Timothy Cheruiyot: My TEN Years of Running

Leaving Singorwet

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, this is exactly the route that the 19 year-old Timothy Cheruiyot took when he made a bold decision of leaving Singorwet ward in Bomet County to try his luck in the City in the Sun.

This bold move of not knowing where he will stay nor get food did not bother him as he took a Matatu from Bomet town to Nairobi to meet someone whom he had been introduced to through a phone call and had not made any physical contact with him.

The young Cheruiyot landed in the city and met the founder and Coach of Rongai Athletics Club (RAC), Bernard Ouma at the Nyayo Stadium where he was doing speed work with already established names like the 2017 World 1500m champion, Elijah Manangoi and the Continental Cup 1500m champion, Winny Chebet.

Ouma being a strict and full of queens language took him through many questions with an intention of knowing him and getting to understand why he chose him among the many coaches he left in the rich Rift Valley and travel all the way to Nairobi to be trained by a black belt holder and someone who had just joined athletics world few years ago.

After an hour of interrogation the young shy man knew immediately that Ouma was the right person to shape his future, because all he needed from him was discipline, hard work and patience.

My first Spike

I remember vividly, that this is where my ten year journey began. My coach came with a brand new pair of spike and told me to change and put them on; I can for sure tell you that I didn’t last two laps with those shoes. They were like strangers to my feet and I had to ask the coach if I could use my normal work out shoes to train on the track. It took efforts from my Coach and team mates who encouraged me to try them every time so that I could get used to them

The Nick Name

My running style was so different from the rest of the group because I used to run while facing down or sometimes when pacing for Elijah during speed work. This kind of running made Ouma (coach) to start referring me as a tractor and it stuck though these days he never calls me that.

Coach Bernard Ouma

Coach Ouma has been a pillar of all my success. I am me because of him. He shaped my life career and future and placed me among the Kings and Queens. He has my full respect because all he needs from me is to follow his training program well. The man is like a mzungu, who is very strict with time and he demands high discipline from you.

Ouma has been like a father to me, when I came to Nairobi in 2014, I didn’t have anything with me. He gave me food, shelter, training kits and pocket money for my upkeep.

Recently I gave him a lift and I reminded him if he remembers many years back when he used to give a lift and the man laughed which made me feel so proud of my achievements.

Why Rongai?

My body resonates well in Nairobi. The Training facilities are many compared to the area I was born and raised. The hospital and medication are within reach too and not forgetting the standard quality running tracks are all in Nairobi.

My First International Flight

It took me four years of intensive training, patience, cries because of the daily work out, denying myself leisure and body hankering to be where I am now. The journey to stardom wasn’t easy. It was painful, losing weight and fighting psychologically to be here. This Cheruiyot that you see today has passed through fire at the hands of Ouma to be who he is today. My first international outing was competing for Kenya at the 2015 Distance Medley Relay (DMR), where I anchored the Kenyan Team as we went ahead to win silver with the USA team crashing our DMR record with a time 9:15.50.

Cheruiyot rose to lime light during the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where he made it through the rounds and took seventh place in the final.

Paris Olympics

I will leave to remember the year 2024 because I was not even sure that I will participate in Olympics due tendon tear on my two knees that were so nagging and were later corrected through a surgery and I was put in a rehab in Qatar to heal and also be monitored by specialists. It was one of the toughest year but I thank God for the highly qualified personnel that my management, Moyo-Sports under Malcolm Anderson took me too.

I am grateful for racing at the Paris Olympic and even more grateful for reaching the 1500m finals. This motivates me to even work harder because, hard work bears fruit

What next?

We have resumed our training back in Rongai after a well-deserved short break and am preparing to head to Europe for more enhanced training and also will be attending another small surgery on my left knee as we prepare for the coming busy season that would be more historic.

Switching Races

The coming season will be of great importance on my career path as I will be transitioning to 5000m races and hopefully do a 10km road race. This is key to me as I will be focusing to be in LA as a marathoner. I will still run the 1500m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo then we will have a seat down with my coach on the way forward. By 2027 I will be fully doing the road races in 10km and half marathons; this will be my focus for that year before I take my first debut in full marathon.

What has kept you fit this long?

The firm foundation that was laid in me by my coach (Ouma) has made it possible to be who I am today. Running is about patience, body torture, sleepless night, set goals and targets for you, your coach, management and your sponsor. When you keep the above, you will leave a fulfilling racing journey.

You need to be more attentive to your coach, because he is your destiny helper and shaper. Keep being faithful to him and follow religiously his coaching program while maintaining high discipline.

Timothy Cheruiyot Foundation

Cheruiyot has another passion which is giving back to the society. This forced him to start a foundation under his name, with the main aim of building and constructing toilets to less fortunate schools starting from where he schooled in the year 2012 and other schools in his home area.

He has so far constructed ten toilets and he has moved out of his comfort zone to source for more sponsors to come onboard and help built my toilet facilities.

Accolades

Achievements and Titles

Personal best(s)           

800 m:   1:43.11   (Nairobi 2019)

1500 m: 3:28.28   (Monaco 2021)

Mile:       3:49.64 (Eugene 2017)

2000 m:  5:03.05   (Nairobi 2020)

3000 m:  7:36.72   (Doha 2023)

5000 m:  13:47.2   (Nairobi 2020)

Medal record

Olympic Games

Silver medal –2020 Tokyo 1500 m

World Championships

Gold medal – 2019 Doha 1500 m

Silver medal – 2017 London 1500 m

Diamond League

First place        2017    1500 m

First place        2018    1500 m

First place        2019    1500 m

First place        2021    1500 m

Commonwealth Games

Silver medal – 2018 Gold Coast 1500m

Silver medal – 2022 Birmingham 1500 m

African Championships

Silver medal – 2016 Durban 1500m

Silver medal – 2018 Nigeria 1500 m