Mo Farah has credited training and living with Kenyan athletes as the key to his success in long-distance running. The Somali-British former runner, who achieved incredible success in his career, revealed that his time with Kenyan athletes shaped his discipline and work ethic.
Farah ended his career with four Olympic gold medals, six gold medals and two silver medals at the World Championships, and six gold medals from the European Championships. His transition to marathon running also proved successful, with a win at the 2018 Chicago Marathon and a third-place finish at the 2018 London Marathon.
His journey to greatness was not instant; he had to learn from some of the best distance runners in the world. During his college years, he frequently encountered Kenyan runners, whom he deeply admired for their dedication and training methods. His manager, who also worked with several Kenyan athletes, encouraged him to train alongside them.
“At that time, I saw the Kenyans and they were training very well. My manager was looking after most of them,” Farah recalled. “They would come down in the summer and base themselves in Teddington, and at some point, I would see them when I was on my bike and think, ‘Oh my God, they look so good.’
“My manager then asked me to train with them for a bit. I could keep up during certain sessions but not all the time because they were so good.”
Recognizing the impact of their training style, Farah made a bold decision to live with Kenyan athletes. This required a major lifestyle shift, as he had to adapt to their disciplined routine of “eat, sleep, and train.”
“After I finished university, my manager asked if I could live with them, and I did. In the same house, they would just eat, sleep, and train. But my lifestyle was different, and I had to ask myself some questions,” he said.
Determined to reach their level, he embraced the same lifestyle. This experience, he admitted, was transformative. Later, he traveled to Kenya’s Rift Valley, known for producing world-class runners, and discovered that the same training routines were being followed there.
“Sometime later, I went to Kenya, up in the mountains, and they were doing the exact same thing. I observed what they were doing and tried to live life like them. It felt like the right thing to do,” he explained.
His decision to immerse himself in Kenyan training culture paid off, as he went on to become one of the most dominant distance runners in history. The sacrifices he made, the discipline he learned, and the inspiration he drew from Kenyan athletes shaped his legendary career.
