So it starts with you.
Run after your dreams.
pursue your goals, and running is free,
man, enjoy it.
Hey, I'm Manni, the resident Running Channel physiotherapist.
I'm here to show you around Kapchowra, a place you may never have heard of, but one that has been put on the map because it has bred
a long line of running champions, including Olympic and World Champion and world record holder over
five and 10,000 metres,
Joshua Cheptegei, who I'm going to be catching up with later on.
First, though, let's head out on a run and see what it's like to run around this incredible location.
I've travelled home to Uganda for a family wedding, but I also wanted to come
here, close to Mount Elgon and the home of the Sipi
waterfalls. It's 1800 metres above sea level and a beautiful location.
This area of the world has been difficult to get to up until the year 2000, and that has allowed us to
experience the amazing talent
of Ugandan athletes like Joshua Cheptegei. I was born in Uganda, but I've lived in
London since I was four, so I find it exciting to see the rise
of these Ugandan athletes.
It's 10:30 in the morning and it's about 24 degrees.
I'm on another hill, and, uh, there's not many runners out.
So most of the runners head out about 6:30 in the morning,
so really early.
But I thought, I thought I'd get some nice daylight for everybody to
see what Kapchorwa looks like.
So the other thing that you've got a really contend with, which is different to London,
is, at different points,
when you're trying to cross, we've got the boda bodas.
But also, suddenly the terrain changes to this
rock, clay-like substance and yeah, it's completely different.
Nothing like we get in the UK. This stuff is always challenging your ankles.
It's really uneven, and then you also get all the goats
everywhere.
It's safe to say that if you run around here every day, you're going to be pretty fit.
So imagine growing up running around here.
Well, for this group of children, this is their training ground.
I was lucky enough to go and join them on a run.
I'm nearly dying.
These guys are quick. They're
called Run Kapchorwa. It started in 2016 and has been set up
by two coaches, David and Jackson, who coach over 100
children to be the best they can be.
These children go out on cross country regional championships, and the aim is to try
and get to a point where they are the next Joshua Cheptegei, they are the next world champions,
Olympic and world record holders.
These kids wake up at 6:30, and they go out.
They did a progressive run with me.
They took me out nice and easy.
And on the way back, well, yeah, it was a joke.
They just beat me.
I got back for the strength and conditioning and showed the kids a few things I know, which was fun.
Running in this beautiful location has bred a very
special kind of runner.
And one of the most famous examples of this is Olympic champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei.
This guy is an absolute legend and someone who I am honoured to meet.
To be able to sit down with one of my running heroes in my home country is something that I will
treasure forever.
So let's go meet Joshua Cheptegei and get some tips.
Okay, I am really excited, and we are taking a seat with
a great gentleman next to me.
First of all, thank you for joining me.
First question is, who are you?
For all our viewers at home?
Well, uh, thank you so much.
My name is Joshua Cheptegei, the Olympic champion, world champion, the world crosscountry
champion and then the double Commonwealth Games champion, the world record holder
from Uganda, here in Kapchorwa.
There you go.
We have this man in our presence, so I thought I'd ask him a few questions.
First question is, I like to call you J C.
Is that okay?
Perfect.
So I like to abbreviate, you know, like we're
on a first name basis.
And we're friends.
So, JC, how did you get to where you are now?
Well, uh, getting to where I am now, it's been really a great effort.
And, of course, a lot of steps that I had to take when I was still a young boy
leaving high school, leaving the university and trying to pursue the talent, the talent that I
had and now here, uh, I've actually overcome a lot of
obstacles you could see from the world cross country champion in Kampala,
where I was supposed to win the gold medal.
But but then I never won the gold.
So JC is a kind of person that has come a long
way, [inaudible] a lot of ups and downs. Ups and downs.
So if you haven't seen it, go and watch the world cross Country championships.
Which year was that?
2017. 2017.
And JC
had a race that was difficult.
We all have races that are difficult.
But he overcame it and he is sitting here today.
The man he is.
So I guess the next question is, you know, we're here in Kapchorwa, like what's special about this area?
What's special about this place?
Well, um, Kapchorwa is a high altitude training centre, a high
altitude training place and Kapchorwa in Uganda here, where you could come and explore a lot
of, uh, a lot of things, especially if you want to be a professional athlete,
especially if you want to be somebody who is working out for your health.
So Kapchorwa is a place to be.
It's very cool in terms of it has a certain environment where you could
really become peaceful. And, you know, with sports you need a peaceful mind.
So yep, absolutely.
That's that's what I can say about
Kapchorwa. Yeah, it's incredible.
It's so picturesque as you've probably seen from the footage.
And, um, it's really hilly.
Yeah, it's really very hilly, and uh,
I like them because it's, I like challenges in life.
So even we human beings, we need challenges so that we can always
we can develop properly.
There you go.
Challenges are important.
You've got some dreams.
You've got some passions.
Tell us about your dreams.
What do you want to achieve in the future,
JC? I want to become the greatest among us,
the greatest athletes of all time.
So that's a dream that I'm I'm really working.
I'm almost working to it, and every day I wake up every day that the
sun sets, Uh, it gives me another opportunity to, towards my
vision. Incredible, love that, greatest athlete of all time.
So to do that, are there things that you can tell our viewers that they can
maybe do because, you know, there's a lot of people out there who probably just want to be their best runner.
Their best selves, right?
So are there tips that you can tell our viewers that they can do?
Yeah.
Dear your viewers,
I would like to tell you that everything is possible as long as you put your mind into it.
And, uh, to me, I believe that there are no obstacles.
The only limitation is we ourselves.
We our minds. Your mind will actually, you will become what your mind will tell you.
So if you want to be the best, you know, at what you want to
be, at running, whatever you're doing, you're pursuing, you got
to have the right mindset, right mindset.
And then you got to have the discipline, the right people you're working with, right
friends, right coach.
And some of the things add up into something.
Yeah, and running wise,
are there any tips and tricks that you do yourself?
I know you said hills.
You feel hills make you stronger, or is there anything... For me,
[inaudible] to finish
my training sessions
I need to be on the right- with the right mindset.
I need, I need to tell my mind that I can do this.
I need to visualise- Oh, visualisation there you go.
Yeah, nice. Because, if you don't visit, visualise yourself.
Winning a race.
It won't happen.
Right, so what's in your diet?
Do you eat posho?
Yeah, I eat posho. It's called Ugali.
Hey, So I'm Ugandan, JC's Ugandan, and our thing is posho.
Which is Ugali in Kenya.
But here in Uganda, we call it posho.
And what do you have with your posho?
I normally do with greens and sometimes with milk.
There you go. Posho with milk?
There you go.
So if you're at home and you're going to have something, a tip here from JC,
is some posho, some ugali, with some milk.
I'm going to try that one.
I haven't had that one.
Hey, and training wise, are there any training sessions that
you really enjoy that make you feel like you become a better runner?
Oh, well, I do
a couple of tempo runs.
Yeah, nice.
And you do them here on the hills,
the tempo runs? No, I do them sometimes in the plateau. In the plateau.
Okay.
It's like a 45 minute ride.
Okay.
And then in the hills do you do like any particular hill sessions?
Because I know you do-
We also do a lot of [inaudible], 1K up, 1K down.
Wow, 1K up, 1K down.
So, any of your viewers want to try a JC
workout,
there you go.
One kilometre running uphill at 1800 metres altitude and then one
kilometre back downhill.
It's actually... 2, 5.
Wow.
Yeah. Wow.
2500 metres above sea level.
And do you look after your body in a specific way?
You know, having a specific strength session, or do you do any other
things that we may not know about or we may not have heard about?
Uh, for me.
Normally, I don't do it in a strength, you know, sessions, especially gym.
What I wanna do, I do.
And then, uh, maybe core stability exercise.
Okay.
Hill work to get his legs nice and strong.
And what, sorry?
The core stability. Core stability, and core stability.
Joshua, thank you so much.
And last question really is, I guess it's like, what do
you envisage for everybody, and what do you hope for, for everybody watching at home?
Um, the running world I know is, you know, we're all probably have been affected by covid.
Are there any last words you want to say to everybody watching at home?
Well, I want to just give everybody, every viewer watching back in London and
any part of the world this small encouragement that I
understand that the world is now crippled.
But there is hope that even in the midst of the pandemic,
we can still find hope.
And the only way we can find hope and peace is to get together into running and running
and maintaining the S.O.P.s.
And for sure, we will come back strongly and live in a better world that we
hope to live.
So it starts with you, run after your dreams.
Pursue your goals, and running is free, man, you enjoy it.
Thank you so much, JC.
So remember Kapchorwa, a location that has enabled athletes like Cheptegei to become their best.
The altitude and terrain here is brutal, but it is used by many runners as a training ground to become fitter and improve performance.
Do you think location can help your performance?
Let me know in the comments.
And also where would you want to run,
if you could run anywhere in the world?