Close to home
ATHLETICS Last year’s half marathon winner Kipsiro loves competing in Glasgow – and even likes to think support for Scot is for him, writes Stewart Fisher
THE horizontal Glasgow rain, which is soaking bus-loads of schoolchildren outside the tent, has done nothing to dampen the sunny disposition of Moses Kipsiro. Ingratiating yourself with the crowd is a favoured tactic of politicians, sports stars and rock bands, but there is nothing forced about the affection this native of Uganda has for Glasgow.
Not only did the 30-year-old win the Great Scottish Run half marathon here last year, but go back another 12 months and he was claiming the 10,000m title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
“Really, it is my favourite to run in Glasgow,” said Kipsiro. “I just like it – it’s something which is in the heart. When I’m here I feel free and comfortable. It’s the people and the place also. It is my favourite place to be, though the weather is sometimes not so good.”
It is good seeing Kipsiro with a smile on his face considering recent episodes in his life, which have been no laughing matter. A regular training partner of Mo Farah’s, at times last year Kipsiro feared for his life after raising allegations with the authorities in Uganda that a coach had been sexually abusing female runners as young as 15. He received anonymous text messages containing death threats, but thankfully the danger seems to have blown over.
“At the moment I’m free and everything is now settled,” said Kipsiro, who missed the World Cross-Country Championships in Kenya during the fall-out after his complaint about the coach. “I don’t have any problems now. But it was very tough for me – I could not train, I could not do anything. I could not even concentrate. It was something that was not good but at the moment now I’m free.”
Kipsiro, whose storied career has been in defiance of a long-standing Achilles tendon injury, beat Callum Hawkins into second at the Glasgow half marathon last year and knows the 24-year-old from Kilbarchan is likely to get the lion’s share of the home support this time around. The Ugandan, who is building up to the New York marathon as he too moves up from the 10k in the latter stages of his career, also recognises the Scot as a potential rival for medals in the marathon in years to come.
Hawkins was the first European finisher, in ninth, at the Olympics. “It was so special and it was a surprise to me [how Hawkins ran in Rio],” said Kipsiro. “I couldn’t believe he made that ninth-placed finish. For sure he can have a big future in that event. Twenty-four is still young and I know he will do it. Maybe in one or two years, he will be on the podium.
“It is true that the people of Glasgow may support the Scottish man because they revere him and want him to win. But to me sometimes, if you are running with him, it is like when they are cheering him, they are cheering me too, so I will take that.”
Another elite athlete with an appreciation of Glasgow is Betsy Saina. This emerging wave of Scottish endurance running has caught her attention, not least its standard bearer, Laura Muir, who battled the Kenyans and Egyptians to win the Diamond League title in the 1,500m, one of the strongest events going.
“Oh my gosh, yeah,” said Saina. “When I watched Laura, when she won the 1,500m after Rio I thought ‘everything is possible’. She has just been training like anybody else and been an average athlete, and then all of a sudden she’s on top of the world. It tells us that it’s not just Kenyans and Ethiopians who dominate the world.”
After Tiranesh Dibaba’s withdrawal, Saina is favourite for the women’s race, assuming, that is, she still has any running left in her legs after taking part in the fastest 10,000m race in history in Rio. No fewer than 18 personal bests were set on the day, by athletes including Saina in fifth, Dibaba in third, and eventual winner Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, who smashed the world record by more than 14 seconds.
“It looks like that might be my lifetime personal best,” Saina said. “Running 30:07 and finishing fifth was not something I was expecting. I knew for sure that I was fit but it was one of the craziest races I’ve ever run in my life. But I felt that thrill – I was so excited and I was so lucky to be running at worldrecord pace. I hope that will stay for a long time and I will just be telling my kids, ‘I was running the world record race’.
“After 5000m I knew that if I don’t blow up, I’d be able to run a very good time. I had told myself ‘run something like 30:20 and I’ll be on the podium’ but then four people ended up running 29. But 30:07 – who doesn’t take that? It’s an amazing time, it’s one of the greatest things to achieve.”