AV俱乐部

Dal student Emily Meisner set up her own work term in Kenya.(Photo courtesy of Emily Meisner)

For Emily Meisner, it was a dream come true: meeting the world cross-country and world half-marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat, whose picture has been stuck to her bedroom wall since she was eight years old.

Talking to the Kenyan long-distance runner and touring her high-altitude training camp was a highlight of the Dal student鈥檚 self-made summer work term in Kenya.

鈥淚 know it鈥檚 a cliche to say you come back changed, but I did come back changed,鈥� says Ms. Meisner, a fourth-year kinesiology student. From the tiny village of South Brookfield, the Nova Scotian always wanted to go to Kenya and so she did, landing in Nairobi with nothing but a backpack and the telephone number of a professor at Kenyatta University. She stayed for 10 weeks, working at a summer camp for children with disabilities and developing physical activity programs for the community through the university鈥檚 sports science department.

Yoga class

She laughs as she relates how she managed to lead a noon-time yoga class, despite her struggle to wrap her tongue around Swahili. After about 45 minutes of introducing poses to the 15 assembled people, she finished with the 鈥渃orpse,鈥� a basic relaxation pose that entails breathing exercises while lying flat on the floor. Afterwards, as she thanked everyone for coming, she realized the room was eerily quiet.

鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥極kay! Thanks very much! Thanks for coming!鈥欌�� recalls Ms. Meisner. 鈥淎nd then I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥楧o they know class is over?鈥� And that鈥檚 when I realized everyone was fast asleep.鈥�

As a long-distance runner with AV俱乐部鈥檚 varsity cross-country team, she discovered running was something she had in common with many Kenyans. While overseas, she was keen to take advantage of training opportunities鈥攁nd attempt to unlock the secret of why Kenyans lead the world in long-distance running.

At Kenyatta, she met Mike Boit, a former middle-distance running champion and director of physical education at the university. A bronze medallist at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Mr. Boit invited Ms. Meisner to his rural village, located in the lush, equatorial highlands where so many of Kenya鈥檚 swiftest runners come from. There, she met Mike鈥檚 cousin Philip Boit, the only Kenyan to compete in the winter Olympics, and Lornah Kiplagat, a world record holder for the 5K, 10-mile, 20K and half-marathon.

Olympians

鈥淚t was amazing to meet these Olympians. Here they are in their modest homes and they鈥檙e still planting their own gardens and milking their own cows,鈥� she says. Philip Boit, for example, is a farmer who started his sporting life as a middle-distance runner but switched to cross-country skiing in the mid-1990s with the support of Nike. The skier, who does his dry-land training on roller skates over muddy, rutted paths, has since competed in four winter Olympic games including Vancouver.

Ms. Kiplagat also grew up on a farm in the Rift Valley. Although now a Dutch citizen who lives part of the year in Holland, she has never forgotten her homeland where she built the first women鈥檚 training camp, 8,000 feet above sea level. Since opening the camp in 2000, she鈥檚 added a boarding school so girls can train and keep up with their academics.

The high altitude has something to do with why Kenyans run so far and so fast; it gives them strong lungs and helps with their endurance. But there鈥檚 another reason, as Ms. Meisner discovered while training with a member of Kenyatta University鈥檚 track-and-field team.

No limits

鈥淎n easy run for him was killer for me,鈥� she says, adding that their route would include going up muddy hills and through creeks. 鈥淚 asked him what he thought and he said, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have limits. We don鈥檛 have marked courses and we don鈥檛 count kilometres鈥攚e just run.鈥� So he鈥檇 run to the coffee plantation and back again and keep going until he鈥檚 tired.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 set limits for themselves, in terms of time or distance. And that鈥檚 why they do so well.鈥�

The training regime worked well for Ms. Meisner, who returned to AV俱乐部 in the best shape she鈥檚 ever been and raring to go. Unfortunately though, she suffered a stress fracture on her right foot during the first race of the season and is still recovering.

In the meantime though, she鈥檚 been investigating if a formal exchange agreement between AV俱乐部 and Kenyatta is possible.

鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful for my experience; it鈥檚 shaped my education and what I鈥檓 bound for next,鈥� says Ms. Meisner, who is interested in learning more about international development and doing a master鈥檚 in sports development. 鈥淏ut I think it would be neat if there was some structure in place for other students who are willing to live like Kenyans and leave Canada behind if only for a few months ... I think you need to be a little bit brave.鈥�