(FEED THE FLAME) I'm here in the small
village of Iten, Kenya, home to the Kalenjin tribe
and some of the world's most dominant
long-distance runners. The Kalenjin tribe makes up 0.6% of the world's population. They are always in the top
80-90% of long-distance runners in
the world at any given time. I've been told their diet is
the driving force to their success. Over the next week,
I'll train, diet, and fully immerse myself into
the Kalenjin lifestyle. I want to find out about
their training regimen, motivation to compete, and what
exactly it is about their diet that fuels their bodies
for long distance running. (SUNRISE - ITEN, KENYA) Gladys Chesir is one of the
women to watch this year. She has been running
for almost a decade and is a highly
decorated runner. She has almost won every race
that she has ever competed in and has even recently
claimed the title Fastest 10,000m In The World at last year's Diamond League. She is training for her first
Olympic trials this year and is expected to make
the Kenyan team and place. Maybe with one-minute recovery,
we do only once in a few weeks, depending on the season. Hugo Van Den Broek is
coach to Gladys Chesir and a famed and well-respected
member of the Iten community. I met Gladys in 2014. From the first time
I saw her run, I realised that she's
a very big talent. She has such a big foundation. She's really focused
and very professional. I think she has everything
it takes to become one of the best
athletes in the world. I know Gladys always use a
little bit faster than I ask and I shouldn't
ask for too fast. Most of the time most Kalinjens have run. They have retired
like Lornah Kiplagat. I want to be like Lornah. Now if you meet a kid,
they say, "I want to run
faster than Gladys!" So that motivation comes
when you're young. The circumstances here
definitely contribute. Training here at high altitude, it looks like training
has more impact. Plus the fact that we're in
the tropics, it's hot. The roads are really a good
training for your lower legs. What at least you're doing
90% of the time is just running in nature. Maybe also the diet helps. The food is always healthy,
it's always natural. It has impact on the recovery. They eat lots of vegetables.
Once in a while, they eat meat but meat is a kind of a luxury. They eat beans, rice, ugali,
which is just boiled corn meal, you would say. Most of the big marathons
now prepare ugali, because the Kenyans like that. In the first place
they have this diet because they have
no other option, because they have
not enough money. Ugali is like... You need only a small portion
of it to get enough calories. Hello! I'm Rosie. Thanks for meeting me. Are you Kalenjin? Yes, I'm Kalenjin. - Specifically Keiyo.
- OK. This is my home district,
my home country. So what's the ideal breakfast,
lunch and dinner for a long-distance
athlete here? You know there are no
specifics. You can't say, "Take this,
take this, take this." It is what is available on
the table for them. So long as it has the main -
the carbohydrates, the protein, the vitamins, to meet their requirements. I've been learning a
lot about ugali and a lot of people have
been telling me that it's a much healthier
carb than other carbs. Ugali is a very simple meal. It's a source of carbohydrates. It's complex. It is milled with the outer
husk so it has roughage
and it has fibre. It is locally made here. So no additives,
no preservatives added. So simple. And then the maize germ
in it provides iron. And then it is also cheaper compared to other
carbohydrates. So there's not even a training
diet specific for the athletes? The food that
they eat is actually the food that
their families eat. - Hello!
- Hello! Yes, you are welcome. We plant the maize in April. By September or October, it will be ready. So that is the time
when we can harvest the maize, so that we can make ugali. You only need the seeds, don't need fertiliser. Yeah, it's not expensive. Most of the people
here, they grow maize. So most families grow their
own? Yeah. We like ugali because it
makes your body very strong. So now you're going to show
me how to make ugali? Yeah, I'm going to show you. Step one - find the perfect
maize and collect. Step two - remove kernels. Step three - collect the
perfect kernels and keep only the good ones. Step four - finely
grind the maize. Step five - boil water. Step six - add little by little
the finely ground maize and stir with a wooden spoon. It's good! You can
soak up a lot of flavour. You could eat it
with a lot of things. - Huh?
- Yeah. The idea is to add something. Like stew. Maybe a soup. It soaks it, no? Yeah, but eating it bare, it's very difficult.
It's very hard. Viola Lagat comes from a
decorated family of runners, one being her legendary
brother, Bernard Lagat, a two-time world champion
and Olympic silver medallist. Viola has yet to compete in the
Olympics and she faces a lot of pressure to make
the team this year. Viola went to college and
trained in the US for the past few years. And despite being
considered a clear underdog, she is determined to make the
team and make both her family and country proud. So huge difference
from the US, right? - Huge!
- Yeah. You might feel sore after
because of the altitude. I feel that every time
I come back here. - Oh, really?
- Yeah. Hi! Iten is almost like
a running community. So if I go on a run
and I feel like someone could help me, I could
just jump in their group and just run with them. - OK
- Whoo! - You're sweating already.
- Yeah! You're not?! Shit! That was fun. Viola Kibiwot
is a two-time 1,500m Olympic runner and has been
running for most of her life here in Kenya. As a highly accomplished
veteran runner, Kibiwot has taken Viola Lagat
under her wings, and has been mentoring the
young hopeful to help her make the team. They train together, eat
together and even live together. How about we make
a deal for 2017? You're welcome to 5k. Well, after... No, I'll come to
five when you retire from five because you're going
to kick my butt. But you
still have a long way to go. I know. Supper now. Today's good. It doesn't
have a lot of fat. You know what, I actually don't
enjoy eating meat in the US. I like it in Kenya. I think it's because I know
that it's organic here. How long have you been running? More than 15 years. Wow! So she can definitely
give you a lot of tips. It started when I
was in primary school. Every time you are late, you have to
run from home to school and then from home,
you go for lunch time. The bell goes,
and you have to run. I am from a family of ten
and I'm the youngest. So all my older
siblings used to run. I've never been to the
Olympics. For me, it would be
a dream come true. It would mean so
much to run, especially in front of my family because they'll be coming over to
watch. And it would also change my
career. Being an Olympian would open doors for me and... I have a lot of kids looking up
to me in my village, and when I was growing up
I have a brother-in-law who passed away when
I was in high school and he always encouraged me to do
the best in everything that I do, so... running reminds me of what he
wanted me to achieve. And also the kids in my
village, whenever I'm running out there, they just cheer for me and they
tell me that they're following on my footsteps. I told her
she has to run very fast. Not 4.05 because I ran 3.59
when I was running 5,000 so I want her to
run maybe 4.01, 4.02. OK, can you guys tell me
what we're going to have? This is managu. That's beef stew, with ugali. So in Kenya we have 42 tribes and every tribe has
their own food. Kalenjin's main is ugali. Without ugali, it's
like you haven't taken a meal. Do you ever miss being in Kenya
and eating...? Yeah, I miss having
that family time. In the US, mostly people
just live on their own and you have to eat by
yourself. So when I'm home,
our neighbours come over and you'll eat
together sometimes. And like Viola today, she didn't even eat lunch until
I got back from my training. She cooked
and waited for me to get home. - Do you also drink mursik?
- Yes. Do you drink that regularly?
Mursik? Mm, we drink fresh more. Mostly fresh. But if you go to the village,
most of the people like mursik. Viola and Viola told me I had
to try this drink called mursik. I'm going to meet a couple that
provides the town with locally made mursik
and see what it's all about. Mursik is a fermented milk. This is the calabash. This is now the
first process of preparing the calabash before
they put the milk inside. The inside of the calabash is
all smeared with the ashes from that tree. The special
type of tree they're using will bring a
good flavour to the milk. And put milk into the calabash and leave it for like
two to three days. It is already fermented. So if I drink this I should be
able to do a marathon? Yeah, you can just do
something good but not once, you have to
drink it several times. Smells like a
really strong cheese. Ah, more or less.
It's more of less like cheese. The fermentation process
breaks the proteins in the milk down to simple proteins
to be easily absorbed into the blood stream, providing energy and
the proteins that we need. Mursik also has live culture, so it maintains the good
bacteria in the stomach. Cheers! OK, it's not bad. I just feel off. I think it's one of those
things that, unless you're Kenyan,
maybe it's not your thing. We're almost a litre down... I'm feeling like
it's time to go to sleep. She looks good today.
The way she's running... I can see already. You make sure, at the first
line you are at maximum speed. I'm going to cook with Albert
and you're going to relax. This is your day off. OK! I'm at the market right now
with Gladys's husband, Albert, and we're going to look for the
perfect chicken for dinner tonight. Oh, my goodness! This is the cock. Really? We're going to eat
a cock? Yeah. He's a nice cock? Oh, my God. - Do I need gloves?
- No gloves. - Don't say mercy. No mercy.
- OK, no mercy. The whole neighbourhood
is eating this chicken. - Yeah, no mercy.
- OK, let's do it. Look at that neck.
This is guillotine style, OK. Faster, Rosie...
Faster! Faster! So, I saw you today on the
track and you were outrunning even the men. How did you feel about
your training today? I'm happy because I've
improved. I was sick one month ago. Now I can
continue with my training. I have to believe in myself. You know, if you are no stress, nobody disturbing you... you can run good. Do you think that after you win
the Olympics and other marathons,
and set more records... you'll still stay here? Yeah. Because here I started
my training, so everything is here. Life in Kenya is easy. Not like in some
other countries. Like, for us, we can
have food from our farm. Everything is
grown from a farm. If you don't have,
your neighbour asks. Like me, I can assist my
neighbour if he doesn't have. Do good and do your own way. It's clear that there are
many theories and reasons as to why the Kalenjin produce the most amazing distance
runners. It's a perfect combination
of elevation, climate, diet, lifestyle and genes. Everyone here in Iten
seems to be so connected. To their food, their environment, their land and their families. When I was starting running, no shoes,
no training shoes. But my parents
were assisting me a lot. I said, "Ah! Let me
try my best." (GLADYS CHESIR DID NOT QUALIFY
FOR THE OLYMPICS IN 2016) (SHE PLANS TO MAKE THE TEAM IN
2020) I would like to
have a small farm because when I get home
I enjoy working on the farm with my mom, growing vegetables. I feel like life goes by
so fast in America. Here in Kenya, it's just about
running and relaxing, and waiting to run
the next day. (VIOLA PLACED IN THE 1,500M
TRIALS AND WAS AMONG (THE RUNNERS TO REPRESENT KENYA
IN THE 2016 OLYMPICS) I've witnessed athletes
of all levels. From beginning runners to
world-class Olympians, training on the same dirt roads
at 6am sharp every day of the week. Food is absolutely the common
thread here in Iten. But also the Kalenjin's
undisputed discipline, combined with their ability
to maintain a balanced lifestyle, leads to their
constant accolades. It works for them and they will
continue to do so for generations to come.
