Mile News


A legend returns to inspire our youngsters

May 27, 2012

In his role as an ambassador for the Africa Week Athletics Meet, double Olympic champion Kip Keino will be at the Morton Stadium in Santry today. 

By Ian O'Riordan

DUBLIN, Ireland - SWEET LORD they might as well be IN Africa as the sun beats down on the students of St Mark’s in Tallaght. It’s definitely a little hot to be running a Mile, at any pace, although it surely helps that the man watching them keep stride is Hezekiah Kipchoge Keino — better known to most of us as “Kip” Keino.

I can’t imagine many of these youngsters fully appreciate how incredible he once was, yet in many ways every young Kenyan distance runner is still following in his footsteps. Keino wasn’t Africa’s first gold medal winner at the Olympics; he wasn’t even Kenya’s first. What he did was show the rest of the world was that Kenyan runners, whatever the distance on the track, can be the most amazingly smooth, versatile, and devastatingly quick. No one had those talents in greater natural abundance than Kip Keino, and with even the great Kenyan runners these days somewhat indistinguishable from each other, his legendary status remains unrivalled.

Continue reading at irishtimes.com

Tags: kip keino (8) , irishtimes (1) , ian o'riordan (1)

Facebook Comments

Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

Become a Mile Maniac member or a BBTM sponsor today! Join us, and go Mile!

Join Us

Thanks for joining the movement and being a Mile Maniac. We'll keep you up to-date with our Mile wires as well as exclusive contests and opportunities. Help us spread the word by sharing our site and joining us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!