirmed his commitment to making a comeback in the races ahead.

“If you despair, you lose what you have built over many years and miss future opportunities to come back stronger and better. If you train harder and build strength, you go to the track and run another race and rely on the strength you have built to propel you to another victory,” Kipchoge, who turns 36 on November 5, said.

He enjoys the use of a fully serviced luxury automatic Isuzu D-Max Pick-up in addition to two other vehicles that he was awarded for winning the 2018 Berlin Marathon in a world record time of two hours, one minute and 39 seconds, and for running under two-hours at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria last year.

Isuzu East Africa Managing Director Rita Kavashe said that Kipchoge has been a reliable and dependable Isuzu D-Max brand ambassador. 

“Through his record setting exploits, he has inspired a lot of people to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams,” she said.

Kipchoge thanked Isuzu for its demonstration of confidence in his capabilities and for supporting his dream.

Under the new deal, Isuzu East Africa will work with the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation to uplift the well-being of community through access to education, sports talent development and environmental conservation.

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, through his Eliud Kipchoge Foundation in partnership with Sunblest from Kisumu, Saturday donated foodstuff and sanitary pads to 30 female athletes in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.

The pads, which are re-usable, were donated by PadMad which runs an initiative for menstrual health, sexual and reproductive health rights.

The athletics legend started the relief initiative in March following the suspension of all sporting events due to coronavirus. Many vulnerable runners have benefited and more stakeholders have been coming on board.

Kipchoge said that he will be ready to help and reach more athletes who are suffering due to the effects of Covid-19 if he gets more support from corporates.

The Olympic marathon champion urged athletes to remain patient as they seek to return to training once the virus in contained.

“It has been a long journey and I will be always ready to help athletes and vulnerable families during  this hard times when the virus stopped all competitions. It has been a long journey but I want to commend those who have supported us since we started the initiative,” said Kipchoge.

He also said that there is need for the government to open up training camps for athletes to train ahead of the season since many of them will be getting ready for various competitions after missing last season.

“We are grown-ups and we know that the virus is deadly. There is need for the government to consider athletes who will be preparing for races in the next season in various camps,” said Kipchoge.

“The sanitary pads are very important for the athletes. Today we donated food because runners need it especially now when there is no income,” said Wagenaar who was proud to meet Kipchoge for the first time.

Eliud Kipchoge has appealed to more well-wishers to contribute towards the Covid-19 food stimulus programme for athletes, saying he’s eager to see the programme roll out to the rest of Kenya.

So far, the focus of the relief food has been in the Rift Valley region where the Olympic champion has himself distributed food to athletes in Kericho, Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties through the Ministry of Sport, his Eliud Kipchoge Foundation and other well-wishers.

On Wednesday, Kipchoge was in Elgeyo-Marakwet County again to assist athletes in his training base of Kaptagat after well-wishers Zaharia Hassanali and family in collaboration with Eliud Kipchoge Foundation gifted 24 athletes with food aid.

Kipchoge said many athletes have been suffering and need support because they can’t train on empty stomachs, forcing him to reach out to various corporates to help reach the vulnerable.

With more support from well-wishers, Kipchoge said he will go across the country to help athletes, footballers, volleyball players and any other sportspersons in dire need of support.

“I have been doing this for four weeks now, and I’m trying to reach those athletes who are vulnerable,” the world marathon record holder said.

“Today, I managed to meet 24 athletes who benefited from the exercise. I know how tough it is to train in an empty stomach and I will always support the upcoming in this exercise including those who are in other events.

“In these hard times, I know what the athletes are going through, and I would urge for more support so that together we can beat this pandemic which has affected the athletes’ lives.”

With elite runners depending on races across the globe, cessation of sports events due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus has forced the athletes into a tight financial corner.

Kipchoge also thanked Sara Janmohamed, who made 100 masks for the Olympic champion’s foundation, urging more youths to be innovative.

“I was touched by Janmohamed, who is still in secondary school, who was able to make 100 masks which I have also distributed to athletes. I would like to urge the youths to be more proactive in the fight against the Covid-19,” he said.

He urged athletes to continue training hard hoping that the next season would be better if the virus is contained.

“For now, apart from the food distribution, safety is more paramount but when competition resumes we shall come out stronger as athletes as we look forward to a better season,” said Kipchoge.

Kipchoge is preparing for the much awaited duel with Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele at the rescheduled London Marathon on October 4.

“Right now, safety is my priority and I will soon be starting my training and when that time comes, I will be able to tell you my training programme,” added Kipchoge.

Ismail Cheboror, one of the athletes who benefited yesterday, said he was touched by the support from the athletics legend and he is looking forward to be like him in future.

“I’m happy for the support I have received which will keep me going in my training. “Kipchoge is God-sent and I want to be like him in future because he always inspires me,” said Cheboror.

Sarah Jelagat, who is a road racer, couldn’t hide her joy after receiving her food ration, saying she has been struggling to put food on the table.

“I was preparing for a road race in the United States of America in March, but it was cancelled due to the virus and since then I have just been training to keep fit,” said Jelagat.

On Friday, the Olympic champion and world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge spent his day in Kericho County distributing the food which was flagged off by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed on Thursday.

Kipchoge, along with his Eliud Kipchoge Foundation, was picked as the ambassador of the relief project by the Ministry of Sport to motivate and come to the aid of athletes who have lost huge potential income owing to cancellation of races as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to bite.

The food was donated by the ministry and well wishers, including the Hindu Council of Kenya, with Sports Principal Secretary Joe Okudo joining Amina in flagging off the consignments on Thursday.

The packages being given to each athlete, have, inter alia, maize and wheat flour, rice, cooking oil and pasta.

Athletes in Kericho were excited to not only receive the portions, but also have a close encounter with their legend Kipchoge who became the first man to run the marathon in under two hours in Vienna last October.

Kipchoge was, perhaps, difficult to identify, given that he wore a face mask in tandem with public health directives, but his Nike jumper and unique, grey Nike Zoom shoes along with the spring the famous spring in his step as he moved up and down, unloading the consignments from trucks, gave him in.

Seeing the legend “live” was huge consolation for the disruption in the Kericho athletes’ training programmes by Covid-19 precautions that outlaw group training sessions and races from being held.

Kipchoge’s programme too has been seriously disrupted by the pandemic.

Last month, he had been lined up with his Ethiopian Global Sports Communication stable mate but rival, Kenenisa Bekele, at the London Marathon.

Then in July, he was primed to defend his Olympic marathon title in Sapporo.

But while the April 26 London Marathon was postponed to October 4, the Olympic Games have been pushed to July and August next year, holding all factors constant.

Kipchoge has now to juggle between staying in shape and helping out the disadvantaged athletes, indeed the hallmark of a selfless legend.

n Friday, Kipchoge will be on the food relief mission in Kapsabet, Eldoret, Iten and Kaptagat.

"Through Eliud Kipchoge, we have identified 58 athletes who are very needy and deserve to get these food packages,” CS Amina said on Thursday while flagging off the food convoy at Nyayo National Stadium.

“The effects of the pandemic mean they cannot compete and they do not have any source of income.”

The CS, who announced earlier in the week that cover 1,000 sportsmen and women will benefit from the relief food, also appealed to the private sector and individuals to supplement the government's efforts in helping the vulnerable sportsmen and women.